Okay, it's just one snippet of his life, but what a snippet. If Wadhams really thought the Mariana Islands issues was behind them, he's not a very good campaign manager. I think they actually got it out as early as possible to minimize the damage, or it may have just been that Schaffer has a big mouth. Either way, this is the right time to run this ad. The only question is how much impact this will have given the barrage of other ads running around. I'll have more after an 11am conference call.
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me...
so they can toil in sweat shops and brothels.
Referencing my previous post about this, my other title was simply going to be, "Hey Bob, Booo!" Anyway.
Today Abramoff and Schaffer target Allen Stayman, Mariana Islands human right activist Wendy Doromal, and James Salt of Catholics United came to Colorado to speak directly about Bob Schaffer and the Mariana Islands.
First up was Mr. Salt, who read a statement from Sr. Mary Stella Mangona, who has ministered to the people of CNMI for 10 years. In the statement she says:
In my counseling services, I came in contact with many abused women who had experienced sexual and workplace abuses -- abuses that were taking place on the island during Schaffer's visit. Types of abuse included coerced abortions, human trafficking, coerced prostitution, confiscation of documentation and other widespread labor abuses.
Allen Stayman was next. The same Allen Stayman mentioned by Jack Abramoff in his 1998 proposal email of how to get what Willie Tan and Governor Tenorio wanted for their sweat shops.
Of urgent focus this year will be the effort either to defund or more likely, to severely limit the activities of the Office of Insular Affairs. This office, led by Stayman, has been the main source of difficulty for the CNMI>
Stayman brought documents to back up his assertions, including a memo from the Department of Interior from during the Reagan administration of concerns with immigration on the islands. To claim efforts of reform were partisan in nature is just wrong. Pages 2 and 3 of the letter.
Bob Schaffer may be a Knight of horseys and sepulchres but some Catholics aren't so happy with his past performance. That is, specifically when it comes to human rights. Tomorrow, James Salt of Catholics United, Mariana Islands human rights activist Wendy Doromal, and former Department of the Interior official Alan Stayman will be speaking in front of Schaffer's campaign office Monday at 11am.
Bob Schaffer's headquarters will be getting some unexpected out-of-town guests Monday. Whistleblowers who worked to end the human rights abuses on the Marianas Islands will hold a press conference in front on Bob Schaffer's campaign headquarters to demand explanations and an apology for his role in allowing those abuses to continue.
Allen Stayman was one of the key government investigators who uncovered evidence of abuse of immigrant workers on the Marianas, including squalid living conditions and forced abortions. Wendy Doromal was a teacher in the Marianas Island.
What: Press conference to demand Bob Schaffer's apology for his role in allowing human rights abuses to continue on the Marianas Islands
When: Monday, Sept. 29, 11:00 a.m.
Where: 5950 S. Willow Road, Greenwood Village, Colorado
(Orchard Road, Exit 198 of I-25)
GOP Rep's Ad: I'm Sorry I Went On An Abramoff Trip This ad needs to be seen to be believed. Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL), who is facing a spirited challenge from Democrat Suzanne Kosmas, has this new ad in which he speaks to the camera and abjectly apologizes for going on an Abramoff-sponsored trip five years ago:
The Udall campaign's response goes like this:
"Bob Schaffer was up to his neck in the same kind of corrupt dealing with jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff that Tom Feeney was," said Udall campaign spokeswoman Tara Trujillo. "Schaffer took Abramoff's trip and then he took Abramoff's marching orders, turning a blind eye to human trafficking and forced abortions in the process. Tom Feeney is at least taking responsibility for his actions. When will Bob Schaffer?"
I'm guessing Dick Wadhams' response will go something like, "F*cking Tom Feeney Boulder Liberal." Or something.
I'd really to see Schaffer fess up and and say, "Gosh golly gee, I'm really sorry for helping a bunch of sweat shop owners paying a corrupt and now in jail lobbyist to keep the status quo of slave wages, sweat shops, forced abortion, and a thriving sex trade industry." But then, I'd also like a pony.
For a little while now, we've had Colorado Media Matters posting the worst of the worst on SquareState. This one from late last week regarding Bob Schaffer and immigration (two things that when mentioned together should cause out and out laughter) is so bad I had to contribute a little to put this more in perspective.
Summary: While interviewing Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer on Newsradio 850 KOA, the Colorado's Morning News anchors failed to point out the "immigration-reduction" agenda of a website Schaffer cited as giving his Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, "F's on immigration." KOA's Steffan Tubbs and Lois Melkonian also failed to challenge Schaffer's false assertion that Denver and Boulder are so-called "sanctuary" cities, despite evidence to the contrary.
On the September 10 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's Colorado's Morning News, co-anchor Steffan Tubbs and guest co-anchor Lois Melkonian allowed their guest, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer, to attack his Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, using misleading or false information related to immigration.
If the Schaffer camp were smart (I know, I know) they wouldn't mention immigration after Schaffer opened his big old mouth about how much he loves the sweat shop and forced abortion policies of the Mariana Islands. You'll remember that during his time in Congress he worked on behalf of now jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the sweat shop owners of the Mariana Islands to continue those worker abusive policies and keep them the status quo.
This made national news for weeks. For the news anchors at KOA to not bring this up during a discussion of immigration policy with Bob Schaffer shows just how much they're nothing more than flacks.
So, what's this site giving Udall F's? According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (you know what territory we're getting into when they're the source):
NumbersUSA executive director Roy Beck, a long-time friend of Coe's, adopted a more moderate tone when he addressed his guests and told them what they should be doing to end the current immigration regime.
It would be better, Beck counseled, if their attempts to lobby legislators that week did not appear to be orchestrated by NumbersUSA. For their campaign to be effective, he said, it "needs to look like a grassroots effort."
Grassroots - or AstroTurf?
To be sure, this was no grassroots effort. Nor is NumbersUSA, in any sense of the word, a grassroots organization.
And a bit about their funding:
In fact, the vast majority of American anti-immigration groups - more than a dozen in all - were either formed, led, or in other ways made possible through Tanton's efforts.
The principal funding arm of the movement, U.S. Inc., is a Tanton creation, and millions of dollars in financing comes from just a few of his allies, far-right foundations like those controlled by the family of Richard Mellon Scaife.
Oh, BTW, the overall grade these guys actually gave Udall, is a C-.
Finally, Schaffer lies about Udall and his support of the American Dream Act (HR 1275) saying:
this Hernandez guy, Mark Udall introduced, sponsored legislation that would give this guy your tax money to pay for his college tuition.
The truth however is that the American Dream Act, HR1275 establishes states rights for residency with respect to instate tuition and also requires:
(A) the alien has been physically present in the United States for a continuous period of not less than 5 years immediately preceding the date of enactment of this Act, and had not yet reached the age of 16 years at the time of initial entry;
(B) the alien has been a person of good moral character since the time of application;
The latter means no criminal record. Thus, "this Hernandez guy" with at least 12 arrests would not qualify. But, why let little things like facts get in the way, eh Bob?
So while Bob Schaffer says one thing about immigration, his actions show where his priorities lie.
This all started when Bob Schaffer opened his big mouth mentioning the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a US protectorate famous for it's garment industry sweat shops, as a model for a guest worker program. As Bob Schaffer took a trip there in 1999 while a Congressman, this prompted investigation by myself and others including the Denver Post here, here, and here. Nearly two months later a local conservative blogger, Ross Kaminsky began a series defending Bob Schaffer starting with this piece in the Denver Post's new website Politics West.
What opportune timing. Between the Bill Orr trial, trying to prove who gave him that earmark, and so many other political scandals and events, I wasn't sure when was the right time to reveal what else we dug out of Bob Schaffer's Congressional archive. But, now that Ross Kaminsky has started his belated by two months defense of Sweat Shop Bob Schaffer, he's given me the right opportunity to bring this up again. I'm going to show how his attempt to get to the "truth" is the furthest thing from reality.
Media Matters is already on the case pointing out that he's ignored Preston Gate's involvement here, and an article referenced by the Denver Post from the Washington Post detailing how the Traditional Values Coalition worked with Jack Abramoff for quite some time to launder money.
To discount Abramoff's involvement by saying Preston Gates is a large firm just ignores the facts. According to a lobbyist disclosure form from 1999, the first lobbyist listed for the client Western Pacific Economic Council is none other than Jack Abramoff. For 1999, there are no other lobbyists listed than those on this form or other lobbying firms working for that client or any client related to the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. The database is here. The House Lobbyist database shows nothing for those clients or Abramoff until 2001 when he was with Greenberg Traurig. This is the very same Western Pacific Economic Council listed on page 2 of Schaffer's agenda that he was to be meeting with on his first day on the islands. In later files, you'll see Abramoff was also the lead lobbyist for this client with many others working for him.
click images for full size
Lynn Bartels has a followup where Schaffer actually speaks for the first time. That sure took a while.
A welcoming committee wanted to take Schaffer to his hotel, he said, but he prevailed. He said he found women working in a "sweatshop," and demanded leaders of the Northern Mariana Islands investigate.
"I was told that shortly after I left (the Marianas) that the factory was shut down," he said Friday, stressing he never verified the information.
But, last time he said they were all happy and smiling. This is the first we're all hearing of this amazing progress from his fact finding mission. I await the newspaper stories about the closing of said factory. Of course maybe this is just another case not being terribly engaged.
Schaffer again insists this was a fact-finding mission -- a mission paid for by the Traditional Value Coalition. I'm sure they're not concerned with forced abortions or say sex slavery are they? This report (hat tip to Talking Points Memo) came out from the Department of Labor a year before Schaffer's trip.
far more below the fold
In what seems like a fairly moderate position on immigration Bob Schaffer had the following to say as quoted in the DenverRockyMountainPost:
Calling America a country perfectly "capable of multitasking," Republican Senate candidate Bob Schaffer said the U.S. ought to be pursuing a guest- worker program at the same time it fortifies its borders.
That's pretty amazing considering Bob Schaffer used to be a member of Tom Tancredo's all brown people out of the country caucus.
What's really shocking however is what he uses as an example of a great guest worker program:
He pointed to the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. protectorate that imports tens of thousands of foreign textile workers, as a successful model for a guest-worker program that could be adapted nationally.
"The concept of prequalifying foreign workers in their home country under private- sector management is a system that works very well in one place in America," he said of the islands' program. "I think members of Congress ought to be looking at that model and be considering it as a possible basis for a nationwide program."
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