Show Me the Money

October 27th, 2010 by John Feehery

So, which side in this election cycle has raised the most special interest cash?

According to the New York Times, ah, that would be the Democrats.

Which special interest group has spent the most money trying to influence voters?

According to the Wall Street Journal, that would be the union representing government workers.

Which President got elected because of the influx of unaccountable, untraceable money from hedge fund billionaires?

That would be Barack Hussein Obama.

Which Presidential campaign was accused to soliciting money from foreigners?

Once again, that would be campaign of one Barack Hussein Obama.

Which party strongly supported campaign finance reform that basically destroyed political parties in this country, but created enough loopholes to make it easier for shadowy, outside groups to raise and spend money on elections? That would be the Democrats.

Which Congressional Leader has raised the most special interest money in this election cycle?

That would Nancy Pelosi.

Who would be in second place?

That would be Harry Reid.

Why is the news media completely fascinated with the money raised and spent by Congressional Republicans, but so matter of fact about the money raised and spent by Congressional Democrats and by the President?  Read more...

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Posted in Fundraising, GOP, Government, Politics, Social Media, Theory, election, spending | 1 Comment »

No cash, no campaigns

May 18th, 2010 by John Feehery

Enron Complex / Photo credit: Alex (http://budurl.com/nwem)

Originally posted at http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/98251-no-cash-no-campaigns

It has become an almost weekly ritual, especially in the Age of Obama.

A major corporation, let’s say Goldman Sachs or British Petroleum, or in days past, Enron or Halliburton, gets into some hot water politically.

The inevitable committee hearings are called, and the major executives of said corporations are brought before the assorted members of Congress and publicly flogged to the satisfaction of the representatives’ staffs and family members and to the titillation of national media.

And as the flogging commences, inevitably, the congressional committees of one side or the other publicly demand representatives return the campaign contributions from the corporations that were publicly flogged.

This same thing happens when a member of Congress gets into legal trouble. It happened to Tom DeLay, to Mark Foley, and to Charlie Rangel and John Murtha. The money they gave to their colleagues is suddenly tainted and must be returned — or else.

The irony is that the campaign committees, usually the ones who are calling for the campaign money to be returned, wouldn’t survive without these campaign contributions.  Read more...

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Posted in Fundraising, Government, Politics, Theory, election | No Comments »

The Rope

May 5th, 2010 by John Feehery

It was Lenin who said:  “The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them.”

A Washington corollary might be:  “The Capitalists will give us the campaign contributions from which we will hang them.”

The headline in one of the newspaper articles brought that thought to my mind:  “Obama biggest recipient of BP campaign contributions.”

British Petroleum gave more money to Barack Obama than to any other candidate in the last election.  Obama’s spokesman, Mr. Gibbs, said that the President is going to keep the Administration’s boot on the throat of BP, paraphrasing his Interior Secretary.

I didn’t realize that the Administration had a boot nor did I realize that BP had a throat.  Sounds kind of kinky to me.  But I digress.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that the Administration was filing criminal charges and civil charges against Goldman-Sachs, the erstwhile and formerly very powerful investment bank.

Goldman is charged with the high crime of making a lot of money at the expense of a lot of suckers.  That they didn’t tell the suckers that they were suckers seems to be the chief of allegation against them.  Read more...

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Posted in Capitalism, Fundraising, Government, Politics | 2 Comments »

Getting Caught in The Changing Times

March 3rd, 2010 by John Feehery

“The times, they are a changing.”

That anthem of the 60’s should always be in the minds of all Hill ethics counselors.

Charlie Rangel’s troubles with the Ethics Committee follow a familiar path.

I remember well in November of 1994, when an obscure challenger named Michael Patrick Flanagan knocked off a powerful Ways and Means Chairman who had delivered billions of dollars back to his hometown of Chicago.

Before 1992, Dan Rostenkowski’s picture was right next to the definition of power-broker in the Congressional dictionary.  Two years later, his picture was next to the word “crook”.

Rosty did what he had always done.  He used his office as a way to get a little extra money for his family.  The particular crime he was charged with was cashing in the stamps that his office had bought and using the money for his own personal pleasure.

It was penny-ante stuff.  Minor corruption with a little bit of legal graft.

But after the downfall of Jim Wright, what passed for minor graft no longer passed the muster in the country or the media.

Everybody loves Charlie Wilson now – thanks to the book and the movie — but Wilson’s antics wouldn’t have survived in this ethics environment today.  Read more...

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Posted in Fundraising, Government, Politics, Scandals | 2 Comments »