Buying Congress - Update From the Alaska Delegation
Like Texas, Alaska is one of those states whose occupants don't do much in small ways. So it's not surprising that one of the best quotes from a lobbyist Congressional-buying frenzy comes from an Alaskan elected representative.
As the WaPo shows us today, Pete Kott, "the former Republican (there's a big surprise) speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives bragged of the depths to which he would sink for money. As the article notes, Kott "crowed as he described beating back a tax bill opposed by oil companies. "I had to cheat, steal, beg, borrow and lie. Exxon's happy. BP's happy. I'll sell my soul to the devil."
Unfortunately for Kott and a few others, big brother was watching the sale. "When the FBI came looking for corruption in Alaska politics, it found an excellent perch in Suite 604 of the Baranof Hotel in Juneau, the state capital. There, a profane septuagenarian named Bill Allen did business throughout a 2006 special session called to set taxes on the oil industry. With hundred-dollar bills in his front pocket for ease of access when lawmakers turned up with their hands out, the oil-services company executive turned in a bravura performance before the pinhole camera that federal agents installed opposite his favorite chair. . . .
Officially, the scandal has remained confined to Juneau, where Alaska lawmakers had grown so accustomed to operating under the presumption of impropriety that several of them embroidered ball caps with the letters CBC, for 'Corrupt Bastards Club.'"
Well, at least they'll have something fun to wear to prison. Wonder how long before Senators Ted Stevens and Don Young will be joining them?
As the WaPo shows us today, Pete Kott, "the former Republican (there's a big surprise) speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives bragged of the depths to which he would sink for money. As the article notes, Kott "crowed as he described beating back a tax bill opposed by oil companies. "I had to cheat, steal, beg, borrow and lie. Exxon's happy. BP's happy. I'll sell my soul to the devil."
Unfortunately for Kott and a few others, big brother was watching the sale. "When the FBI came looking for corruption in Alaska politics, it found an excellent perch in Suite 604 of the Baranof Hotel in Juneau, the state capital. There, a profane septuagenarian named Bill Allen did business throughout a 2006 special session called to set taxes on the oil industry. With hundred-dollar bills in his front pocket for ease of access when lawmakers turned up with their hands out, the oil-services company executive turned in a bravura performance before the pinhole camera that federal agents installed opposite his favorite chair. . . .
Officially, the scandal has remained confined to Juneau, where Alaska lawmakers had grown so accustomed to operating under the presumption of impropriety that several of them embroidered ball caps with the letters CBC, for 'Corrupt Bastards Club.'"
Well, at least they'll have something fun to wear to prison. Wonder how long before Senators Ted Stevens and Don Young will be joining them?
posted by Anonymous at 12:26 PM
2 Comments:
well, on stevens, that would be some poetic justice, wouldn't it? as i understand from dc fedgov insiders, stevens has been Our Watchdog for Wasteful Federal Spending and Boondoggles at such conniving, graft-infested institutions as the Smithsonian museums, n'est-ce pas?
Please god, just one more oil boom...I promise not to piss it away this time.
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