Hhhmmm....when is he going to start cleaning out the real dirt in the party, Senators married to Lobbyists?
Its on both sides of the aisle but three particularly slimy ones come to mind:
Byron Dorgan’s wife, Lobbyist for Big Insurance - American Council of Life Insurers
Kent Contad’s wife, Lobbyist for Major League Baseball- (clearly not a very good one, given MLBs recent problems), became a lobbyist AFTER her husband became a Senator - how convenient!
Harry Reid - 3 sons, and 1 son-in-law all registered as lobbyists, both in Nevada and lobbying the federal government.
patriot - 08:06am on 06/05/2008
The problem with lobbyists’ money or any other causes of corruption is that the government is too big.
With the government trying to micromanage nearly every facet of the country the stakes are huge and everybody has to fight to see that they don’t get screwed.
I read that Microsoft had ONE lobbyist before they were attacked by the Clinton inJustice Department. Now they have a veritable army in Washington to protect their interests.
The Whistler - 08:06am on 06/05/2008
But if they filter it through a friend or a spouse, or they’re not lobbying for companies with government contracts…
So a spouse of a lobbyist can not make a donation to the campaign of their choice without it being a smoke screen for money laundering?
Give me a break. This is just your paranoid mind babbling. Provide some evidence of the amounts of significant donations that are made from these people that are meant to influence policy. You can’t and you won’t.
Hannitized - 08:06am on 06/05/2008
Bullcrap H.
Corporations and foreign governments cannot donate money to political campaigns but they get around it.
What they do is hire lobbyists for huge money. The lobbyist hires a bunch of people at inflated salaries and expect them and their spouses to donate to Congressmen in order to buy access.
I can’t imagine a sleazier system.
The Whistler - 09:06am on 06/05/2008
So a spouse of a lobbyist can not make a donation to the campaign of their choice without it being a smoke screen for money laundering?
This would probably depend on just whose money it was in the first place. If the non-working spouse of a lobbyist makes a $10,000 donation in her name but from a joint checking account even “ewe” (thanks, Mickey!) would have a difficult time obfuscating the obvious appearance of impropriety.
Similarly, if the lobbyist’s administrative assistant just “happened” to make a $5,000 donation that matched the bonus she just received, the odor would be way stronger than mere sheep dip.
As for “influencing policy” I’ve been working on just such a post on Obama’s less than stellar past. Stay tuned.
Bat One - 09:06am on 06/05/2008
Public financing of elections.
Hawk - 09:06am on 06/05/2008
Much like John McCain’s stupid Campaign Finance “Reform” act showed the money will still be there.
The solution is to limit the size of government and the need to buy off the government will disappear.
The way to limit the size of government is for people to quit supporting people trying to expand government.
The Whistler - 09:06am on 06/05/2008
Public financing of elections.
Hawk,
Leaving aside the First Amendment questions for a moment, which taxes would you advocate raising and by how much, in order to pay for your “public financing of elections”? A poll tax, perhaps?
Or would you instead try to sneak it through as some monstrous earmark?
Bat One - 09:06am on 06/05/2008
Publicly financed elections:
1 penny a day per tax payer specifically set aside for elections.
Do the math.
Yes the first amendment issues must be resolved.
realitybasedbob - 10:06am on 06/05/2008
1 penny a day per tax payer specifically set aside for elections.
Isn’t that pretty much the same sort of egregious self-delusion that got us into the Social Security mess?
Hhhmmm....when is he going to start cleaning out the real dirt in the party, Senators married to Lobbyists?
Its on both sides of the aisle but three particularly slimy ones come to mind:
Byron Dorgan’s wife, Lobbyist for Big Insurance - American Council of Life Insurers
Kent Contad’s wife, Lobbyist for Major League Baseball- (clearly not a very good one, given MLBs recent problems), became a lobbyist AFTER her husband became a Senator - how convenient!
Harry Reid - 3 sons, and 1 son-in-law all registered as lobbyists, both in Nevada and lobbying the federal government.
The problem with lobbyists’ money or any other causes of corruption is that the government is too big.
With the government trying to micromanage nearly every facet of the country the stakes are huge and everybody has to fight to see that they don’t get screwed.
I read that Microsoft had ONE lobbyist before they were attacked by the Clinton inJustice Department. Now they have a veritable army in Washington to protect their interests.
So a spouse of a lobbyist can not make a donation to the campaign of their choice without it being a smoke screen for money laundering?
Give me a break. This is just your paranoid mind babbling. Provide some evidence of the amounts of significant donations that are made from these people that are meant to influence policy. You can’t and you won’t.
Bullcrap H.
Corporations and foreign governments cannot donate money to political campaigns but they get around it.
What they do is hire lobbyists for huge money. The lobbyist hires a bunch of people at inflated salaries and expect them and their spouses to donate to Congressmen in order to buy access.
I can’t imagine a sleazier system.
This would probably depend on just whose money it was in the first place. If the non-working spouse of a lobbyist makes a $10,000 donation in her name but from a joint checking account even “ewe” (thanks, Mickey!) would have a difficult time obfuscating the obvious appearance of impropriety.
Similarly, if the lobbyist’s administrative assistant just “happened” to make a $5,000 donation that matched the bonus she just received, the odor would be way stronger than mere sheep dip.
As for “influencing policy” I’ve been working on just such a post on Obama’s less than stellar past. Stay tuned.
Public financing of elections.
Much like John McCain’s stupid Campaign Finance “Reform” act showed the money will still be there.
The solution is to limit the size of government and the need to buy off the government will disappear.
The way to limit the size of government is for people to quit supporting people trying to expand government.
Hawk,
Leaving aside the First Amendment questions for a moment, which taxes would you advocate raising and by how much, in order to pay for your “public financing of elections”? A poll tax, perhaps?
Or would you instead try to sneak it through as some monstrous earmark?
Publicly financed elections:
1 penny a day per tax payer specifically set aside for elections.
Do the math.
Yes the first amendment issues must be resolved.
Isn’t that pretty much the same sort of egregious self-delusion that got us into the Social Security mess?