13 December 2018

The Intercept Catches AZ Temp-Senator/Capitol Hill Veteran Jon Kyl In The Revolving Door

The question now - after the stunning politically-tinged temporary appointment on September 4th by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey of lobbyist Jon Kyl to fill a seat in The U.S. Senate left empty by the untimely death of John McCain - is how dicey can it get??
Was it "a call back to public service" or something else? 
When a well-respected international investigative reporting fire-brand organization like The Intercept pays attention, we started to get the spotlight on Kyl just three days ago:  
Let's get right to the point > to his critics — it is one of the most corrupt tenures in the modern history of the Senate. . ."
The Remarkable Tale of the Corporate Lobbyist Sworn In as a Temporary U.S. Senator
by David Dayen 10 Dec 2018, 6:56 a.m.
 
". . . Kyl, who served in the House and the Senate for decades but retired in 2012, was chosen to replace the late John McCain on an interim basis, as a placeholder before a special election for the seat in 2020. But Kyl, who was sworn in September 5, never committed to filling out the vacancy for the next two years; from the beginning, he only committed to serve through the lame-duck session, and he is widely expected to leave after that. That means that the final senator for the next Congress has yet to be determined.
Few have paid much attention to Kyl, who is wrapping up one of the strangest and — to his critics — one of the most corrupt tenures in the modern history of the Senate. . ."
__________________________________________________________
Blogger Note: Google tells me that there's been an unusual amount of traffic on my network.
Am I a Robot? Definitely not! 
_________________________________________________________________________

Another take-away from David Dayan in The Intercept
Kyl was a registered lobbyist at a powerhouse D.C. law firm, who lived and worked in Washington for five and a half years before taking a four-month gig as a senator. His only floor speeches have involved matters at least glancingly tied to his lobbying. His entire term of office seems like a calculated attempt to refresh his contacts and gain clout from the inside, only to spin back out to influence the institution. He’s supposed to represent Arizona, but increasingly it appears that he only represents K Street.
“Kyl’s power had diminished significantly over time,” said Jeff Hauser, director of the Revolving Door Project at the Center for Economic and Policy Research. “By getting this dip into the Senate, he gets an increased profile, an increased rolodex. It burnishes his stature but does nothing for the republic.”
Jon Kyl served 26 years on Capitol Hill, first with four terms in the House of Representatives and then with three terms in the Senate. He rose to Senate minority whip, the No. 2 position in the Republican leadership, in 2007.
Upon retirement in 2012, it only took Kyl three months to make his way through the revolving door. He actually began his career as a lobbyist, so this was a return trip . . .
_________________________________________________________________________
THIS STORY IS SO RIPE-TO-BE-TOLD
It gets right at the heart of politics here in Arizona where local reporters fear to tread.
Your MesaZona is more than thrilled and more than excited to see an award-winning international investigative journalism organization like The Intercept get into the deep-dirt on the playing-field of politics to blow-the-whistle for what's gone on here for way far too long. . .
What Arizona investigative reporters will take the ball and run with it?
 
_________________________________________________________________________
Other details:
> Everything about Kyl’s second go-round in the Senate is rather strange. Kyl had lived in Arizona when he represented the state in Congress, but by September 2018, he had a primary job in Washington for five and a half years. Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution stipulates, “No Person shall be a Senator who shall not … be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.” But this was never cited as disqualifying for his appointment.
There is no record of Kyl returning to Arizona during his current Senate tenure except for a trip at the end of October, when the Senate was out of session, which included a check-in on forestry projects in Flagstaff and a campaign swing for Martha McSally. There’s also no record of Kyl maintaining a residence in the state. Kyl’s office did not return a detailed request for comment.
> “Family needs” is a euphemism for the desire to hoover up more money as a lobbyist, for which the rent-a-senator stint will provide a chance to raise his rates.
Kyl is using McCain’s Senate office and his legislative offices in Arizona. Kyl’s staff appears to have borrowed from McCain; his press secretary Rachael Dean Wilson was a McCain aide. He was given McCain’s old committee assignments on Indian Affairs, Homeland Security, and Armed Services. These don’t connect to what Kyl had previously held at all; he was on the Judiciary and Finance committees.
It does, however, connect to Kyl’s lobbying clients. The Armed Services Committee in particular is a plum assignment for a once and (potentially) future Northrop Grumman and Raytheon lobbyist (or non-lobbyist, as the registration case may be).

> Since returning to the Senate, Kyl has amassed a voting record that’s 100 percent in alignment with President Donald Trump. Many of his former clients have business before the Senate. Freeport McMoran, a mining concern, wanted copper on a draft list of critical minerals; Kyl had lobbied for them. Qualcomm wanted its hardware to be used in vehicle-to-vehicle communication; Kyl had lobbied on that.

YOU ARE INVITED TO READ MORE :
https://theintercept.com/2018/12/10/jon-kyl-senator-arizona/
 

34 Traitors to Ukraine Stripped of State Awards: President Signs Relevant Decree...The World Must Sound Serious to Make Putin Really Afraid of Expanding the War and Feel the Real Consequences of His Actions

I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians! Today we have published the first list of individuals who have been stripped of Ukraine's state aw...