The K Street Gang: The Rise and Fall of the Republican Machine

by Matthew Continetti

Book Overview

Animals lead rich social lives. They care for one another, compete for resources, and mate. Within a society, social relationships may be simple or complex and usually vary considerably, both between... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 038551672X
• ISBN13: 9780385516723
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Doubleday Books
• Length: 273 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Delay,Abramoff & Co.

"The K Street Gang" is the sordid tale of how some Republican leaders were involved to varying degrees in the Abramoff scandal. It all started in the early Nineties with Tom Delay gaining more power. In the words of Tom Delay quoted in the book -"We say to the lobbyists,'help us'. We know what we want to do and we find the people to help us do that. We go to the lobbyists and say 'help us get this in the appropriations bill'." The fundamental problem for the Republican party in 1994 was summed up by the author on page 59. "And so the GOP has come to adopt the theory of interest group politics, which dictates that politicians should seek to please the specific interests that brought them to power and not promote national goals that affect diverse groups." Anotherwords- in too many instances they simply sold out for money instead of serving their constituents. The most well-known Jack Abramoff scandal was the ripoff he perpetrated on some Indian tribes with the aid of Michael Scanlon. But this book sheds light on some more disgusting activites such as the Sun Cruz Casino scam, lobbying for homicidal dictators, paying journalists for favorable articles, and his mutually benficial business relationship with sweat-shop owner Willie Tan. If you want to read about some of the sleazy underbelly of Washington D.C. and some of the greedy lobbyists, this book examines the biggest of them all.

So this is how it's done?

With no political background I really enjoyed reading Continetti take on the "system" and those behind it and the inner workings of a lobbyist and elected government officials. Straight out of the headlines this book will take the reader into the back rooms of our political system and the people who try to work the system to their advange and what happens when they go too far.

THE K STREET GANG INVESTIGATION: POWER + CONTEMPT = GREED

Five Stars!! A brilliant, historical, detailed, and disturbing examination of the demise of the leadership of the Republican party in the last twenty years, especially the House of Representatives. But the title may be both premature and presumptuous: the Republican party hasn't "Fall(en)" until it loses the House, the Senate, in particular; and you might also include the state legislatures, and the governorships. The K Street Gang is an incisive look at the rise of the Republican party since Bill Clinton's first term presidential win, into George W. Bush's second term, and it's current status at the hands of some truly powerful, greedy, and legally challenged members. But the book begins with the retirement of Ed Michel in OCt 1993 as Republican minority leader and the twin ascendancies of Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay. After decades of being the minority party, the Republicans made their move on the American 'body politic' with the "Contract with America", which upset Bill Clinton's apple cart and wrenched Congressional power from the Democrats for the first time in 26 years. This book gives specific details of how the Republican's brought 'lobbying' and contempt to the level of an art form. While talking rhetoric like "shift(ing) power back to the states", Delay handed legislative power to the lobbyists, and the lobbyists began writing legislation, lots of it. Meanwhile "Casino Jack" Abramoff and Grover Norquist formed a bond rising in the young college Republican ranks. These two would leapfrog up the non-elected Republican ranks. Norquist, in the ATR, would author the infamous "No Tax Pledge" in 1986 and the "Leave Us Alone" coalition. Who are these lobbyists? Think "Project Relief", a 'cabal' of 350 corporations and special interest groups which includes the likes of Boeing, BellSouth, Christian Coalition, US Chamber of Commerce, Coors, Chevron, GE, Hill & Knowlton lobbyists, and Wal-Mart, among others. Talk about STRANGE BEDFELLOWS! Project Relief lobbyists actually wrote the initial Job Creation and Wage Enhancement Act. At the same time Jack Abramoff was president of the College Republicans, setting the stage for a decade of decadence and a future criminal conviction. And based on the amount of detail in the 14 pages of notes at the end of the book, their activities were not done undercover, but right out in open sources available to the American public and the hapless Democrats. In 248 pages, the author spells out what amounts to nothing more than a police report of a national crime perpetuated on the American public in broad daylight by a select few members of the Republican party. The author does not blame the entire Republican party for the shenanigans which the book details. The chapter on the Marianas Islands is shameful for the unfair labor practices that some Republicans perpetuated. Who knows if the rest of the party knew what they were voting for. As an Independent, I observe these types of political books with as much

The K Street Gang was Libertarian Anarchist,not Conservative

Continetti(C)has written a timely expose of the machinations of Abramoff-DeLay-Norquist,etc.,aka the K Street Gang.He exposes their corruption,fraud ,and theft.Unfortunately,C identifies these Republicans as conservatives.The fact of the matter is that none of these characters are conservatives.Every member of the K Street gang is a libertarian anarchist follower of Ayn Rand,Ludwig von Mises,F von Hayek,Milton Friedman,Murray Rothbard,and their supply side followers like A Laffer and G Gilder.The hallmark of libertarian anarchism,be it the 18th century version of Thomas Paine,John Patrick Henry,George Mason,William Randolph and Thomas Jefferson(the Anti Federalists) or the 20th century version of Hayek and von Mises that has so influenced J Kemp,is a belief in(a) a mythical free market ideology,(b)opposition to the use of tariffs for any purpose,(c)a disdain for any form of strong federal(or state or local) government,as expressed by a constant stream of anti government rhetoric that matches any of the polemics,incendiary speeches, and pamphlets put out by Thomas Paine in the 18th century,and (d)the misbelief that all public sector spending, financed by the payment of income taxes, is fraud and theft.It is easy to follow their ends justifies the means logic.They were just liberating funds that had been stolen by the Federal government for use in the private sector.The real conservatives(Hamilton,Washington,Madison,Jay,Monroe,Franklin,and the Adams brothers) demolished these claims when they wrote or supported the arguments put forth in The Federalist Papers.The Founding Fathers rejected libertarianism well over 200 years ago . There are some lapses in the book concerning facts.For instance,C misstates the age of the conservative,Republican leader of the House in 1994,R H Michel,confuses the current Senator named Rockefeller with the late Governor of New York named Nelson Rockefeller,confuses the amendment to the constitution that gave women the right to vote with the amendment to the constitution that provided for the direct election of Senators,etc.Nevertheless,the book demonstrates the basically defective nature of libertarianism as both an economic and political philosophy.Hopefully,the author will revise the book in the future and correct his misidentification of Republican libertarians as Republican conservatives.

How American Democracy Works!

Continetti begins by reporting that Newt Gingrich decided to nationalize the '94 elections and win over the voters supporting Perot in '92 (almost 20%). This was to be accomplished by focusing on term limits, accountability, balanced budgets, and a strong defense - and became the foundation for his "Contract with America," supported by 150 Republican congressmen and another 200 candidates. He was wildly successful - not a single Republican incumbent lost, while the Democrats lost the Senate, House, and a majority of governorships. Seventy-three new Republicans entered the House - many financially supported by Tom DeLay who viewed government as a means to maximize the advantages of business so that business in turn would donate to their war chests. "The K Street Gang" then goes on to outline its protagonists - Jack Abramoff, Grover Norquist, and Ralph Reed - their early political years, meetings, and religious conversions (Abramoff and Reed). Creating the K Street Gang began in 1995 with DeLay's compiling a list of 400 of the largest PACs; one by one their top lobbyists were called in to receive the message - to protect their interests they needed to stop giving to the Democrats. Meanwhile, Rep. Bill Paxson (R) made a list of the top 1,000 lobbyists and their donations - they were then warned that they would not be welcomed if contributing to the Democrats. Grover Norquist compiled a third list, tracking employment histories, partisan leanings, and donations. DeLay and associates than started meeting Thursday A.M.s and suggesting Republicans for lobbying jobs, while Senator Rick Santorum did the same thing on the Senate side Tuesday A.M.s. Surprise - Democrat donations dropped sharply! Meanwhile, DeLay uses the lobbyists to help pass legislation that he favors. There now are about 68 lobbyists for each congressman and senator. Continetti sees these predominately Republican lobbyists as needing big government - as a way of making money. (This perhaps explains why spending has risen so fast during Bush II; however, it doesn't explain why Norquist and his fervent anti-tax stand abets the operation.) An interesting sideline is provided by Continetti's perspective on why Democrats have suffered lately - their lack of an overarching ideology, instead of favoring the narrow special interests of civil rights groups, feminists, and organized labor. Continetti cites Abramoff's and Norquist's efforts supporting the Commonwealth of the Marianas as an example of Republican utopia. It is exempt from U.S. immigration, labor, workplace safety, etc. laws - allowing almost 40,000 immigrants (vs. about 16,000 natives) on temporary visas to pay up to $7,000 for transportation, work up to 14 hours/day - in some cases locked inside fences, for about $3.15/hour with no overtime, at mostly foreign-owned factories allowed to claim their goods are "Made in U.S.A.," with most government expenses paid by U.S. taxpayers. Then "The K Street Gang" is off to Fl