Word: shakedown
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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That machine has perfected the art of the shakedown. Whip Tom DeLay of Texas actually keeps a book in his office listing how much the 400 largest special-interest pacs gave to either party in the past two years and makes sure contributors to the Democrats are marked down in his book as "unfriendly.'' Representative John Boehner of Ohio is in charge of orchestrating how interest-group lobbyists can raise cash to promote the Contract. What do the lobbyists get in return? Awe-inspiring access to the legislative process, including the right to write the bills themselves, like...
...Senators Arlen Specter and Bob Kerrey, who led the Senate inquiry, also faulted CIA Director John Deutch for understating impact of tainted information and have requested a comprehensive review of all CIA sources for the past 10 years. But TIME's Doug Waller says a major CIA shakedown this isn't. "At most, this represents a spanking for an old sin," he says. "Moreover, the allegation that CIA disinformation led to billions in wasteful Pentagon spending -- one of the major charges -- could not be substantiated, when military spending was investigated...
While Clinton's performance may look better than it did at first, many experts doubt that much has changed. "I don't see any systemic improvement in the Administration," says Brent Scowcroft, who served as George Bush's National Security Adviser. "The notion that they've been through their shakedown and now have a smoothly running machine just isn't true. Even when they do things right they don't manage it well...
...mail over interstate wires and ordered him held without bond. (He could face five years in prison if convicted.) Before the arrest, Baker told TIME correspondent Wendy Cole that he meant no harm to the woman, but he defended his right to free expression: "We're now seeing a shakedown about what should and shouldn't be on the Internet. And I've gotten caught up in the midst...
Clothing could be purchased as well. Most of the shirts were so original and beautiful they made the Deadhead want to buy them all, from the simplest peace symbol to the intricate fusion of Sesame Street characters and the Shakedown Street album cover. And only 15 dollars, half of what you would pay for a garment commemortating your presence at one of the Eagles premium rehersal sessions that are passing for concerts this summer...