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Washington Causes Global Memory Loss
by Alex Mendelsohn
There’s an adage that says if you want to know what's going on, follow the money. A good way to do that is to go to the Maplight web site. Maplight provides a unique window into the connection between money and politics. It provides figures on campaign contributions, and matches those donations with how elected folks in Washington vote.
Here's one example: The telecom industry gave, on average, $10,600 to members of the House of Representatives who voted no, as opposed to just $7,000 to members who voted yes on the House amendment to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. In case you didn't make the connection, the FISA amendment passed on March 14, rejecting retroactive immunity for phone carriers who helped the National Security Agency carry out wiretapping without warrants.
If you find Maplight useful, you'll appreciate OpenSecrets, too. Like Maplight, this Web site follows the money, revealing the interaction between cash and politics. The Opensecrets site lets you go directly to the bottom line to find the most important trends from the last election. There are literally thousands of pages on OpenSecrets that will let you probe as deeply as you wish into the role of money in elections.
Global Memory Loss
Speaking of elections, ‘tis the season for campaigning, political positioning, and – obfuscation. As the so-called experts debate Iraq policy, it seems many of them have poor memories. Or maybe the memory problem rests with the American people. Or, perhaps they’ve had an earful. I'm not sure. Again, the Web might help.
Watching General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker testify before Congress on C-SPAN television this week was stunning. "Success is within reach," claimed Petraeus. That's intriguing. In May of last year President George Bush said something similar when he claimed "This summer will be critical for Iraq." Just Google that phrase and follow one of the links to record-copy.
By the way, that presidential pronouncement followed on the heels of Senator John McCain's comment in November of the previous year, when he said, "Military experts say we'll win or lose in the next six months." Check Google.
Senator McCain's remark came one year after he previously stated, "Significant progress will be seen in the next six months." (Google, please).
Does the good senator suffer from hearing loss? Didn't he listen when President Bush stated in 2004, "We're approaching a critical moment." Maybe McCain's memory was faulty, because he stated in 2003 that, "The next three to six months will be critical." Hmm. I know I heard former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld tell the press in 2003 that he doubted the US would be in Iraq for more than six months.
How do you feel about charitable connections? Global memory loss? Write me at amm at EN-Genius dot net, or post your comments on our blog.
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