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Insider Report: Ousted Lawmakers Raking It In Special From NewsMax's Most Informed Sources
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories): 1. Expert: Chavez's Venezuela Headed for ‘Collapse' Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is steering his oil-rich country toward an almost inevitable economic collapse. That's the warning from Richard W. Rahn, director general of the Center for Global Economic Growth, a project of the FreedomWorks Foundation. "What has not been reported is the full extent of the corruption in Venezuela and how this ultimately will destroy the economy," Rahn writes in a commentary that appeared in The Washington Times. "Venezuela has had a rapidly growing economy for the last few years, due to high oil prices, but the house of cards is about to collapse."
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Chavez was first elected president on an anti-corruption platform. But he has been steadily dismantling independent political institutions and is taking control of the oil, telecommunications, and energy sectors as well as the media.
He has also misappropriated much of the Central Bank's reserves, according to Rahn, who reports that since 2004, the Bank has transferred about $22.5 billion to accounts abroad — and about $12 billion of that remains unaccounted for. Chavez's government has used the nation's wealth to buy foreign political influence and loyalties in Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and other countries; and to buy weapons from Russia, Spain, and elsewhere. The money has also gone to local cronies for inflated economic development projects and to buy the loyalty of government officials, according to Rahn, who writes in the article reprinted in Petroleumworld: "The Venezuelan economy will collapse, despite massive oil revenues, because we know socialist economies perform poorly . . . "Venezuela no longer has an independent central bank, and inflation is already up to 17 percent and rapidly rising . . . "Venezuelans will be increasingly squeezed, and you can bet the blood from the innocent Venezuelan people will be drained long before those on the take from Mr. Chavez agree to have their looting stopped." Editor's Note: 2. Ousted Lawmakers Raking It In Republican senators and House members who were turned out of office in November are finding a financial windfall after Congress. In all, 22 GOP representatives and six senators are lining up new careers after failing to win re-election. (No Democrat running for re-election lost.) And while House members earn a $165,200 annual salary, former lawmakers can expect wages from $250,000 to $2 million a year in the outside world, said former House Republican leader Dick Armey, 66, a senior policy adviser with the lobbying firm DLA Piper in Washington. Some of the beaten Republicans are following Armey's path and becoming lobbyists. Defeated Montana Sen. Conrad Burns was hired by GAGE Business Consulting and Government Affairs, a lobbying group founded by his former chief of staff, Leo Giacometto, Bloomberg.com reports. By law, Burns can't lobby for a year, so he will spend this year as a "senior adviser," according to the firm's Web site. Florida Republican Clay Shaw, ousted from the House in November, is seeking a job as a corporate director. Other defeated lawmakers are moving on to research institutions and universities. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is joining the Ethics and Public Policy Center, which describes itself as Washington's "premier institute dedicated to applying the Judeo-Christian moral tradition to critical issues of public policy." Santorum will also receive fees for speeches and is considering writing a book to provide his family with "a little more financial stability and security," he told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Former New Hampshire Rep. Charles Bass became president of the Republican Main Street Partnership, an organization that advocates fiscal responsibility, according to Bloomberg. Bass will also join the board of directors of New Hampshire-based New England Wood Pellet LLC. Former Sen. Mike DeWine will return to his alma mater, Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, to teach an undergraduate course called "Inside American Politics." Lincoln Chafee, who lost his re-election bid for the Senate from Rhode Island, has accepted a teaching position at Brown University in Providence as a distinguished visiting fellow with the Watson Institute for International Studies. And Iowa's Jim Leach, who served 15 terms in the House before losing in November, has been offered a position at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Said Armey: "I know of only a few cases where members failed to make more than they did as members of Congress." Editor's Note: 3. Arnaud de Borchgrave Scoops NY Times The New York Times on Jan. 21 carried a front-page story disclosing that Pakistan was playing a role in supporting the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan. But NewsMax pundit Arnaud de Borchgrave made the same revelation on Jan. 4, more than two weeks earlier. The Times reported: "More than two weeks of reporting along this frontier, including dozens of interviews with residents on each side of the [Pakistan-Afghanistan] border, leaves little doubt that Quetta [Pakistan] is an important base for the Taliban, and [there are] many signs that Pakistani authorities are encouraging the insurgents, if not sponsoring them." The Times also stated: "Western diplomats in both countries and Pakistani opposition figures say that Pakistani intelligence agencies — in particular the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence and Military Intelligence — have been supporting a Taliban restoration." De Borchgrave, editor at large of The Washington Times and United Press International, had earlier reported: "The Bush administration suspends disbelief that close ally President Musharraf of Pakistan is betting against the U.S. prevailing in Iraq, and staying the course in Afghanistan. The appalling truth is Mr. Musharraf's geopolitical calculation has given the green light to his Inter-Services Intelligence agency to resume covert assistance to Taliban, now fighting NATO and the U.S. in Afghanistan." An even earlier article by de Borchgrave, carried by NewsMax.com on Sept. 30, reported: "Heated denials notwithstanding, Taliban and al-Qaida now have privileged sanctuaries in North and South Waziristan [Pakistan], where they no longer have to duck when they see a Pakistani soldier." Editor's Note: 4. Adam Bellow Launches Pamphlet Publisher It has been claimed that Thomas Paine's pamphlet "Common Sense" helped win the minds of millions of Colonists to the cause of the Revolution, giving birth to the United States. Today, noted book editor Adam Bellow has founded The New Pamphleteer, a Web-based publishing company dedicated to reviving the pamphlet as a medium for ideas and debate. "In this age of news and information overload, readers need no more — and no less — than the essential," Bellow told NewsMax. "Therefore the time is right for the return of the pamphlet. "Pamphlets have been at the center of every revolution and social movement in Western history. The rise of mass media in the last century may have pushed the pamphlet to the sidelines, but the pamphleteering spirit lives on wherever thinking men and women insist on their right to free expression." Bellow has been publishing conservative best sellers for almost 20 years at The Free Press, Simon & Schuster, and Doubleday. He is the son of Nobel Prize-winning novelist Saul Bellow. New Pamphleteer co-founder David Bernstein was co-founder and executive vice president of iConnect.com and founding editor of Diversity and Division magazine. The New Pamphleteer will produce 4-by-6-inch booklets with an average of 60 to 80 pages each, selling for $4. According to the Columbia Journalism Review, "The significance for the blogosphere is that Bellow believes the Internet has become the central arena for intellectual debate in America, and it is from this source — reprinting digests of blog posts or letting individual bloggers pull together collections of their writing — that he hopes to harvest most of his material." The first three works The New Pamphleteer put out were a collection of posts about the Lebanon war by blogger Michael Totten, a reprinting of the speeches of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and a digest of Lebanese and Israeli blog posts from during the Lebanon war. A new offering is "Embrace the Suck," a pocket guide to "milspeak" — lingo used by members of the military — by retired Col. Austin Bay. A list of other pamphlets can be found at www.pamphletguys.com. By the way, "embrace the suck" is milspeak for "the situation is bad, but deal with it." Editor's Note: 5. Join Dick Morris, Browne, Ruddy at NewsMax Luncheon Seminar NewsMax.com and MoneyNews.com will host a special financial seminar on Saturday, Feb. 17, at the Boca Resort & Club in Boca Raton, Fla. At this unique luncheon seminar, "Protecting and Growing Your Wealth," presenters will be surveying the financial landscape for investors. Distinguished keynote speakers will include Dick Morris, the famed political strategist and Fox News commentator, and John Browne, NewsMax's contributing financial editor.
Dick Morris will discuss the implications of the Democratic takeover of Congress, reveal the inside story on how the 2008 race is shaping up (and who will likely win the GOP nomination), and why a President Hillary offers so much danger for the country's economic well being. Mr. Morris also runs a political consulting firm and deals with world leaders around the globe. From this worldview, he'll offer his perception on a looming war with Iran and its implications, and provide a global perspective on your investments that few can match. John Browne will discuss similar themes, but he will offer a point-by-point analysis of the global economic situation, including:
Space is limited for this very special engagement. The cost of the luncheon is $75 per person. Please RSVP at your earliest convenience by calling 561-686-1165. Keynote Speakers: Dick Morris is arguably the most prominent political consultant in America. He is credited with piloting Bill Clinton to a stunning comeback re-election victory in 1996. Since then, Mr. Morris has become a strong critic of the Clintons, particularly Sen. Hillary Clinton. He is a frequent commentator on Fox News, writes for NewsMax.com, and is the author of several New York Times best-selling books. He also is a global consultant to political parties and world political figures. John Browne is contributing editor to Financial Intelligence Report (FIR) and writes for MoneyNews.com. He offers brilliant insight into global trends affecting your investments and America's economy. Mr. Browne is a distinguished former member of Britain's Parliament. He served as a close associate of then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. In addition, Mr. Browne has a significant background in finance and business, spanning some 37 years. After graduating from the Harvard Business School, he joined Morgan Stanley & Co. He also worked with Barclays Bank and Citigroup. Host: Christopher Ruddy is the publisher of Financial Intelligence Report, a publication of NewsMax Media, Inc. NewsMax publishes NewsMax.com, one of the country's largest Internet news portals, as well as NewsMax Magazine. NewsMax also publishes MoneyNews.com, a Web site for investors. A Newsweek cover story named Mr. Ruddy one of the 20 most influential stars of the new media. A graduate of the London School of Economics, Mr. Ruddy has been a media fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace. He writes about matters involving geopolitics. Please RSVP at your earliest convenience by calling 561-686-1165. 6. We Heard . . . THAT Rudolph Giuliani has hired a prominent Texas consulting firm with ties to Karl Rove to work with his presidential exploratory committee. Austin-based Olsen & Shuvalov will assist the former New York City mayor with fund-raising, voter outreach, and the development of his political message as he weighs a run for the White House in 2008, The New York Times reports. Olsen & Shuvalov grew out of the old Karl Rove & Company direct-mail marketing firm. Rove sold the assets of the company when he joined George W. Bush's presidential campaign in 1999. THAT Rep. Mary Bono is backing Rudolph Giuliani for president in 2008. Giuliani is the right man for the job, the California Republican — and widow of Sonny Bono — told The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, adding that she agrees with "most of his philosophies." Bono's campaign is sponsoring a golf event to raise money for Giuliani's exploratory committee. THAT Dr. Walid Phares, an internationally recognized expert on terrorism and the Middle East, has joined the Fox News Network as a contributor. Lebanese-born Phares is a senior fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and has conducted briefings at the U.S. State Department and the United Nations Security Council. Since 1993, he has been a professor of comparative politics at Florida Atlantic University. Phares' books include "Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies Against the West." THAT Democrats have to be told to be nice – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave House members strict instructions to be respectful to President Bush when he delivered his State of the Union address. THAT former New Republic Editor Andrew Sullivan is leaving his current post at Time.com and moving his blog, The Daily Dish, to Atlantic.com, the Web site of Atlantic Monthly. The blog, he writes, will hopefully be "a voice in a new conversation, dedicated to the American idea, of no party or clique, in pursuit of freedom, national progress, and honor." THAT NewsMax Magazine was recently recognized as one of the top 25 best-selling magazines in college bookstores by College Store Executive Magazine 2006. Editor's Notes:
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