Why a
Ralph Reed diary in the
Richard Pombo series? I've got no evidence the two men have ever met. But each of them has acted to protect the slime pit of sweatshops, sex trade, and forced abortion carried on by Jack Abramoff's lobbying clients in the Marianas Islands.
Heretofore, Ralph Reed's Abramoff connections have been publicized regarding Indian gaming. Abramoff got millions from some tribes who already had casinos, with the goal of suppressing the gaming ambitions of other tribes in the region. That is, to quash the goals of potential competitors. A bunch of that money got handed over to Ralph Reed, to organize fundamentalist Christians against gambling.
Now, it has come to light that Reed was also agitating amongst the base to oppose labor and other protections for "visiting workers" in Saipan (Marianas).
Reed is some piece of work. According to Monday's
Washington Post, Reed sent out a mailer to Alabama religious right base to encourage them to contact former Rep. Bob Riley to vote against a bill that would protect those workers. (A similar bill passed almost unanamously in the Senate.)
On what grounds could he possibly oppose decent working conditions in Saipan? From the direct mailer:
The radical left, the Big Labor Union Bosses, and Bill Clinton want to pass a law preventing Chinese from coming to work on the Marianas Islands... [The Chinese workers] are exposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ [while on the islands, and many] are converted to the Christian faith and return to China with Bibles in hand.
This is unspeakably sick. I refer you to a couple of dengre's diaries on this topic for review of the reality faced by these workers in Saipan. Sex, Abortion, Sweatshops and GOP Values and Sex? Abramoff, not Duke, is the real GOP Sex Scandal
Lisa Baron, a spokeswoman for Reed's campaign, said Millennium Marketing "was hired as a direct-mail subcontractor to assist in encouraging grass-roots citizens to promote the propagation of the gospel."
"As a defender of the unborn, Ralph was unaware of any allegations regarding inhumane or illegal treatment of workers, and he would strongly object to such practices, if true," she added.
...
Reed is running for the GOP nomination [as Lieutenant Governor of Georgia] against state Sen. Casey Cagle. The old mailing was brought to a reporter's attention by former employees of Reed, who said the support on behalf of Northern Marinas leaves their former boss exposed as a hypocrite.
One starts to wonder if everyone in this warped, cynical manipulation of religious fundamentalists is entirely without principle. It's nice to know that someone was bothered enough to leak the story. This is a no-win for Reed. Either he didn't know what he was doing, or he did. Bad either way. Couldn't happen to a more deserving fellow.
What's this got to do with Pombo?
He chairs the House Resources Committee. One of its areas of jurisdiction is Insular Affairs, which includes the Marianas Islands and other Pacific Island territories. And, in fact, while some resources sub-committees have their own Chairman, Pombo's kept this one for himself. Not only does he chair resources, he chairs Insular Affairs, too. While the Senate has held hearings and passed bills on this matter, the House has not. For the past three-plus years, that means Pombo's kept the lid on it, presumably at the behest of Abramoff's close friend, Tom Delay.
Pombo's name has stayed out of the mainland press, thus far, on issues related to CNMI. But Marianas Variety reported this past January that Pombo's part of a DoJ investigation:
The e-mails that have been subpoenaed by the U.S. District Court of the District of Colombia through Abramoff's former employer, Greenberg Traurig, included that of garment magnate Willie Tan, former Gov. Froilan C. Tenorio, Gov.-elect Benigno R. Fitial, former Vice Speaker Alejo Mendiola, Rep. Norman Palacios, U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo, R-California, the CNMI, Travel Subgroup, the Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association, the Western Pacific Economic Council and Enron.
Previously, Resources was chaired by Rep. Don Young (R-AK), who's also famous for the Bridge to Nowhere. His name is surfacing in the Abramoff scandals as well.
Here's a bonus, for those who've stayed with this diary to the end. It's a picture of Pombo from his January 2004 visit to the Marianas.