BS: Congressional Campaign Financing

Subject: BS: Campaign Financing
From: Joe Offer
Date: 15 Oct 06 - 03:58 AM

My district has had a staunch right-wing Republican congressman, John Doolittle, for 16 years. Currently he holds a leadership role as a Deputy Whip for the Republican party in the House. This year, news came out about him taking contributions from corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff. It has also been established that Doolittle's wife is paid as a campaign funraising consultant, and that she receives 15 percent of all her husband's contributions as a consulting fee.

But so far, I haven't seen any evidence that Mr. Doolittle spends any of the contributions given to him - he passes them on to other conservative candidates for local offices in the county, pricing normal people out of campaigns. For his own campaign, Mr. Doolittle doesn't seem to need any money. I get flyers and automated phone calls against his opponent, and they call carry the disclaimer that they were paid for by the National Republican Campaign Committe, nrcc.org and not by any particular candidate. Oh, and just before the campaign began in earnest, we got a slick mailer, printed and mailed at taxpayer expense, explaining what a great job our congressman is doing for us.

So, it seems that Mr. Doolittle is running his campaign on "soft money" and taxpayer-paid propaganda. Is this legal? How ethically do your congressional representatives conduct their campaigns?

-Joe Offer, Colfax, California-

There's a Wikipedia article on Mr. Doolittle here (click). I have to say it looks like an anti-Doolittle propaganda piece. I guess that's a shortcoming of Wikipedia.

Subject: RE: BS: Congressional Campaign Financing
From: mack/misophist
Date: 15 Oct 06 - 09:28 AM

Here in San Francisco, the situation is more or less the reverse.

Subject: RE: BS: Congressional Campaign Financing
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 15 Oct 06 - 08:05 PM

Not to distract from the central point, Joe; but:

wife is paid as a campaign funraising consultant ?????

Well, maybe???? Perhaps 15% is pretty cheap...

"congressional," "campaigns," and "ethical" are antithetical. (IMO)

It is quite obvious that it's almost impossible to conduct an effective campaign without lots of money. It's also apparently obvious that those who promise to "do something" for large contributors get the most money. (It also helps if they'll "promise to keep it quiet" when the payoffs are delivered.)

If it's any consolation, it appears (to me at least) that local politics in my area are at least as corrupt as the national campaigns.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Congressional Campaign Financing
From: Bobert
Date: 15 Oct 06 - 08:51 PM

Hey, Joe...

The entitre system is corrupted.... House members are very much protected with redistrictin' an' so they can use their cash anyway they please but...

Senators???? Much difffernt story here... The former S.C. Senator, Chris Hollens, stated in a "60 Minutes" interview that he had to collect $8000 a day in order to finance his next campaign... There's something very wrong when a Senator has to spend hlaf the day strongarmin' folk for dough in order to stay in office...

There's also something even wronger when we have so many jerrymandered House didtricts where folks don't have to do much more than be as far right or as far left to stay in office...

This system is severely broken and certainly not any model of what democracy is supposed to look like...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Congressional Campaign Financing
From: GUEST,TIA
Date: 15 Oct 06 - 10:15 PM

Our system is broke. Out gummint is bought and paid for. It's way worse than anyone seems to think. Go watch Bill Moyer's "Capitol Crimes". Then get ready to move, or join the revolution.