RICK "THE SLICK' SANTORUM

If cynicism, hypocrisy, and crude deceit ever go to $50 a barrel, try to get the drilling rights to Rick Santorum's head.

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RICK "THE SLICK' SANTORUM
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If cynicism, hypocrisy, and crude deceit ever go to $50 a barrel, try to get the drilling rights to Rick Santorum’s head.

This Republican senator from Pennsylvania has become known as Rick “The Slick” by many of the homefolks, for he’s trying to hoodwink them into believing that he’s now “Mr. Ethics” in congress. This is a bit of a stretch for Santorum, since he had been a key player in the infamous “K-Street Project.” This corrupt venture was organized by the supersleze duo of Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff to turn Washington’s corporate lobbying corps into a de facto arm of the Republican party – and to turn the party into the legislative arm of the lobbyists.

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For some time, Rick was the senate point man for the K-Street Project, holding weekly strategy meetings in his office with top Republican lobbyists, including Abramoff. But now that Abramoff, DeLay, and the project are all under federal criminal investigations, Rick-the-Slick suddenly wants no credit for his work with them. He’s claiming that, “I had absolutely nothing to do – never met, never talked, never coordinated, never did anything with… the, quote, K-Street Project.”

Meanwhile, Santorum (who is up for election this year) has turned into a crusading ethics reformer in the senate. He recently demanded that his colleagues forego the corrupt practice of hitching rides on luxury jets provided by corporations seeking legislative favors in Washington.

It was an impassioned speech. But it probably would’ve been more persuasive had one little fact not come out: It seems that only two days earlier, Rick-the-Slick had hitched a ride to two fundraising events aboard a BellSouth corporate jet! To keep him company, BellSouth sent its lobbyist along.

This is Jim Hightower saying… Even for someone as slick as Rick Santorum, it’s hard to pose as a clean-government champion when you’ve got corporate caviar stuck to your teeth.

Sources:
“Ethical Notes on the Reforming Class,” The New York Times, May 6, 2006.
“Rick Santorum’s Hostile Takeover,” Philadelphia Daily News, May 5, 2006.

I’m making moves!

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