The Money Trail

Posted 1/30/2006

Scandal: Sen. Harry Reid has been found with his hands in the Abramoff cookie jar. But is the problem too many lobbyists buying influence or that there is too much influence to buy?

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, hoping like most Democrats that charges of corruption and the depiction of Republicans as the party of Jack Abramoff will help them retake the House or Senate or both, said on "Fox News Sunday": "No Democrat delivered anything, and there's no accusation and no investigation that any Democrat ever delivered anything to Jack Abramoff."

Ah, but there is, as host Chris Wallace dutifully pointed out.

He asked Dean, "If we find that there were some Democrats who wrote letters on behalf of some of the Indian tribes that Abramoff represented, then what do you say, sir?" Dean responded: "Those Democrats are in trouble" and "they should be in trouble."

As Wallace hinted, one of "those Democrats" is Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid from Nevada, who, when interviewed by Wallace in December about acting on behalf of an Abramoff client who later donated to a Reid-sponsored political group, testily responded: "Don't try to say I received money from Abramoff. I've never met the man, don't know anything."

When Wallace persisted, Reid shot back: "Make sure that all your viewers understand — not a penny from Abramoff. I've been on the Indian Affairs Committee my whole time in the Senate."

What viewers should understand is that a little-noticed AP story last November showed that Reid accepted thousands of dollars from an Abramoff client — the Coushatta Indian tribe.

The Coushattas sent a $5,000 check to Reid's tax-exempt political group, the Searchlight Leadership Fund, the day after Reid interceded via letter with Interior Secretary Gale Norton over a casino dispute with a rival tribe. A second tribe represented by Abramoff sent an additional $5,000 to Reid's group. Reid in total received more than $66,000 in Abramoff-related contributions between 2001 and 2004.

Before the Democrats get on their high horse regarding GOP finance scandals, let us remember that 90% of Senate Democrats took money linked to "Republican" lobbyist Jack Abramoff. That includes nearly $100,000 by Sen. John Kerry and $12,950 by fellow presidential wannabe Hillary Clinton.

As the sad case of Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham, Vietnam fighter pilot and "Top Gun" inspiration, reveals, political corruption is a human condition, not a political one. Absolute power does in fact corrupt absolutely.

Yes, lobbyist-driven contributions have been growing by leaps and bounds. But the cold fact is that during the same period, every facet of American business and American life has been subjected to increasing regulation regarding the environment, hiring practices, workplace hazards, ad infinitum.

The less power politicians have over the economy, the less incentive there is to influence their decisions. The less government spending there is, the less incentive there is to influence how money is spent — and to whom it goes.

Perhaps we should revisit the idea of term limits. There would be less temptation to influence the decision of someone who might not be there next year. The problem is particularly acute in the House of Representatives which, with its gerrymandered districts, has become a veritable House of Lords.

Or perhaps we could simply limit the fundraising that senators and congressman do to residents of their own district or state.

By far the best reform would be to let anybody give any amount to any candidate or related committee. They would just have to disclose it, immediately, on the Internet. As we've said before, nothing disinfects like sunlight.