Corruption Digest - March 10, 2006

As my new book Hostile Takeover prepares to be released in the Spring, here is your March 10, 2006 briefing on how America's political system is being sold to the highest bidders. To sign up to receive the Corruption Digest in your email box, just go to www.davidsirota.com and enter your email address on the righthand side.

WHITE HOUSE CORRUPTION
The New York Times reports that "the chief of an Indian tribe represented by the lobbyist Jack Abramoff was admitted to a meeting with President Bush in 2001 days after the tribe paid a prominent conservative lobbying group $25,000 at Mr. Abramoff's direction." The payment "was made to Americans for Tax Reform, a group run by Grover G. Norquist, one of the Republican Party's most influential policy strategists. Mr. Norquist was a friend and longtime associate of Mr. Abramoff."

CONGRESSIONAL CORRUPTION - BOTH PARTIES
The Los Angeles Times reports "Capitol Hill is abuzz these days with talk about keeping lobbyists at a distance. But when it comes to the political cash they can generate, interest in keeping them near remains strong." The paper notes that "scores of less flashy, but still lucrative, fundraisers will be held in the coming weeks for Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike. Lobbyists, along with clients and friends, will constitute many of those in attendance."...Fox News reports "A spate of corruption scandals on Capitol Hill has led to renewed interest in public financing of federal election campaigns." The piece cites "Eight House Democrats [who] are sponsoring the 'Let the People Decide Clean Campaign Act,' which would take all private money out of U.S. House campaigns and give taxpayer funds to candidates based on their parties' prior performance in their districts."

CONGRESSIONAL CORRUPTION - REPUBLICANS
WTAE Channel 4 in Pittsburgh releases an explosive report on Sen. Rick Santorum's (R) use of his charity to funnel money to lobbyists. This is appearing to be a common practice among Republicans. The TV report came after many of the details were first published by the American Prospect. The Associated Press reported in December that "Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's AIDS charity paid nearly a half-million dollars in consulting fees to members of his political inner circle, according to tax returns providing the first financial accounting of the presidential hopeful's nonprofit." The story about Santorum's charity follows a Washington Post report noting that "After saying in January that he would end his regular meetings with lobbyists, Sen. Santorum has continued to meet with many of the same lobbyists at the same time and on the same day of the week."...The Hill Newspaper reports that Senate Republicans last week "voted to strip a provision from lobbying reform legislation that would have created an Office of Public Integrity for the Congress." In the House, Roll Call reports "Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) vowed to push ahead with a proposal to establish an independent office to investigate ethics violations against Members, despite indications that the GOP leadership will oppose the plan."...Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) continues to seem completely ignorant to the trouble he's in. The Los Angeles Times reports that "lobbyists are among those at 'Winterfest '06,' where supporters of Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) can ski and snowmobile at the exclusive Yellowstone Club in his home state." Indicted GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff this week specifically named Burns and Burns' staff as his key contact in the Senate.

STATE CORRUPTION
The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) released a report this week "evaluating the strength of lobbying disclosure laws nationwide [and] found the federal law to be weaker than those of 47 of the 50 states." Since CPI's original 2003 "Hired Guns" report, "lawmakers in almost half the states — sometimes prompted by scandals — have beefed up their disclosure laws, but federal legislators haven't."

JUDICIAL CORRUPTION
Slate publishes an article by the Brennan Center's James Sample about the increasingly corrosive effects of money on state courts. Sample notes, "Thirty-eight states, including Illinois, elect their supreme courts. Recent studies of judicial elections indicate that the trend toward high levels of judicial-campaign fund raising in the states began in the late 1990s. During the 1999–2000 cycle, state supreme court candidates raised $45.6 million—61 percent more than just two years earlier, and more than double the amount raised in 1994."

CORPORATE CORRUPTION
Businessweek reports that shareholder activists are stepping up their campaigns to demand "curbs on CEO pay, checks on board cronyism, and reining in conflicts of interest." Specifically, "labor and public pension fund activists have waged hundreds of proxy battles in recent years but rarely with much effect on target companies. Now shareholder activists are attacking the process by which directors themselves are elected."

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