Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Arizona Capitol Times (subscription required) reports Jeff Flake's past lobbying becomes issue in Arizona Senate race | Arizona Capitol Times
[A]s a result of the six-term congressman’s work as a lobbyist two decades ago for a Namibian uranium operation with ties to Iran, a GOP primary opponent and Democrats are portraying him as a Washington insider who should not get to succeed retiring Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.
Well before Flake was a leader in the campaign to eliminate the pet projects and grants that lawmakers add to spending bills [earmarks], he was a registered foreign agent who represented Namibia and a uranium mine in the southern African nation that gained independence in 1990. Flake has since received $100,000 in contributions from mining interests and voted a number of times against penalties on Iran.
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Flake says his lobbying past has never been a secret and that it was tied to his “love affair” with southern Africa, where as a young Mormon he did missionary work. He says his focus was on helping the transitional government of Namibia emerge as a democracy and develop its economy.
He says it’s ridiculous to imply that his work representing Rossing Uranium, which was majority-owned by the global mining conglomerate Rio Tinto Zinc of London, played any role in his votes on Iran. He says it was only last year that he learned that the Iranian government also had a stake in the mine.
According to Flake and federal records, the future congressman came to Washington as a public affairs executive with the firm of Shipley, Smoak & Henry, where he first represented Namibia.
He soon moved to Namibia as executive director of the Foundation for Democracy, a group established to draft Namibia’s constitution. Flake’s campaign says he worked for the foundation from April 1989 to 1990.
In 1992, Flake returned to Arizona, where he headed the Goldwater Institute, a think tank, until he was elected in 2000.
But after leaving Shipley, Smoak & Henry, Flake also owned and operated Interface Public Affairs from 1990 to 1991. Flake acknowledges that he was registered foreign agent and was paid $7,000 a month for representing Rossing Uranium Limited, which was majority-owned by Rio Tinto Zinc.
He said in his 1990 foreign agent registration with the Justice Department that his job was to “introduce the corporation and its citizenship activities within Namibia to the U.S.” … and to “attempt to promote the image … and good relations between the United States and Namibia.”
Flake said his focus was on helping lift apartheid-era penalties against the country and the mine. He said he did not know until last October that Iran owned a 15 percent stake in the Rossing Uranium, an interest that he said pre-dates the Iranian revolution that deposed the shah, an ally of the West.
“I don’t know how a congressman who claims to be transparent doesn’t disclose this beforehand,” said real estate investor Wil Cardon, Flake’s opponent in the GOP primary Aug. 28. “It makes me question every vote he has taken when it comes to Iran.”
Cardon added: “It’s also confusing to me that Flake has taken tens of thousands of dollars from the mining industry. From a guy who was a lobbyist before going to Washington, and claiming to fight special interests, it’s interesting how beholden to special interests he has become.”
Since joining Congress, Flake has received at least $97,000 from mining interests, including Rio Tinto, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracked donations through the 2010 election cycle.
He has backed legislation favorable to mining interests in Arizona. Last year Flake proposed ending a ban on uranium mining claims around the Grand Canyon. In 2009 he introduced a land swap bill that would enable Resolution Copper, an arm of Rio Tinto, to develop a mine in eastern Arizona.
Democrats also are making Flake’s lobbying past an issue.
“Jeff Flake is the definition of a Washington D.C. insider,” said Matt Canter, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
“He spent years as a Washington lobbyist and a registered foreign agent, doing the bidding of special interest foreign clients, before becoming a career politician who voted to benefit his former clients and refused to tell his constituents about his conflict of interest,” Cantor said.
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[Flake] says his record as one of a few congressmen who have repeatedly voted against sanctions for Iran is irrelevant. He says he long has opposed all such unilateral penalties, whether against Iran, Sudan, Cuba, Myanmar or any country.
I'll bet there are a lot of people who disagree with that last statement, both in the U.S. and Israel. Those sanctions are working according to a report today in the Washington Post. Iran, unable to sell oil, stores it on tankers – The Washington Post.
Perhaps he would prefer another Neocon war of adventure against Iran at a substantial cost of more American lives and treasure?
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Sanctions do not equal invading/bombing – not since Bush left office.
Past Presidents used plenty of sanctions – yet we never “invaded” or “bombed”.
While it is true, Flake has never advocated for war – just voted party line for it. He also supports the Ryan budget – and like Romney (whom he supports) who has gone on record claiming to want to invade Iran. While the Ryan budget does not “line item” fund such an endeavor – he does bloat the Military Industrial Complex siphon budget by eliminating the mandatory cuts – thus preparing for it.
There is also a deeper tax cut (to replace the Bush tax cuts) that it is arguable from a citizen standpoint that the “war” they are really preparing for is right here in America (the poor, unemployed, middle class, women, minorities, gay rights, planned parenthood, climate change,voter rights, etc.).
Either you think that economic sanctions are a good idea or you don’t. Flake doesn’t think US economic sanctions are a good idea. Neither do I. I find them mainly useful to determine who the US Army (Navy/Air Force/Marines) might be bombing or invading soon. I have hardly found Flake to be an advocate of out and out war not that he has been willing to openly advocate for peace either.
Every year in Congress, Flake has voted against the people. To take just one year in his long career as a Washington politician who hates working families, in 2007 Flake voted against The FDA Amendments Act, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the College Cost Reduction Act, the Improving Head Start Act, the Shareholder Vote on Executive Compensation Act, the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, the Employee Free Choice Act, the CLEAN Energy Act, the Energy Independence and Security Act, the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act, the Fair Minimum Wage Act and the Temporary Tax Relief Act.
This lapdog of the rich, powerful, and corrupt will never leave Washington. Watch what happens when/if he is no longer in elective office. He will be a lobbyist and foreign agent full-time instead of as a sideline.
Let’s not forget that vote FOR the Ryan Budget either…the one that does away with Medicare and the like…and balloons the budget they SAY they care about. (It’s a lie)
See how Flake voted against protecting the Grand Canyon from uranium mining and MUCH MUCH more!
http://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/28128/