Money and Politics

 

News Clips

(news clips have not been kept updated - check archives)

Feeney donations travel far --According to a recent report, Feeney gets more cash from in the 32312 ZIP code in Tallahassee than anywhere else. - Other Tallahassee ZIP codes come in 4th, 5th and 7th place on his top 10, according to the Web site www.opensecrets.org  -- a splendid site for those who want to know who is lining whose pockets. 9/26/02

Bacardi's political mix
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Pour donations to GOP, shake the governor.-- The sequence of events is suggestive: A liquor company gives $25,000 to the Republican Party of Florida; Gov. Bush intervenes with a federal agency on the company's behalf; the company gives $50,000 to the GOP. -- The company is Bacardi-Martini USA. The agency is the Patent and Trademark Office.... 9/23/02

Bush denies lobbying for company after donation
The governor wrote a federal official to help the Florida liquor manufacturer and GOP donor in a trademark dispute....ORLANDO -- Gov. Jeb Bush denied reports Saturday that claimed he helped a Miami-based liquor manufacturer in a trademark dispute only after the company gave $50,000 to the state Republican Party. 9/15/02

Money isn't everything
Orlando Sentinel: Two races proved that big dollars don't always mean more votes. 9/13

Extortion by another name
Extortion is happening, even as we speak, right here in the middle of our newly vigilant, corruption-probing capital city. But don't bother calling the corruption-fighters. Because they will just tell you it's all legal. And they should know. Because they are the law-makers and reg-makers. And also they are the ones who are doing the legalized extorting. ...
But here is what is really happening: Members of Congress get lists of the corporations or other special interests (such as trial lawyers and labor unions) that their specific committees regulate — and telephone the corporations or special interests they regulate and ask for money for their upcoming reelection campaigns. (Some have their political operatives make the call.) 7/31/02

Rival accuses Catalfumo of illegal lobbying
A rival to builder Catalfumo Construction says the firm engaged in questionable lobbying practices. 7/31/02

Corporate contributions tarnish the best of them
It's hard to be virtuous when you can't stay away from the bordello. That's the problem Democrats have in trying to seize the political high ground on the influence of corporate money on American politics. They have been almost as compromised by corporate dollars as the Republicans. The main difference is that Republicans enter the corporate money bordellos through the front door, while the Democrats sneak in and out of the back door. 7/28/02

Nursing home group backs governor - A group representing Florida's nursing homes Tuesday endorsed the reelection of Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, who has worked to protect the industry from lawsuits and increase staffing. ... ''Democrats are the one who stand up for patients and caregivers, while Bush and the Republicans stand up for the industry,'' said Ryan Banfill, a spokesman for the Florida Democratic Party. 7/24/02

Report: Universal executive broke rules about lobbying - A Universal Orlando vice president violated Orange County's lobbying rules at least three times in the past year, a county investigation has concluded. 7/23/02

Cruise group rewards GOP
The cruise industry shows its appreciation for Gov. Bush's support by becoming the party's largest contributor. 7/23/02

Congressmen spent nearly $100,000 on lobbyists
With political careers on the line, several Florida members of Congress spent thousands on Tallahassee lobbyists as state legislators drew new congressional districts. "It was money well spent," said U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, whose district continues to include the central Florida ranchland that serves as his political base. 7/22/02

Lobbying is give and receive
With their political futures on the line, several Florida members of Congress steered thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to lobbyists and Republican state lawmakers who played pivotal roles in drawing new congressional district maps. 7/21/02

Editorial: Collier corruption
Gifts and favors from lobbyists to government officials. That's the way it was. And that's the way it still is, with the disclosure of $2.7 million in Collier County utilities contracts since last June going to the firm of a lobbyist who befriended sewage department staff members with NASCAR tickets and baskets of steaks. 7/19/02

Backroom dealers
Commissioners Hartage, Hoenstine and Sindler ought to be ashamed. ... (they) voted against strengthening a county law that would have made public most private meetings between elected officials and lobbyists representing special interests. And if campaign contributions are any indication, they've been handsomely rewarded for their stance.-- ...
Together, the three have received a staggering $65,000 from registered lobbyists and their clientele to finance their re-election bids, campaign documents show.-- ...
Taxpayers finance government. And taxpayers should hold at least as much sway as deep-pocketed special interests in deciding how their hard-earned money is spent. 7/18/02

Four staffers to receive pay cuts - County wastewater staff receive pay cuts for accepting gifts, meals from contractor's lobbyist Collier County's wastewater director and three of his underlings received pay cuts Wednesday as discipline for accepting hundreds of dollars in free gifts and meals from the lobbyist of a contractor paid more than $2.7 million by the county. Despite the county's zero gifts law instituted in the wake of a series of public corruption scandals, top administrators aren't taking information uncovered in their internal investigation to state prosecutors tasked with enforcing the county's local ethics law. 7/18/02

Doctors hope cash can move legislation
An unusually blunt fundraising letter states a desire that $10,000 donations will get the attention of top lawmakers. The doctors plan to discuss medical malpractice legislation with two legislative leaders, bearing gifts for the GOP....The letter sent to other Marion County doctors last week describes plans to discuss medical malpractice legislation next month with two powerful legislative leaders, incoming Senate President Jim King of Jacksonville and incoming House Speaker Johnnie Byrd of Plant City.... "We are asking that you make a contribution to the Republican Party of Florida (There is no limit) and send this to us as soon as possible. ... We have been directed to bring at least $10,000 to each of these events and we can do this if everyone helps." 7/16/02

Road Builders Providing Political Funds - TALLAHASSEE - When the Legislature passed a 147-page transportation bill this year, it did so with huge majorities in both houses.
I t's not hard to understand why lawmakers liked the bill. Road building interests are political players with deep pockets. Either directly or through political action committees, they pump millions of dollars into campaign coffers.
Take, for example, the Florida Transportation Builders, a political action committee representing construction, mining, asphalt and concrete companies. The PAC has collected $1.27 million since 1996 and passed out $210,000 to candidates and political parties during that time. 7/14/02

Katherine Harris tops $2 million in campaign contributions SARASOTA - Republican Katherine Harris has eclipsed the $2 million mark in contributions in her campaign for Congress. 7/13/02

GOP's fundraising far ahead of Democrats'
The Republican Party of Florida raised four times as much money as state Democrats in the past three months, ensuring Republican Gov. Jeb Bush plenty of cash for the fall election. 7/12/02

Despite being disowned, PAC raising thousands for Bush
A renegade organization campaigning for Gov. Jeb Bush is thriving despite being disowned by its namesake. Americans for Jeb Bush, a Miami political action committee headed by state Rep. Gus Barreiro, collected $133,757 over the past three months, according to reports filed with the state Wednesday. 7/11/02

Democrats losing the race for money
Campaign cash continues to elude the leading Democratic candidates for governor, raising serious questions about whether the party will have the firepower to pose a credible threat to Gov. Jeb Bush in November. 7/11/02

At last, tracking the lobbyists
Orange County is setting an example by posting lobbyists' doings on-line. 7/10/02

Under cover
Lobbyists who make their living getting members of Congress to do their clients' bidding have finally figured out how to get around the disclosure requirement. 7/7/02

Lobbying rules going online - In the wake of Orange County's second investigation into a lobbyist's activities, officials are planning to post lobbying rules and registration forms on its Web site. ...The Web site will be linked to Orange County's site: www.orangecountyfl.net  7/5/02

Critical time for raising money is over
From Janet Reno and Gov. Jeb Bush down, political candidates for all offices on the ballot this fall have been engaged in a money-raising frenzy during the past two weeks 7/1/02

Lobbyist law gives a look at inside - FORT LAUDERDALE · Lobbying, by its nature, is a behind-the-scenes activity the public generally never knows about. Except in Fort Lauderdale. 6/24/02

FEC version of campaign finance stirs controversy
The FEC has approved the first set of regulations for enforcing the new campaign finance law...."The country deserves better, especially from an unelected body," said a joint response issued Thursday night from the chief congressional co-sponsors of the campaign finance law, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Reps. Chris Shays, R-Conn., and Marty Meehan, D-Mass.6/21/02

Bush letter to property rights group raises outcry
Environmentalists say it is inappropriate for the governor to use his office to urge donations for the group.6/21/02

Bushes' bash raises a cool $2.5-million
The Orlando fundraiser, prominently attended by several major developers and state lobbyists, again proves the GOP's prowess at raising cash.6/21/02

Bush: Keep the faith in war on terrorism - ..."I'm here to help support the Republican Party of this state and make sure your unbelievably great governor gets re-elected," Bush told diners. "Anything I can do to help Jeb stay in the governor's office, I'll do. ... Terry McAuliffe, Democratic National Committee chairman, criticized the Orlando trip. - "President Bush flew 800 miles, to raise $2 million, and expects the taxpayers to pick up the $150,000 tab because he watched an eight-minute workout," McAuliffe said.6/21/02

President boosting brother's re-election campaign
ORLANDO — President Bush is shoring up his brother's re-election war chest by raising $2.5 million for the Florida GOP on Friday and lifting the total fund-raising take by him and Vice President Dick Cheney above $100 million for this year alone. While focusing on his party's financial health, the president also promoted his new fitness campaign by shining a spotlight on "age-appropriate" workouts.6/21/02

New Party Line: Donate While You Can
WASHINGTON - Raymond Caron, successful grandson of Lebanese immigrants, feels so strongly about involvement in American democracy that he has dragged his daughter Nicole to Republican Party events since she was in ...6/21/02

Bush brothers, state Republicans celebrate, increase party's wealth
President Bush joined his brother and leading Florida Republicans Friday night for a celebration -- of their wealth. Gov. Jeb Bush, fresh from a fundraising trip to California, stood beside his powerful brother at a high-dollar dinner that turned into an impassioned defense of a massive campaign war chest the governor hopes will ensure his reelection in November. 6/21/02

Business lobby shuns McKay
INSIDE POLITICS Hell hath no fury like a lobbyist scorned. In its annual ranking of state lawmakers, big-business representative Associated Industries of Florida showed its continued annoyance at Senate President John McKay, R-Bradenton, for his efforts to repeal sales tax exemptions.6/15/02

Campaign Cash Is Flowing In For Harris' Run At Congress
Katherine Harris, Florida's celebrity secretary of state who is running for Congress, has raised more money than all but half a dozen candidates in the nation, according to federal election officials. ...6/14/02

It only takes a couple thousand dollars:
Money connection growing stronger -- Auto salesman Mike Murphy testifies he gave commissioners cash, favors--- A prominent Pensacola car salesman has admitted doing numerous favors for suspended Escambia County commissioners, ranging from giving an $8,000 cash payment to Willie Junior to covering a $1,895 bill for Terry Smith.
Mike Murphy, who also is a key fund-raiser for local politicians and claims friendships with numerous judges and law enforcement officers, made the admissions during an interview with State Attorney Curtis Golden about possible corruption involving county government. 6/14/02

FEC's rules draft on 'soft money' criticized
Campaign law sponsors say the agency's draft rules would undermine the goal of the legislation.

Senate campaign chests filling up
Candidates for the state Senate won't qualify to run until next month, but both parties are already deep in fund-raising mode. Senate Republican Leader Jim King of Jacksonville said Friday that he already has collected $4 million of the $7 million party officials want to have on hand for GOP races in the Senate. (WF: No surprise here - they gave away the farm this session...) 

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Bush responsible for Eli Lilly rider on Homeland Security Bill; then lied about it

Subject: Re: POLITICS & VACCINE LIABILITY: ORIGIN OF ELI LILLY RIDER IN HOMELAND SECURITY BILL
Forwarded by a parent to the special needs lists.

The shameful vaccine provisions were sent by e-mail from the White House to Rep. Dick Armey at 10:10 PM the night before the vote in the House on the entire Homeland Security package. Sen. Frist's ex-Health Staffer is employed, guess where??????????? IN THE WHITE HOUSE--Go figure.

Its known to insiders that George Bush was CEO and director of Eli Lilly and that the family has continuing financial and political ties to Eli Lilly. Yet Congress and the Media have done little and said little, though the public is mostly unaware of whats going on.

The parents are entitled to answers. We can put it together when it comes to who is responsible for adding Sections 1714-1716 in the Homeland Security Act!!! Tory Mead
*************

Waters & Kraus, LLP 200 Oceangate, Suite 520 Long Beach, California 90802
Tel: (562) 436-8833 Fax: (562) 590-7296

PRESS RELEASE March 17, 2002 For Immediate Release

The Dallas-based law firm of Waters & Kraus announced today that it has received documents as a result of the discovery process in the case of Counter v. Eli Lilly & Company, et al, currently pending in Brazoria County, Texas that come from the archives of Eli Lilly & Company.
The documents clearly demonstrate that Lilly's thimerosal product, the mercury-based vaccine preservative implicated in a number of recent law suits as causing neurological injury to infants, ------------->>>>>> was known as early as April 1930 to be dangerous.

In its apparent eagerness to promote and market the product, in September, 1930, Eli Lilly secretly sponsored a "human toxicity" study on patients already known to be dying of meningococcal meningitis. Senior partner Andrew Waters stated that, "Lilly then cited this study repeatedly for decades as proof that thimerosal was of low toxicity and harmless to humans. They never revealed to the scientific community or the public the highly questionable nature of the original research."

While Eli Lilly made every effort to corrupt the medical and scientific literature, the process of arranging to publish the results of its questionable secret study, other researchers have provided Lilly with numerous articles since the 1930's indicating concerns about thimerosal and its potential hazard to humans who might be exposed or injected with the substance.

The evidence clearly demonstrates that Eli Lilly was advised repeatedly that their conclusions of
low toxicity were not warranted and that they failed to pass the information on to appropriate federal and public health authorities.

The following time line illustrates some, but by no means all, of the documentary evidence on this point from Lilly's internal files: 1947 Article received by Lilly: "No eruptions or reactions have been observed or reported to merthiolate internally, but it may be dangerous to inject a
serum containing merthiolate into a patient sensitive to merthiolate."

1948 Article received by Lilly: "Merthiolate is such a commonly used preservative for biologicals, plasma, cartilage, etc., that it would seem important to determine whether harm would result following its subcutaneous or intravenous injection in skin sensitive individuals."

1950 New York Academy of Science article, "Mercurials as Antiseptics:" "It (merthiolate) is toxic when injected parenterally and therefore cannot be used in chemotherapy."

1963 Article received by Lilly: "There is another point of practical significance: does the parenteral injection of merthiolate-containing fluids cause disturbances in merthiolate-sensitive patients?" "It is known that persons that are contact sensitive to a drug may tolerate the same
medications internally, but it seems advisable to use a preservative other than merthiolate for injections in merthiolate-sensitive people."
8/17/67 Medical/Science department requests that the claim "non- toxic" on thimerosal labels be deleted in next printing run.

8/29/67 Draft label changed to "non-irritating to body tissues," non-toxic omitted.

1972 British Medical Journal reports case of skin burns resulting from the chemical interaction of thimerosal and aluminum. "Mercury is known to act as a catalyst and to cause aluminum to oxidize rapidly, with the production of heat." "The manufacturers who supply us with thimerosal have been informed." [Thimerosal is being used in vaccines which also contain aluminum].

1972 Article received by Lilly: Merthiolate in vaccines caused six deaths ? "The symptoms and clinical course of the six patients suggest subacute mercury poisoning."

4/27/76 Lilly responds to Rexall Drug Company's efforts to place the following warning on Merthiolate product: "Frequent or prolonged use or application to large areas may cause mercury poisoning." Lilly objects to this proposed warning, stating: "We object to the connection of our
trademark with the unjustified alarm and concern on the part of the user which the statement is likely to cause? . We are not aware of any instance of 'mercury poisoning' after decades of marketing this product. This is because the mercury in the product is organically bound ethylmercury as a completely non- toxic nature, not methylmercury."

1/5/82 FDA's advance notice of proposed rule making regarding thimerosal: "At the cellular level, thimerosal has been found to be more toxic for human epithelial cells in vitro than mercuric chloride, mercuric nitrate, and merbromim (mercurichrom)." "It was found to be 35.3 times more toxic for embryonic chick heart tissue than for staphylococcus areus."

1950 study showed that thimerosal was no better than water in protecting mice from potential fatal streptococcal infection." "The Panel concludes that thimerosal is not safe for OTC topical use because of its potential for cell damage if applied to broken skin and its allergy potential. It is not effective as a topical antimicrobial because its bacteriastatic action can be reversed."

4/7/83 Additional language added to some Lilly labels: "As with any drug, if you are pregnant or nursing a baby, seek the advice of a health professional before using this product."

1991 Lilly ceases manufacture/sale of thimerosal. Licensing agreements demonstrate continued profits from the product until at least 2010.

12/8/99 Lilly MSDS regarding thimerosal: "Primary Physical & Reproduction Effects: Nervous System and Reproduction Effects" "Effects of exposure include fetal changes. "Mercury poisoning may occur." "Exposure in children may cause mild to severe mental retardation... ." "Hypersensitivity to mercury is a medical condition aggravated by exposure." CERCLA Hazardous substance ? toxic waste disposal.

Waters & Kraus is litigating a growing number of individual cases across the country involving infants that sustained serious neurological injuries from the thimerosal contained in their pediatric vaccines.

Waters & Kraus is leading the following coalition of firms in bringing these cases to trial:
Evert & Weathersby, L.L.C. 3405 Piedmont Road, Suite 225 Atlanta, Georgia
30305-1764 Tel: 404.233.8718

DORAN & MURPHY, LLP 1234 Delaware Avenue Buffalo, New York 14209 Tel:
716.884.2000 Dogan & Wilkinson 726 Delmas Avenue Pascagoula, Mississippi 39567 Tel:
228.762.2272

O'CONNELL & O'SULLIVAN 217 N. McLean Blvd., Suite 2C Elgin, Illinois 60123
Tel: 847-741-4603
Hendrickson & Long 214 Capital Street P.O. Box 11070 Charleston, W. VA
25339 Tel: 304.346.5500
ANDERSON & KRIGER, APLC 40925 County Center Drive, Suite 210 Temecula,
California 92591 Tel: 909.296.5090
WISE & JULIAN, PC 3555 College Avenue Alton, Illinois 62002 Tel: 618.462.2600
MARTZELL & BICKFORD 338 Lafayette Street New Orleans, Louisiana 70130 Tel:
504.581.9065
NANCE, CACCIATORE AND HAMILTON 525 North Harbor Blvd. Melbourne, Florida
32935 Tel: 321.254.8416
FERRARO & ASSOCIATES, P.A. First Union Financial Center 200 South Biscayne
Boulevard, Suite 3800 Miami, Florida 33131 Tel: 305.375.0111
Cantor, Arkema and Edmonds, P.C. First National Bank Building 823 East Main
Street P.O. Box 561 Richmond, VA 23218-0561 Tel: 804.644.1400 Thomasson,
Gilbert, Cook & Maguire, LC 715 North Clark P.O. Box 1180 Cape Girardeau,
Missouri 63702-1180 Tel: 573.335.6651
WALLACE & GRAHAM 525 N. Main Street Salisbury, North Carolina 28144 Tel:
704-633-5244
THE HENDLER LAW FIRM, P.C. 816 Congress Avenue, Suite 1100 Austin, Texas
78701 Tel: 512.473.3672

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Finding The Answer To Washington's Hottest Whodunit

Filed December 4, 2002 arianna@ariannaonline.com

Quick, somebody call Sherlock Holmes. Or at least the Hardy Boys. Or maybe even newly-designated Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. There's a Washington mystery that needs solving.

Everyone in D.C., it seems, is utterly baffled as to how an ugly little provision shielding pharmaceutical behemoth Eli Lilly from billions in lawsuits filed by the parents of autistic children made its way, in the 12th hour, into, of all things, the 475-page Homeland Security bill.

"It's a mystery to us," shrugged Eli Lilly spokesman Rob Smith.

It's a mystery to us, too, echoed spokesmen for the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services, and physician-turned-senator-turned-drug-company-shill Bill Frist, who had originally penned the Lilly-friendly provision for a different bill.

The haphazard lawmaking also proved baffling for pharmaceutical industry lobbyists, and for White House budget director Mitch Daniels, a former Lilly executive, who made a very public show of disavowing any knowledge of the amendment's mystifying genesis. Gosh, maybe the little provision just flew down from heaven. Or was immaculately conceived. Or maybe Osama bin Laden snuck over and planted the little public policy bomb himself.

The outrageous rider stuck onto the end of the Homeland Security bill provides security for Lilly from suits filed by the families of autistic children who believe that their kids' condition is linked to Thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative made by Lilly that used to be a common ingredient in childhood vaccines.

But in a town where knowledge is power, and where there is no shortage of people willing to take credit for even the most minute accomplishment, there has been a sudden outbreak of people playing dumb. Official Washington is observing a code of omerta that makes the Sopranos look like the loose-lipped gals on "The View." In other words: nobody's seen nothin'.

Here are the clues we have to work with: over the Veteran's Day weekend, GOP negotiators from the House and Senate hunkered down to finalize the details of the elephantine security bill. At some point -- no one is willing to say when -- someone -- no one is willing to say who -- inserted the Lilly provision -- though no one is willing to say why.

It's vital that we solve the mystery -- even if you believe that the custom-made legislation is justified. We need to find out because this kind of behind-closed-doors monkey business is an affront to our democracy -- the very democracy this bill was theoretically designed to protect. Perhaps it should have been called "The Homeland and Lilly Protection Act."

"The ability," Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, told me "of a special interest group to secretly insert provisions into law for its own narrow benefit and to the detriment of the public interest raises fundamental questions about the integrity of our government."

Kucinich has vowed to lead a challenge to congressional rules that permit our representatives to do the bidding of their deep-pocket donors away from the prying eyes of the public. At the most crucial part of the bill-drafting process -- when the language of the law is being finalized -- Washington's corporate alchemists work their black magic to turn legislative gold into self-preserving lead.

"It's a defect in the system," explains Kucinich. "When a bill goes into a conference committee, it gets yanked out of the sunlight and into the shadows. The conference process is a closed one, so you can go into a conference committee and basically add anything or take out anything you want and no one really knows. It transforms the legislature into a secret cabal."

So this fight is about a lot more than pushing for the repeal of the Lilly provision, something Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and John McCain, R-Ariz., have promised to do when the 108th Congress convenes in January. It's about putting an end to the gaming of the system that is turning the legislative process into a prize-a-minute carnival for big contributors. "Inserting such favors for special interests in a bill is a directive that can only come from some very high places," Stabenow told me.

Intriguingly, Stabenow, McCain, and Kucinich may have found an unlikely ally in their battle -- one with a very personal stake in the issue. It turns out that Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., the chairman of the Government Reform and Oversight Committee, has a grandson who first began showing symptoms of autism within days of receiving vaccinations containing Thimerosal. "He became radically different," says Burton, "banging his head against the wall, running around flapping his arms. Twenty years ago we had one in 10,000 children that they thought was autistic. Now, it's more than one out of 250."

This is clearly not a left-right issue. Any politician who has waxed lyrical about "accountability" and "transparency" -- that includes you, Mr. President -- owes it to the public to demand that Congress get to the bottom of just whose directive it was to insert into the homeland security bill a provision that has absolutely nothing to do with homeland security. And to find out whether the $1.6 million that Lilly contributed in the last election cycle -- 79 percent of which went to Republicans -- had anything to do with the inclusion of this designer provision. And, come to think of it, whether these donations had anything to do with the Bush administration asking a federal claims court to block public access to documents unearthed in over a thousand Thimerosal-related lawsuits.

For anyone remotely familiar with the ways of Washington -- and Sherlock Holmes -- the answer should be "elementary."

We're used to having pounds of fatty pork stirred into almost every recipe Congress dishes up. But the abuse of a bill about homeland security is especially distasteful. Washington's greedy corporate masters may finally have overreached. Their continued influence constitutes a clear and present danger to our security and if the president is serious about protecting the homeland, he should speak up
.... posted by BernieW, 12/11/02

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Bush Family Dipping Into Security Pie by Margie Burns

The full effects of the 2001 so-called ``USA Patriot Act'' have not yet been felt, fortunately. But one of its first effects has been to benefit the president's brother, Marvin. 

Marvin P. Bush, one of George W. Bush's three younger brothers, is co-founder and partner in Winston Partners, a private investment firm in Alexandria, Va. Winston Partners in turn is part of a larger venture capital entity called the Chatterjee Group, headed by venture capitalist Purnendu Chatterjee. (Venture capital firms provide money to start-up businesses and other companies, usually in return for equity and some managerial say in the company.) 

Through this and other business relationships, this Bush sibling is positioned to do very well in high-tech activities as a result of provisions of the Patriot Act. 

Securities and Exchange Commission filings show that the Chatterjee Group consists of Winston Partners, L.P.; and a half-dozen other entities with addresses in the Cayman Islands, the Netherlands Antilles, the Isle of Man and Delaware. 

Bush's partner is Scott Andrews, with whom he went to school. Winston Partners has two branches, hedge funds and private equity funds, engaged in a variety of investments, including global ``outsourcing'' and offshore information technology. 

H.R. 3162, called ``The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act'' (or USA Patriot), was designed to prevent money laundering and requires banks to ``know their customers.'' 

Inevitably, many companies are aggressively marketing services to make businesses ``Patriot Act''-compliant: that is, they sell computer systems to enable banks to argue successfully to Uncle Sam that they're not laundering money for terrorists. One of the most aggressive is Sybase Inc., which developed a ``Sybase PATRIOT compliance Solution'' months ago. Sybase, which said it wanted foreign banks as customers (it already had a deal with the People's Bank of China), landed Sumitomo Mitsui Bank in time for the October 2002 compliance deadline. 

This is where Winston Partners comes in. The Chatterjee Group, including Winston Partners, owns 5.5 million shares in Sybase (Chatterjee businesses also have been paid thousands more shares in Sybase). SEC filings show that Winston Partners LP owns 1,036,075 shares in Sybase; Winston Partners LDC holds 1,317,825 shares; and Winston Partners LLC owns 1,221,837 shares. The shares owned by the subsidiaries are collectively managed in funds for Winston Partners by Pernendu Chatterjee. There is also a Chatterjee Charitable Foundation. 

Business for Sybase is business for Bush, and the Patriot Act boosted business. 

Not that the Patriot Act is Sybase's only federal conduit. The company is also a significant government contractor (especially nowadays), with contracts from the Agriculture Department, the Navy ($2.9 million in 2001), the Army ($1.8 million in 2001), the Defense Department ($5.3 million in 2001), Commerce, Treasury and the General Services Administration among others. The federal procurement database lists Sybase's total awards for 2001 as $14,754,000. 

Sybase is only one of the companies with federal contracts from which Marvin Bush's firm derives financial benefit. Winston Partners' portfolio also includes Amsec Corp., which got Navy contracts worth $37,722,000 in 2001. 

The potential for abuse here can hardly be overstated. A branch of the military or other government agency that risked funding cutbacks, for example, could throw up a buffer by awarding a contract benefiting the First Family. Why spend money on a lobbyist in the industry, when you might have one in the White House? 

Now let's step back and look at the big picture. The president's brother is marketing to offshore customers (shipping out American jobs, be it noted). He is closely linked to entities marketing ``outsourcing'' and ``global alternative investments'' yet more aggressively. Companies associated with them are doing other high-end versions of the same. And some companies in which they have a stake are involved in the most sensitive technology outside nuclear weapons - being marketed simultaneously to the U.S. government, to foreign banks and to the states (Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, New Jersey and New York also purchase from Sybase). This is ``security"? 

Nor is Marvin Bush the only family member in this picture. His brother Jeb Bush, Florida's governor, is also an investor in the Winston Capital Fund, managed by Marvin Bush's firm. And Indigo Systems Corp., another federal contractor ($2,629,000 in 2001 from Defense and NASA), is substantially backed by The Carlyle Group, the global finance company connected to George H.W. Bush. 

As we used to say in Texas, son of a gun. 

There is a crying need for oversight and accountability, but the need has yet to be met.

....posted by AO; Published in CommonDreams 12/01/02, originally from the Prince George's Journal (Maryland), 11/27/02; Burns, a writer and teacher, lives in Cheverly, Maryland.