Political Corruption

A GREAT BIG TEXAS GOOBER

Jim Hightower — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0700

The great state of Georgia is famous for its peanuts, but I still say that my state of Texas produces the most extraordinary goobers of them all.

As proof, I submit Joe Driver, a Republican state representative from the Dallas area. You can't get any more gooberish than Joe.

Until recently, most Texans had never heard of Driver, even though he's been in the Lege for nearly two decades and is a powerful member of the appropriations committee, which doles out Texas tax dollars. His oversight of state spending is relevant to his gooberness, because he recently burst into public consciousness over a rather basic error in accounting, not to mention a gross case of financial ethicalitis.

It seems that Joe, who regularly rails against big spending liberals and demands stringent cutbacks in our miserly state budget, has for years been routinely billing taxpayers for more than $100,000 in travel expenses that his political fund had already covered – including airline tickets, fancy meals, and luxury out-of-state hotels. He would pay for these costs with campaign funds, then submit the same expenses to the state, and merrily slip the taxpayer reimbursement into his own pocket.

Now comes the amazing part. This double-dipping goober insists that he didn't know it was wrong to collect payment from two entities for the same expense! Apparently, Driver's mom never taught him the "play-fair" lesson as a boy.

When confronted by an AP reporter about his curious bookkeeping, Joe claimed that the state ethics commission had okayed it years ago, though he couldn't say who or when. He added that he is apoplectic that his double-billing scheme turns out to be stupid, unethical, and illegal. "It pretty well screws my week," he sighed.

Come on, Georgia, try to match Joe Driver for pure gooberness.

THE GOOFIEST STATE OF ALL

Jim Hightower — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Wherever you live in our Land of the Free, you can count your lucky stars for Texas. That's because year-in and year-out, the Lone Star State sets the national standard for all-star political wackiness, so no matter how embarrassingly goofy your state politicos are, at least you can count on them being slightly more sane than the Texas bunch.

Our goober of a governor sets the pace. A teabag regular, he rants constantly about the intrusions of Obama's big bad federal government into Texas affairs. But – Shhh – he quietly took $14 billion from Obama's devilish stimulus program in order to claim that he had "balanced" our state budget.

And no doubt you've heard about our right-wing state board of education, which is nuttier than a pecan grove. They tried to rewrite our schools' history books by such moves as deleting Thomas Jefferson from a list of influential thinkers of the Enlightenment period, then these nuts decided that even the word "enlightenment" should be banned. So our new state slogan is, "Texas: Ignorance Is US!"

Joining this circus are state officials who recently decreed that citizens can no longer freely enter our state capitol, but instead must go through metal detectors and have their belongings searched. However, the officials did provide one exception: If you're carrying a handgun, you can scoot right in through an express lane! Texas allows people to get a concealed handgun license and pack heat wherever they go, so there's now an express entry into the Capitol specifically designated for "CHL Holders."

Adding to this goofiness are hundreds of lobbyists who're getting CHL clearances in order to use the express lanes. So now our legislative halls will be teeming with pistol-packing lobbyists calling out legislators to say, "Support my client's bill... or else."

ANOTHER CORPORATE PATH FOR BUYING OUR GOVERNMENT

Jim Hightower — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Like the five-man majority of Supreme Court justices, perhaps you've been worried sick over the possibility that corporations just don't have enough power over our government.

If so, let me soothe your fevered brow with a report showing that election spending is just one path that corporations take to buy our government – many other lanes are also open to them. There, feel better now?

One wide open path is through both the Republican and Democratic governors associations. Both outfits offer corporate "membership" packages that literally let drug makers, utilities, tobacco companies, and other giants buy their way inside these two powerful groups. For annual dues of up to $250,000, a corporation's executives and lobbyists not only get to hobnob with these top state officials, but also to sponsor, organize, and participate in periodic policy discussions with the governors.

Is this a sweet deal for the companies? "Absolutely," enthused a tobacco executive! After all, these corporations have big money at stake on everything from state taxes to regulatory policies, and buying their way into the groups' gatherings lets them bend the ears of America's governors – and bend the governors' policies. Regular citizens and public interest groups never get this kind of special access, so it gives the corporate powers a big jump on everyone else.

Last year, for example, some 200 drug industry lobbyists organized a forum on biotechnology for Democratic governors. In this cozy setting, the biotech corporations had a one-sided chance to plead for state subsides and regulatory favoritism – and practically every governor who attended followed up by pushing for what the industry wanted.

In so many different ways, corporate money doesn't just talk, it shouts – and drowns out the rest of us.

A GOOD BANKING REFORM HAS GONE BAD

Jim Hightower — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0800

They roll into Washington from the West, the North, the South – good ideas to make our national policies better, to make our economy fairer, to improve our nation. And these good ideas – still sparkling with freshness and common sense – are delivered into the welcoming arms of our members of Congress, who with great fanfare and promise, carry them into the majestic Capitol building, the sanctuary of our democracy.

But then, lobbyists appear from out of the shadows to whisper to lawmakers and slip checks into their pockets. Time passes, and the fresh ideas show signs of wilting. Next, they moved into closed committee rooms where they get dissected by members representing special interests. Then – with Republicans sourly opposing anything fresh and good, and with Democrats timorously trying to appease sour Republicans – the ideas are taken down into a dark, secret chamber for "negotiations."

From there, the good idea emerges as a bill. Only – Ohmygod, don't look! – it's been turned inside out, stuffed, and twisted into a bad idea. Republicans, who forced this grotesque gut job, spit on their own creation and walk away, but Democrats say they need to pass something, so they pass the bad idea, and call it progress.

This has been the sad journey of a bill to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, a good idea that surfaced a year ago to stop Wall Street and other banking hucksters from ripping off consumers. That idea is now being "negotiated" in the senate, where it is expected to be perverted from an independent watchdog with real teeth into a puppy kept by the Federal Reserve System, where it will be taught not to bark at bankers, much less bite.

The hope for us consumers is that the house will reject this fraud. For more information, contact Consumer Federation of America: www.consumerfed.org.

LAWMAKERS DANCE WITH THE DEVIL

Jim Hightower — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

If you choose to dance with the devil, never flatter yourself that you're in the the lead.

This is a fundamental rule that the Congressional Black Caucus apparently forgot. An important and effective group of lawmakers who're often the principled voice of progressive values in the U.S. House, the CBC has allowed itself to be swept into the ever-tighter embrace of lobbyists for tobacco giants, drugmakers, insurance interests, and other corporate powers that want legislative favors from the caucus.

To woo the CBC, these corporate devils have put on philanthropic cloaks are striding through a wide-open loophole in congressional ethics rules. While there are strict limits on lobbyists' donations to lawmakers, special-interest money going to nonprofit charities is largely unregulated. Thus, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, which exists to provide educational programs for low-income African-Americans, has received more than $53 million in the past few years from the likes of AT&T, Altria, Eli Lilly, Lockheed-Martin, State Farm, and Wal-Mart.

So what, sniffs a lobbyist for Lockheed, "Our charitable donations are charitable donations." How diabolically philanthropic of him!

He didn't mention that Lockheed's "charitable donation" bought it a seat on the CBC institute that develops the organization's formal legislative postions, or that CBC's institute – Big Surprise! – recently took a specific position to help Lockheed win a big airport contract in Liberia. Now that's charity with a purpose.

Meanwhile the bulk of the charitable dollars raised by CBC go not to the disadvantaged, but to finance lavish dinners, casino events, golf outings, and other extravaganzas where the lobbyists get to schmooze with the lawmakers. And the devil keeps dancing faster and laughing louder.

PLAYING POLITICAL GAMES WITH CORPORATE WELFARE

Jim Hightower — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

One thing that governors and mayors absolutely love to do is to win a prize in a game called, "Corporate Welfare Roulette."

It's a simple sort of casino game – politicos throw wads of taxpayer cash at a corporation as an "incentive" for it to move to their state and create jobs. When they "win" one of these cash-for-jobs bets, the politicos convene a media event to praise themselves for their job-creation prowess.

But one thing that governors and mayors absolutely hate is when their prize ends up reneging, failing to deliver the number of jobs promised. Ooooo – bad politics.

However, governor Rick Perry of Texas has come up with a slick trick to fix this problem: When one of his corporate welfare deals doesn't succeed, he simply redefines success!

A watchdog group, Texans for Public Justice, documented that many of Perry's corporate giveaways have failed to produce the job numbers that were required to get taxpayer money – and many others will come up short in the job reports they'll file this year. So, without consulting other state officials or whispering a word to the public, Rick has been "amending" the terms of the deals.

Such corporate slackers as Lockheed Martin and Tyson Foods have been allowed to create far fewer jobs than promised, been permitted to count part-time jobs as full-time, and even been okayed to use foreign workers rather than Texans to meet their quotas. Once his little secret "fix" was about to be exposed by the watchdog group, Perry rushed out a statement insisting that nothing was amiss. "These contract amendments," he lamely declared, "will refresh and reinforce the ongoing relationship between the [taxpayer]s and these private sector partners."

Refresh? What happed to "a deal is a deal?" How oily is that? To see the full watchdog report on his scam, go to www.tpj.org .

CORPORATE MONEY FUNDS RIGHT-WING ATTACK ON SENATOR'S OFFICE

Jim Hightower — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

As Sir Walter Scott warned two centuries ago: "Oh! What a tangled web we weave/ When first we practice to deceive!"

He could've been writing about those four right-wing twentysomethings who thought it'd be cute to pull off a political sting in Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu's New Orleans office. Posing as a telephone repair crew, their fraudulent entry was supposed to embarrass the senator and get the four interlopers on Fox News – but, alas, the boys bungled the caper and got arrested.

It turns out they are not mere pranksters, but trained products of a secretive web of far-rightest organizations that are quietly funded by major corporate interests.

Two of the intruders, for example, had started right-wing newspapers at their respective colleges, receiving start-up money and training from an outfit called the Leadership Institute, where both went to work after graduation. This operation has recruited and trained thousands of students to become right-wing activists, including Karl Rove. Its campus offshoot the Collegiate Network, supports more than 100 right-wing campus papers. In turn, it is "administered" by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a publishing unit that grinds out right-wing dogma and political strategies for youngsters to absorb.

The common link for these groups is bundles of money derived from such corporations as Amway, Coors, Koch Industries, and Olin Industries.

The New Orleans foursome is also connected by the Pelican Institute, a Louisiana front group funded by some of the same corporate interests. One of those arrested works for Pelican, and the ringleader of the caper was brought to New Orleans by Pelican for a how-to address on video attack stings.

Ironically, by messing up, these bumblers have exposed a corporate-funded network specifically created to train young people to do such political stunts.

TAKE A TRIP ON AIR BONKERS

Jim Hightower — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Washington's ethics rules are absolutely bonkers! Take the case of powerhouse lobbyist Don Bonker.

In 2007, to restrict the power of such influence peddlers, Congress passed a reform that prohibits lobbyists from paying lawmakers to go on foreign junkets. So, how is it that Bonker was able to pick up the $15,000 tab for Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner and his wife to enjoy a week long junket to Liechtenstein last February? The answer lies in a loophole that exempts non-profit organizations from the ban on financing congressional trips. So, the Sensenbrenners' Liechtenstein outing was paid for by the International Management and Development Institute, a non-profit outfit. And who is president of the Institute? Why none other than our man, Don Bonker!

But, the gaming of the ethics rules is even more bonkers, for the Institute is funded by such European corporations as Deutsche Bank and Lufthansa Airlines. While these corporate interests, which lobby in Washington, could not directly pay for Sensenbrenner's junket – which included skiing, sumptuous meals, and a tour of the Prince of Liechtenstein's historic wine cellar – the loophole lets corporations pay for the trip indirectly through the non-profit front group. In return, executives of the corporations were given private têtê-a-têtê with the influential Wisconsin Republican.

Clever, huh? So clever that "Air Bonkers" has paid for five of Sensenbrenner's trips to Europe. The congressman sees nothing amiss in this backroom financing of his junkets – his staff explains that it's just a way for "a variety of sources [to] educate congressional leaders on a range of topics."

So, Sensenbrenner is saying that if you want to educate him on your particular topic, just create a non-profit and fly him to a ski resort in Liechtenstein!

WEASELS UNDERMINE ETHICS REFORM

Jim Hightower — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The word "weasels" not only describes furry, burrowing rodents – but also corporate lobbyists who madly tunnel loopholes through our country's ethics laws.

Take Doheny Global, an energy and real estate corporation. Last year, it hosted a week-long schmoozefest for potential investors, inviting them to hobnob in Israel with "an elite cadre" of power brokers, specifically including such members of congress as Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen a Florida Republican. Participants had to pay $18,500 each to be part of Doheny's dog-and-pony show – but the corporation covered the tab for congress critters and their spouses.

Wait – didn't Congress "reform the system" and make these influence-peddling junkets illegal by prohibiting corporate lobbyists from paying for congressional travel? Well, yes. Lobbyists can no longer pay for the travel, gala parties, and other bennies that lawmakers are given on these junkets – but a loophole allows lobbyists' corporate clients to foot the bill.

Likewise, the Congressional Black Caucus held a conference last year in a Gulf Coast casino. Again, major corporate interests weaseled their way into the gathering – the health care workshop was sponsored by Eli Lily, the session on climate change was funded by electric utilities, and Wal-Mart sponsored a clinic on – get this – skeet shooting!

Since the caucus' events were organized by a lobbyist, the corporations were not allowed to fund them directly. No problem, though – a convenient loophole lets them give money to a non-profit set up by the caucus, and it pays for the events. Caucus members did have to pay for their travel, but they could buy tickets using campaign funds, including money donated by the corporations.

Not all weasels are in the woods – watch out for them whenever lobbyists and lawmakers team up to "reform" the system.

FEC HACKS KILL ANOTHER ETHICS REFORM

Jim Hightower — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Federal Election Commission might as well be re-named the Federal Execution Commission, for it repeatedly and ruthlessly takes election reforms down a dark hallway in its building and executes them.

The latest hit by the FEC was on a reform that the senate passed in response to the Jack Abramoff scandal. Abramoff, the ultra-sleazy ubër-lobbyist of the Bush years, used the corporate jets of his favor-seeking clients to create "Air Abramoff." At a moment's notice, he could provide a luxurious, super-convenient shuttle service to key lawmakers who needed a ride to fundraisers or other political events. Congress critters paid only a token amount for these VIP jet rides – during which Abramoff and other influence peddlers got invaluable private time with their grateful passengers.

Even by Washington's rotten ethical standards, this high-flying coziness was too stinky to defend, so senators voted in 2007 to require that any members taking a corporate ride had to pay the prohibitively-high rate for chartering the entire plane, effectively stopping the practice.

However, the FEC has now gutted this reform by autocratically and erroneously declaring that the reform law allows senators to pay only the token rate when they are traveling on behalf of party committees. You don't have to be smarter than a senator to see that lawmakers and their lobbyist buddies could fly a 747 jumbo jet through this mammoth loophole, which makes a mockery of reform.

To have an ounce of ethical credibility, senate leaders of both parties must quickly overrule the FEC and revive the ban on accepting corrupt, cut-rate corporate travel. And, while they're at it, lawmakers need to overhaul the FEC itself, freeing it from the iron grip of party hacks. For more information, contact Common Cause at 202-833-1200.