His mouth made promises that his weasel brain had no intention to keep. We wouldn't want factory workers to make more than 20 dollars a day in wages, would we. Oh, wait....
In Pacific Islands, Mixed Feelings About a Lobbyist's Work - New York Times:
SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands, May 5 - Jack Abramoff, the Washington lobbyist under criminal investigation, used to say that the government here needed his services because it was the only American territory without a nonvoting delegate to Congress.
But in previously unreleased documents, Mr. Abramoff described how he worked hard to kill a bill in Congress that would have given the islands a delegate. He did so by exploiting his ties to Republican House leaders, including Tom DeLay of Texas, the majority leader whose travels arranged by the lobbyist have raised ethical questions.
...
Many people say hiring Mr. Abramoff was a waste of money. Some accuse him of double-dealing the Marianas, one of his first big lobbying projects, in much the same way he is now accused of defrauding Indian tribes.
An adviser to Gov. Juan N. Babauta, Robert J. Schwalbach, said Mr. Abramoff's policy was “to play both sides against the middle and take the Marianas for millions of dollars in fees.”Froilan C. Tenorio, the governor who hired Mr. Abramoff in 1995, did so in an effort to fend off efforts to establish American minimum wage and immigration standards in Marianas factories, where companies can hire cheap labor from China but still attach “Made in the U.S.A.” labels.
