I just turned off the TV.
I know we are in the final stages of the Democratic Primary. And that the race is over (unless the Party chooses to embrace our inner George Wallace).
The path is clear: Barack Obama will be the Democratic Nominee in 2008.
Senator Clinton can cause problems and delay the moment of Party unity, but that is about all she can do.
We have dodged a bullet.
You see, I’ve been researching Jack Abramoff since 1999.
Since 2004, I’ve written about my work at Daily Kos. Abramoff and the sweatshops of the Mariana Islands were my point of entry and I’ve dug into the Republican Culture of Corruption for over nine years.
I have shared this research. It has helped. I am still digging and sharing.
This was a powerful issue for Democrats in 2006. It will be a powerful issue in 2008.
In 2006 only Republicans were connected to the Abramoff Web of Corruption. That is still mostly true, but one Democrat has become the exception.
Her name is Hillary Clinton.
She can not be our Nominee for President or Vice-President.
She is connected to the Scandal and Abramoff.
Let’s Jump...
In 2006 the Culture of Corruption was an issue that won us control of the House and Senate. Without this issue, Conrad Burns would still be the Senator from Montana.
It is becoming a BIG issue in 2008 as well (see Young, Don and Schaffer, Bob for current examples).
I have been working on the Abramoff 50 for 2008. The sad truth is that if Hillary Clinton is on the ballot in November, the list will have to be the Abramoff 50+1. And that "plus one" would be Senator Hillary Clinton.
Now everybody in Washington DC is connected to Jack Abramoff by three degrees of separation or less. It is a fact. Most of these links are casual and not very important.
Tying a politician, lobbyist or fundraiser to the Abramoff Scandal requires something more than the shared links of everyday living in Washington DC.
Making a hard link requires multiple points of contact. Direct interaction with Jack and his team helps, as does taking his money, his team’s money and/or money he helped guide into the system. And then there is the harder to find links to action (and or inaction) on behalf of Jack, his Party and his clients.
In my research I have found that there are certain red flags when it comes to tracking down a link between an individual and Jack Abramoff’s Culture of Corruption.
For the most part, Jack only worked with Republicans. He was a partisan warrior and a master of raising off-the-books funds for the GOP. I am not surprised that the fortunes of the Grand Old Party have floundered since Jack’s arrest. They have nobody to replace him and it shows (Jack would never let us take Denny Hastert seat. Hell, if Jack was still working Hastert would still be Speaker of the House).
Jack worked in a world of shadows and moral twilight. He raised money and the Republican Party rewarded Jack’s donors with rewards, earmarks and protection. Not everything was illegal, but a great deal of it was.
In the course of his work, Abramoff would meet all types of people, but of all Jack’s many clients and patrons, there is one that made Jack and his Party look like good guys by comparison. That would be Tan Family of Hong Kong and Saipan.
Saipan is the largest island in the US Territory known as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). In the 1980s, a loophole in the agreement to establish the CNMI as a US Territory was exploited to create an economy based on sweatshops, human trafficking, forced prostitution, labor abuse, money laundering and other forms of global trade allowed to flourish in the shadows of our collective neglect.
Since 1995 Abramoff and his Party blocked all efforts to end the abuse and reform the immigration and labor laws of the CNMI.
We defeated that obstruction when we won the 2006 mid-term elections! Last week the long DeLayed CNMI reform legislation became Public Law: 110-229. It was a great victory (Senator Clinton missed the vote).
In 2006 we used the most horrific stories of Saipan sweatshops, brothels and forced abortions to hold many Republicans accountable for their support of Jack Abramoff and the sweatshops of Saipan. We used the tragedy, horror and personal stories of these workers to WIN seats and take control of Congress and the Senate.
Without his connections to Abramoff, Conrad Burns would still be the Senator from Montana and without the Abramoff/Republican Culture of Corruption we would not have won the House.
I helped in this effort. So did the workers on the CNMI. There were happy to help because they believed that a Democratic Congress would FINALLY bring justice to the Marianas Islands. And the Democrats have kept that promise.
117 Republicans still voted with Abramoff and the Pirates of Saipan. I guess old habits die hard. Perhaps exposure would help.
There are many Republicans running in the 2008 cycle who should have their records of protecting the abuse exposed. There are many who should have the story of their work with Jack Abramoff told. There are many who should share the fate of their fallen fellow travelers of the 2006 cycle.
The last election cycle proved that a politician with a connection to Abramoff was in trouble. And a connection to Jack in 2008 will be a problem as well.
A hard link to Jack Abramoff is bad news, but even worse news (morally and ethically) would be those politicians with a connection to the Tan Family.
Jack’s bad reputation was created—in great measure—because he was willing to take the money from scoundrels like the Tan Family. He knew their fortune was made off of stolen labor, sweatshops and abuse, but it was OK. It was OK because Jack wanted their money to help his Party meet their political goals. And for Abramoff and those like him, the ends always justify the means.
There are many others in Washington who are like Jack Abramoff. These are the folks who will bend the rules to fit their needs of the day. These are the folks who will take in money from known scoundrels if it might help them get and maintain power.
For them, the ends always justify the means and money from any source is just fine.
George W. Bush is one of those people and I was not surprise to learn that he is the number one recipient of donations from the core members of the Family (the patriarch and his wife; their children and spouses and their children) is. They have given him $15,000 on the record (and—I suspect—more money off-the-books).
And the number two recipient of Tan Family donations is Senator Hillary Clinton of New York:
KIM LAM, PEK, Homemaker; 9/30/2005; $2,000
TAN, JOISE, N/A/Homemaker; 10/2/2005; $2,000
TAN, RAYMOND, Luen Thai/President; 9/30/2005; $2,000
TAN, SIU L, Tan Holdings Corp./Chairman; 9/30/2005; $2,000
TAN, WILLIE, Luen Thai/COO; 9/30/2005; $2,000
Like Abramoff, Bush and DeLay, Senator Clinton has proven herself to be an "ends-justify-the-means" kind of gal. As I said, we include her on the Ticket at our peril.
But it is more than just one set of donations that form the links between Senator Clinton and the Tan Family (and through them, links to the Abramoff Scandal).
A few years ago, the Tan Family created a multi-national Corporation, Luen Thai, to expand the reach of their business and give it a patina of respectability. Richard Helfenbein is the fellow running Tan Family USA operations and he has added another $6,700 to Senator Clinton. His wife has matched his gift.
Oh, and for those of you who used to work in a textile mill in the USA, you can thank Richard for your new job as a greeter at Wal-Mart. The focus of Luen Thai USA is to "help" brands "outsource" their textile manufacturing for profits. The story of the rise of Luen Thai and the Tan Family is the story of How you lost your job, but I digress...
Helfenbein is a neighbor of the populist of Chappaqua. The Family is down with the HRC. Richard’s son is a big supporter of Senator Clinton. He served as her first Page, as an intern in her office, work with Bill and he is working on her Campaign for the White House.
There are more links between Senator Clinton and the Tan Family as well. Some go back to 1995 and a visit she made to Guam (you can read more about it here).
Despite repeated requests by me and many others, Hillary Clinton has not returned the Tan Family money. And it is a problem for two reasons:
- It is money from stolen labor, sweatshops and abuse. It links her to that abuse, the Tan Family and Jack Abramoff.
- Her acceptance of this money protects Republicans and provides them cover when their links to Abramoff are exposed. Hillary lets them use the everybody does it meme and muddy the waters. By hanging onto this tainted cash, she lets the Right and media gasbags link the Democratic party to the Republican Abramoff Scandal through her careless pursuit of cash from any source.
This should be a good year for Democrats. In many ways we have the GOP on the run. The issue of corruption—and especially when links are made to Abramoff—is just as potent in 2008 as it was in 2006.
Colorado is a case in point. There, the former GOP Congressman Bob Schaffer is taking a lot of heat for his links to the Abramoff scandal. What really links Bob to the scandal is not a direct link with Jack Abramoff, rather it is his work with and donations from the Tan Family and their employees. The Democratic Party is using the $7,300 he received as a hard link between Bob and the Tan Family, especially the $2,000 he received from Willie Tan’s brother, Jerry Tan.
And they should.
The money is part of the hard link between Schaffer and the sweatshops, human trafficking and labor abuse on the Mariana Islands. It should be tied around his neck and sink his campaign. Bob Schaffer is way too corrupt to get into the US Senate and the money from the Tan Family is evidence of that corruption.
Schaffer is being defined by this issue. Others are getting involved, like Campaign Money Watch which has put up a Schaffer Facts web site and is already running ads in Colorado about his links to the Tan Family and Jack Abramoff.
They could run almost the exact same ad about Hillary Clinton.
And that is a problem. She always was the weakest Democrat in the race and we nominate her at our peril.
Her links to the Tan Family is just one of her many, many, many unreported news story waiting for after the Conventions. She has not been vetted. There are many new scandals waiting in the wings if we are foolish enough to follow her destructive path and add her to the Ticket.
It may be just me, but I do not think Democratic Party should have a Nominee linked to Jack Abramoff through the sweatshops of Saipan.
These donations and connections put Senator Clinton at odds with two key groups in the Democratic base, labor and women, and this money connects her to the sweatshops, the Jack Abramoff scandal and the Culture of Corruption in Washington.
Did I mention she is pro-lobbyist as well?
Oy!
As I said, she is our weakest candidate and we nominate her at our peril.
Fortunately, this will be avoided.
Barack Obama will be our Nominee and we can demand a Vice Presidential Candidate who is not connected to sweatshops and labor abuse. That would rule out Senator Clinton.
Cheers