A Round-Up On Pombo and Pombo Related News Items

"U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who pushed to expand oil drilling, mining, cattle grazing and logging on millions of acres of federal lands over the past five years, announced her resignation Friday.
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Norton worked to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling but was blocked by moderate Republicans in Congress last year. She also allowed snowmobiles back into Yellowstone National Park, overturning a Clinton-era rule
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Norton leaves office at a time when her agency was increasingly tied to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

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``The secretary held one of the most difficult Cabinet positions and did so with grace and composure,'' Pombo said.
(More at [Source - San Jose Mercury])

ThinkProgress:

"Norton received $50,000 from Jack Abramoff, and Abramoff also funneled more than $500,000 to one of Norton’s former political aides, Italia Federici, to gain access to her department.

Here’s a photo to remember her by (note Abramoff on the far
right):
" (Source)

SfChron:

"The House approved a bill Wednesday night that would wipe out state laws on safety labeling of food, overriding tough rules passed by California voters two decades ago that require food producers to warn consumers about cancer-causing ingredients.

The vote was a victory for the food industry, which has
lobbied for years for national standards for food labeling and contributed millions of dollars to lawmakers' campaigns. But consumer groups and state regulators warned that the bill would undo more than 200 state laws, including California's landmark Proposition 65, that protect public health.
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The Bay Area's 12 Democratic members opposed the bill, while Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, supported it." (Source)

Environmental Science and Technology Online:

Hidden ties - Big environmental changes backed by big industry - Lobbyists and industry officials who once pushed for the president’s Healthy Forests legislation now collaborate with Rep. Pombo to alter the Endangered Species Act.

The Record:

"Rep. Richard Pombo of Tracy this week became the latest lawmaker in Congress to get a new treasurer for his political action committee, part of a growing trend in Washington that has become one side effect of the ethics scandals gripping the Capitol.

But both Pombo's old and new treasurers work for the same powerful lobby shop, a massive firm whose clients have contributed at least $10,000 to his campaigns since 2003. The new treasurer, however, is not a registered lobbyist.
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...Until Tuesday, Pombo's Rich PAC was run by Barbara Bonfiglio of the mega-lobbying firm Williams & Jensen. Bonfiglio was a lobbyist until 2001 and is an authority on election law. She has managed 31 separate political action committees, according to the Center for Public Integrity. Federal records show Bonfiglio was also treasurer for former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's leadership PAC.
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Several of the firm's clients have contributed either to
Rich PAC or to Pombo's campaign account, including: Smithfield Foods, $1,000; Florida Power & Light, $2,500; Bayer, $2,000; Brinks Co., $1,500; DuPont,
$1,000; and Edison Electrical Institute, $2,000." (Source)

For more news from this past week and for more on some of these stories Pombo Watch has a good blog here.