This Ashcroft thing just reeks: and it ain’t the Crisco

[babylonsister]

Has the name 'Ashcroft' been breathed on the m$m lately? :mad:


This Ashcroft thing just reeks: and it ain’t the Crisco

While in general I’m opposed to group punishment, I’m almost ready to make an exception for political appointees in the Bush Administration. To borrow from language often used by right wing blowhards, maybe we should save the taxpayers the cost of the trials and just send the whole lot of them off to jail for 10 or 20 years.

(NY Times) Ashcroft Deal Brings Scrutiny in Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON — When the top federal prosecutor in New Jersey needed to find an outside lawyer to monitor a large corporation willing to settle criminal charges out of court last fall, he turned to former Attorney General John Ashcroft, his onetime boss. With no public notice and no bidding, the company awarded Mr. Ashcroft an 18-month contract worth $28 million to $52 million.

That contract, which Justice Department officials in Washington learned about only several weeks ago, has prompted an internal inquiry into the department’s procedures for selecting outside monitors to police settlements with large companies.

The contract between Mr. Ashcroft’s consulting firm, the Ashcroft Group, and Zimmer Holdings, a medical supply company in Indiana, has also drawn the attention of Congressional investigators.

The New Jersey prosecutor, United States Attorney Christopher J. Christie, directed similar monitoring contracts last year to two other former Justice Department colleagues from the Bush administration, as well as to a former Republican state attorney general in New Jersey.

Forget about the cronyism of this political payoff: look at the money — up to $52 million for 18 months work. Is there any way that total can be reasonable? At $500 an hour, a very healthy rate of compensation for a lawyer (although the Group’s services are not all strictly legal, does this job really need more expertise than that of a top lawyer?), an entire year’s charges (50 weeks x 40 hours per week) for one top lawyer would come to a cool $1,000,000: add the extra six months in to get to the 18 months and the total goes up to $1,500,000.

more...

http://www.lastchancedemocracycafe.com/?p=1197

[BOSSHOG]

1. Spreading honesty and integrity everywhere they go

[Ignis]

2. Hey, it's all cool! New Improved Jesus WANTS you to be rich!

How these people can keep from giggling with corrupt glee in public I'll never understand.

[Mnemosyne]

8. The smirks save them. n/t

[ccpup]

3. it's not the Crisco?

when was Ashcroft on Fulsom Street in San Francisco? Now that IS news! :evilgrin:

[NashVegas]

4. That's My Guy!

He earns every penny ya know ...

[Richard Steele]

5. The B*sh Administration motto: "Too busy stealing to govern". nm

[donkeyotay]

6. Fiscal conservatives. Beleevers in the free market or privatized corruption?

This is just one example of the way bush has run his entire administration. They said civil service was bad and privatization was efficient. Their economic theory has been reality tested and found to promote profiteering and cronyism at the expense of the public good.

[babylonsister]

7. .

[whatchamacallit]

9. Let The Eagle Soar

Yeah John, you go baby!
Fuckin douche.

[mikelewis]

10. Now you see why they love America...

It's the raping and the pillaging that makes the job fun... the money's just a bonus.

[4nic8em]

11. Let the Eagles

whore...like they've never whored before... Sing it loud Ass-hat, you thoroughbred snake-oiled son-of-a-bitch.