RAGGED THOTS: When Mastercard & Visa Won't Do...

Friday, March 03, 2006

When Mastercard & Visa Won't Do...

"Trying to purchase your favorite politician -- but suddenly find yourself low on cash?

Well, don't leave home without...the American Express card.

It's ideal for paying off the (allegedly) corrupt New York union official/state legislator:

It sounds like an old-time bid-rigging scam: The suggestion is that electrical contractors divvied up neighborhoods, setting "low-bids" in advance, with other
contractors deliberately bidding too high on street light contracts. [Labor Leader/Assemblyman Brian] McLaughlin was allegedly compensated with cash, an
American Express card, and the installation of his alarm system.

PLUS: For the really big-ticket item -- say a leader of Congress -- Amex is there for you too:

When Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and his wife flew from Houston to a golf resort in
Scotland in June 2000, the first-class airfare cost $14,001, a big-ticket item for a public servant. But someone else paid.
The American Express bills of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to fraud charges in January, show he footed the bill for the tickets, in an apparent violation of House ethics rules.
"The source of the travel expenses may not be ... a registered lobbyist,"
according to the House rules. Abramoff was a registered lobbyist at the time.