by D. Cupples (photo from Senate.gov) | Instead of focusing on ineffective lobbying reforms that give the false appearance of accomplishment, Congress should finally pass real campaign-finance reforms.
Today, watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) brings us yet another example of why our nation needs to tackle the roots of political corruption by enacting real campaign-finance reform. The problem: most members of Congress benefit from the gushing flow of corporate cash, making them less than eager to turn off the tap. CREW reports:
"Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) today sent a complaint to the Department of Justice, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District for Louisiana and the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, asking for an investigation into whether Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) violated federal bribery law by including a $2 million earmark for Voyager Expanded Learning in a bill a mere four days after receiving $30,000 in campaign contributions from company executives and their relatives. CREW also asked the Senate Ethics Committee to investigate the matter.
"Randy Best, a top Republican donor and Bush pioneer, founded Voyager, an educational products company and rather than selling the company’s reading program to school districts, hired lobbyists to obtain earmarks for it.
"Although the House had appropriated $1 million for his program for the D.C. public schools, Best still needed a Senate sponsor. A lobbyist arranged a meeting with Sen. Landrieu, the chair of the Appropriations subcommittee responsible for the District of Columbia, to press for an earmark. Shortly after Sen. Landrieu met with Best, a member of Sen. Landrieu’s staff asked him to hold a fundraiser for her and he agreed.
"After the fundraiser, she received $30,000 in campaign contributions from individuals associated with the company -- donors who had never before contributed to her. Four days after she received the money, she inserted an earmark into a D.C. appropriations bill, giving D.C. schools $2 million to buy Best’s reading program, which was unproven and had not been requested by the school system.
"Federal law prohibits public officials from directly or indirectly demanding, seeking, receiving, accepting, or agreeing to receive or accept anything of value in return for being influenced in the performance of an official act." (CREW)
Unlike the Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay scandals, this matter is not limited to one political party. Landrieu is a Democrat, and Voyager's founder is a Bush Republican. See how easy it is to cross party lines when hard currency is involved?
Of course, it won't be easy to prove a "quid pro quo" (i.e., that Voyager-linked people donated to Landrieu specifically in exchange for an earmark), even if the intent was there. The upshot: if bribery occurred, the involved parties may get away with it.
As long as our campaign-finance system remains riddled with more holes than Swiss cheese, which allow piles of corporate cash to taint our electoral and legislative processes, we will continue losing the battle against corrupt misuse of our tax dollars.
That's an issue that all presidential candidates should be talking about. See Memeorandum for other bloggers' reactions.
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