Sen. Rockefeller (D-WV) Getting $$$$$ - Lawmaker Pushing Immunity Is Newly Flush With Telco Cash

[L. Coyote]

Democratic Lawmaker Pushing Immunity Is Newly Flush With Telco Cash
By Ryan Singel Oct 18, 2007
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/10/dem-pushing-spy.html


Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia) is reportedly steering the secretive Senate Intelligence Committee to give retroactive immunity to telecoms that helped the government secretly spy on Americans.

He has also recently benefited from some interesting political contributions.

Top Verizon executives, including CEO Ivan Seidenberg and President Dennis Strigl, wrote personal checks to Rockefeller totaling $23,500 in March, 2007. Prior to that apparently coordinated flurry of 29 donations, only one of those executives had ever donated to Rockefeller (at least while working for Verizon).

In fact, prior to 2007, contributions to Rockefeller from company executives at AT&T and Verizon were mostly non-existent.

But that changed around the same time that the companies began lobbying Congress to grant them retroactive immunity from lawsuits seeking billions for their alleged participation in secret, warrantless surveillance programs that targeted Americans.

The Spring '07 checks represent 86 percent of money donated to Rockefeller by Verizon employees since at least 2001.

..................

[BridgeTheGap]

1. It's payback time!!! How can I get in on this action?

Oh yeah - have to get elected to congress first. Shit.

[cali]

3. It sucks, but I have a hard time

believing that Rockefeller is hard pressed for money for any campaign, or that 23,000 is more than a drop in the bucket.

[BridgeTheGap]

5. Can you say: "Quid quo pro?"

They don't dole out the money for nothing.

[L. Coyote]

21. Buying influence and access. Not the same as buying votes.

But they sure don't give the money to those who vote "wrong" for them!

[Hydra]

2. Always follow the money

money is many things, but it doesn't lie.

[acmavm]

4. The Rockefeller family has a history of unethical and dirty

deals. They don't exactly have much in common with the plebs.

[EST]

6. I have wondered just where Rockefeller comes down on real, actual

rule of law and constitutional issues.
During the various hearings it seemed he chafed madly at the choke hold Pat Roberts had on the intelligence committee, among others.
At other times he seemed like a singularly unimpressive wimp and a tool of his betters.

This certainly adds some context or, in other words, "now we know."

[formercia]

25. The Rockefellers are one of the boys.

It goes back to the Standard Oil Cartel and trading with the Nazis. It was Standard Oil tankers that were refueling German subs at sea and they had well documented connections to IG Farben and the Nazi prison-industrial complex.

What I can't understand is why he would take any money at all. He has enough of his own that he doesn't need to play that obvious card.

Google rockefeller smom.

A quote to make you think:

Iraq is a long way from , but what happens there matters a great

deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear,

chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest

security threat we face.” - “There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam

Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will

likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years … We also should

remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in

development of weapons of mass destruction.”- Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10,

2002

[EST]

28. When he first came to West Virginia,

so he could have a state to be the senator from, I really resented him and his high handedness.

However, as time wore on, my own investment in the future of the state became less and the people whom I knew well seemed content, for the most part. For my perception, he pretty much became invisible for a number of years.

Now, it seems, my initial suspicion of him was well founded. Sad.

[formercia]

29. The stealth candidate

I thought he was the benign black sheep of the family but it seems roots run deep.

[robinlynne]

7. Now we begin to understand the why. Shouldn't it be illegal for him to even

vote, in this case? As a matter of fact, why don't we demand that any senator who received any money from telecoms cannot vote.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. that is why we need to take corporate money out of the equation

[robinlynne]

11. yes.

[L. Coyote]

19. Does one person, one vote really hold sway when elections are monetized?

[robinlynne]

8. That is corruption. And it doesn't matter what party you belong to. And when you

go so far as to ELIMINATE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS, it is treason, is it not?

[pokercat999]

10. Unlawful bribery, nothing less, but all congress critters do

it, so he will never be challenged on it.

[robinlynne]

12. Someone was asking the other day what corporatism means. And here is a nice

little example. making laws for the benefit of corporations as opposed to the benefit of the nation.

[Trillo]

13. Shocked.

All you progressive advocates that helped get Democrats elected, you really aren't needed anymore, but a cursory thank you for your successful efforts at getting Democrats back in the majority! Time for you all to go home now and let the well-oiled machine work its magic.

The Democrats campaign coffers are filling back up! In the end, that's all that really matters!

(sarcasm, or not?)

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. The sleaze factor emerges.

[watrwefitinfor]

15. So did he/they make similar donations to DODD?

Is Dodd on the receiving end? Feingold? ANYONE who opposes it?
What about other committee chairs or members?

If they got similar amounts, then not much can be said about it.
If they got little or nothing, that says so much!

I'd look it up but have no idea how you did that.

And if we learn Rockefeller got the bulk of their donations, then
that's something to write home about. (Or Olberman maybe.)

Wat

[rodeodance]

16. and Phase II is still sitting in his bottom drawer

[robinlynne]

17. I've come to my senses and Rockefeller did not do this for 24k. There must

be bigger goings on hidden in the background. He is, after all, a Rockefeller. I doubt he would do anything for 24k.

[Trillo]

18. Could be.

If calling records of "caller relationships" 2-steps deep have been turned over, then what about phone company billing mistakes, where a phone call was never actually made, but it's been placed on your account? I've read, a long time ago, that these "mistake" calls are shifted from customer to customer until the phone company finds someone who doesn't note they didn't call that number and simply pays the bill.

Speculation---> I wonder if the illegality in some cases goes to setting certain people up, going beyond the realm of just 4th Amendment violations.

[robinlynne]

23. I'm thinking billion dollar contracts of some kind in his state, who knows?

I jsut think that he could not be bought for that price, yet there is no other reason on earth for him(all of them) to do what he is doing.

[Canuckistanian]

20. A graph says it all.....

http://imgred.com/

[L. Coyote]

22. This would make a good pie chart! n/t

[johnnydrama]

24. that graph

I know exactly what happened when that graph starts shooting up.

Verizon realized that holy crap, the dems might take over congress, looked to who the best people to bribe were, and sent over a big wad of cash to Rockefeller and others.

[L. Coyote]

27. A whole lot of people acted in unison in this shift. They knew who was moving into the chair.

The committee chairmanship is very powerful. Irrespective of what Rockefeller even knew of these contributions, there is an obvious "group" at work here. These people did not each individually arrive at the conclusion that a Dem was in the chairmanship, so send him money. They were told to do this by someone, that seems obvious on the face of it.

[LeftishBrit]

26. Surely someone with the name of 'Rockefeller' doesn't need any more money?

[formercia]

30. Greed exposes them all in the end.

Some people never have enough. Perhaps he didn't care what his constituency thought, after all, the fix was in.