false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175324202m/505761.jpg 505761 1 With its barbecues, new Cadillacs, and $4,000 snakeskin cowboy boots, Texas is all about power and money -- and the power that money buys. This detailed and wide-scope account shows how a group of wealthy Texas Republicans quietly hijacked American politics for their own gain. <P><P>Getting George W. Bush elected, we learn, was just the tip of the iceberg....<P><P><P>In <I>Follow the Money,</i> award-winning journalist and sixth-generation Texan John Anderson shows how power in Texas has long been vested in the interconnected worlds of Houston's global energy companies, banks, and law firms -- not least among them Baker Botts, the firm controlled by none other than James A. Baker III, the Bush family consigliere. Anderson explains how the Texas political system came to be controlled by a sophisticated, well-funded group of conservative Republicans who, after elevating George W. Bush to the American presidency, went about applying their hardball, high-dollar politicking to Washington, D.C.<P><P>When George Bush reached the White House, he brought with him not only members of the Texas legal establishment (among them former White House counsel Harriet Miers and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales) but empowered swarms of Republican lobbyists who saw in Bush's arrival a way to make both common cause and big money.<P><P>Another important Beltway Texan was Congressman Tom DeLay, the famous "Exterminator" of Houston's Twenty-second District, who became majority leader in 2003 and controlled which bills made it through Congress and which did not. DeLay, in turn, was linked to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who used his relationships with both DeLay and Karl Rove on behalf of his clients, creating a shockingly corrupt flow of millions of dollars among Republican lobby groups and political action committees. Washington soon became infected by Texas-style politics. Influence-peddling, deal-making, and money-laundering followed -- much of it accomplished in the capital's toniest restaurants or on the fairways and beaches of luxurious resorts, away from the public eye.<P><P>The damaging fallout has, one way or another, touched nearly all Americans, Democrat and Republican alike. <I>Follow the Money</i> reveals the hidden web of influence that links George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and the Texas Republicans to the 2000 recount in Florida; the national tort-reform movement; the controversial late-hour, one-vote passage of the Medicare Reform Act; congressional redistricting schemes; scandals in the energy sector; the destruction of basic constitutional protections; the financial machinery of the Christian right; the manipulation of American-Indian tribe casinos; the Iraq War torture scandals; the crooked management of the Department of the Interior; the composition of the Supreme Court; and the 2007 purges of seasoned prosecutors in the Justice Department.<P><P>Some of the actors are in federal prison, others are on their way there, and many more have successfully eluded a day of reckoning.<P><P>Told with verve, style, and a not-so-occasional raised eyebrow, Anderson's account arcs directly into tomorrow's headlines. Startling in its revelations, <I>Follow the Money</i> is sure to spark controversy and much-needed debate concerning which direction this country goes next.<P><P> 493799 2007 Follow the Money: How George W. Bush and the Texas Republicans Hog-Tied America total:4|5:1|4:2|3:1| 4 16 10 3 3 0 false false Fri Jan 23 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 12:46:51 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 03 03:24:24 -0800 2009 but, I feel like the way it was presented was more intended to smear than to present facts for the reader to decide. He cites to many incidents, but seemingly only...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 24 08:51:39 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 24 08:57:01 -0800 2008
A scary expose' of the Texas rich doing great damage to our country.

It's a shame that we have allowed polititians, both dmocrats and republicans represent the best interests of the rich and corporations.

A grass roots revolt is needed to steer this ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Jan 03 06:46:32 -0800 2008 Wed Jan 23 11:00:28 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Mon Oct 15 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Nov 09 22:15:14 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 09 22:15:56 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Feb 14 15:14:45 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 14 21:02:17 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jul 26 20:24:50 -0700 2008 Sat Jul 26 20:25:03 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Wed May 14 08:02:49 -0700 2008 Wed May 14 08:02:49 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sun Sep 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 04 05:58:12 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 17 12:43:13 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Fri Nov 02 06:40:31 -0700 2007 Fri Nov 02 06:40:42 -0700 2007 0 0 false false Mon Aug 27 14:15:00 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 27 14:15:00 -0700 2007 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=505761