Uppity Wisconsin

So we are now finding out the answers to some of our questions about which members of Congress actually represent We, the People...and which ones represent, Them, the Corporate Masters.

We have seen a Democratic Senator propose a policy that would put people in jail for not buying health insurance and a Democratic President who has taken numerous public beatings from those on the left side of the fence for his inability to ram something through a group of people...and yes, folks, the entendre was intentional.

But most of all, we’ve been asking ourselves: “why would Democratic Members of Congress who will eventually want us to vote for them vote against something that nearly all voting Democrats are inclined to vote for?”

Today’s conversation attempts to answer that question by looking at exactly how money and influence flow through a key politician, Montana’s Senator Max Baucus—and in doing so, we examine some ugly political realities that have to be resolved before we can hope to convince certain Members of Congress to vote for what their constituents actually want when it really counts.

K Street Washington lobbyist, GOP corruption king, and all-around sleezy guy, Jack Abramoff was sentenced to four more years in prison today.

He was shown some leniency for cooperating with the FBI to take down other corrupt GOPers like former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles and many top Capitol Hill assistants.

And like a good jailbird, he's gonna sing! Jackie boy's forthcoming book is due for publication later this month.

The title?

"The Perfect Villain: John McCain and the Demonization of Lobbyist Jack Abramoff."

My, oh my.

UPDATE: A warning, the book could be written to make McCain look like a savior, a fighter of lobbyist corruption. That would make Rovian sense. I have written the publisher to request an advance copy for reporting purposes. Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Author Gary Chafetz's response to a request for an advance copy of his book:

It's going to be difficult for a large segment of McCain's base to look the other way concerning his family's alcohol fortune and lobbying for distribution of sweet-tasting beer concoctions aimed at the youth markets.

"You can't run a beer company out of the White House," said Samuel L. Popkin, a political science professor at UC San Diego. "You can't run any company from the White House. McCain is leaving a live hand grenade on the table, a major embarrassment."

It was nice that McCain worked with Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold to promote campaign finance reform. Too bad it was lip service, and unworthy of someone who holds himself up to the standards of a "hero."

Over the weekend, a fifth member of McCain's staff had to resign due to lobbying conflicts of interest.

Why not ask your staff what their conflicts of interest are before you hire them? Oh, yeah, because you don't care.