Issue 32: TARGET THE CORRUPT REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN:

This week I want to return to an earlier target: Senator Conrad Burns of Montana. I will review his corruption in a minute, but first, the reason why I want to return to him is because Senator Burns just spearheaded an effort to ALLOW PESTICIDE TESTING ON HUMANS! Here is a Daily Kos diary on the subject.

In short, Barbara Boxer first spearheaded an effort to BAN pesticide testing on humans and this was approved by the Senate. Burns countered with an amendment ALLOWING human testing of pesticides to continue but instructing the EPA to study if it's being conducted ethically and whether the benefits outweigh the risks to volunteers. And the Republicans voted it in! WHAT??? This is a continuation of what I have commented on before (and maybe need to review again) that the Republicans are trying to poison Americans! From Bush telling the EPA to lie about the toxicity of the smoke from the WTC (leading to severe illness in many NY firefighters) to trying to lower arsenic standards for drinking water, to testing pesticides in humans, the Republicans want to poison Americans! Let me remind you that pesticides are generally neurotoxins. They are neurotoxins in people as well, but the lethal dose is much higher for humans than for insects, so we can use them in our houses without much harm. But testing an unknown neurotoxin on humans is seriously unethical!

So Senator Burns (R-MT) wants to allow human testing of poisons. Let’s remember who Burns is. From an earlier newsletter:

U.S. Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) has broken his 1995 pledge not to seek re-election in 2006 and has now been tied to the expanding scandal surrounding GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

"[A] Western-state Democratic leader is demanding an investigation into how the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe got a $3 million federal education grant from a program originally intended to benefit only poor Tribes. Bob Ream, the chairman of the Montana Democratic Party, formally requested a Senate Ethics Committee investigation into how former Saginaw Chippewa lobbyist Jack Abramoff might have improperly influenced Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., the chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

"Is it a coincidence that Mr. Abramoff, his associates and wealthy Tribal clients made $137,000 in campaign contributions to Sen. Burns' soft-money corporation prior to the appropriation?” Ream said. "Is it a coincidence that Mr. Abramoff and his team arranged for Sen. Burns' chief of staff and an appropriations staffer to take a private jet to New Orleans for a trip to the Super Bowl?"

See also the Great Falls Tribune.

Let’s get this guy! First off, let’s get those letters to the editor rolling. Write a letter complaining about Burns’ connection with the Abramoff scandals and his support of testing poisonous materials on humans. Point out that both corruption and using humans as lab rats are considered immoral by most Americans and it is disgusting that this man is a Senator.

You might also want to send some letters to Montana papers to let them know that they have a Senator who is a national embarrassment.

It is my understanding that a couple of Democrats are gearing up to run against Burns, so I can’t point you to a specific candidate, but I can point you to Frontier PAC, an excellent, new organization that is targeting Burns as well as other Western state races.

And let’s not forget the extremely successful, of late, Democratic Party of Montana. They swept on the state level in 2004 and have been an excellent example of populist politics. Give them support in honor of the people that Conrad Burns is poisoning with pesticides.

Finally, Common Cause has an action regarding Republican Ethics.

Send Speaker Hastert a Message re. Ethics Crisis in the House
The ethics process in the House has ground to a halt as ethics-related allegations pile up against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) and other members of Congress.

As House leader, Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) has an obligation to step in and resolve internal staffing problems on the Ethics Committee that have prevented the panel from beginning its work. Then, he must see that an outside counsel is appointed to investigate DeLay.

Common Cause believes that an independent, outside counsel is the only way to credibly investigate DeLay, whose financial ties to nearly every Republican in the House, and whose tremendous influence make it nearly impossible for his peers to judge him.

DeLay was three times admonished last year by the Ethics Committee for abuse of power and has since been accused of taking foreign junkets illegally paid for by a lobbyist who is under federal criminal investigation for allegedly bilking his clients out of tens of millions of dollars.

Please help us urge Speaker Hastert to clean up the House. Ask him to resolve the ethics impasse and then see that an independent, outside counsel is brought in to investigate DeLay.

Call him today, especially if you are a constituent from Illinois' 14th district.:

·D.C. Office
235 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-2976
Fax: 202-225-0697

·Batavia District Office
27 North River Street
Batavia, IL 60510
Phone: 630-406-1114
Fax: 630-406-1808

·Dixon Regional Office
119 W. First Street
Dixon, IL 61021
Phone: 815-288-0680
Fax: 815-288-0743

·Geneseo Regional Office
137 South State Street, Suite 336
Geneseo, IL 61254
Phone: 309-944-3558