Transactional lobbying, noun. 1. Providing a campaign contribution to a lawmaker in exchange for a political favor. 2. The exchange of check-containing envelopes between lobbyists and politicians linked to Congressional earmarks. see also: quid pro quo, bribery.
You may have seen the much-talked-about article in the New York Times about Brent Wilkes, the defense contractor who (along with Mitchell Wade) has been named in the bribery scandal that forced the resignation and plea deal of former Representative Duke Cunningham. If you haven't, check it out - it's a disturbingly open account of how business is accomplished these days in Congress.
The Oregonian also has a good editorial on the Wilkes piece. The author, David Sarasohn, sums up the depressing situation:
It means that the chances of a business or organization getting anything from Congress is greatly affected by small envelopes containing large checks.
Which isn't really surprising in a Congress that has so far seen one member convicted and sent to prison, at least half a dozen more under criminal investigation, one member found to have $90,000 in cash in his home freezer and the House majority leader and the chairman of the House Administration Committee forced to end their political careers as the investigators circled closer.
And it's still only early August.
And here's the part of the NYT article that I had to read several times before my brain would accept it:
Mr. Wilkes had set up separate meetings with the lawmakers hoping to win a government contract, and he planned to punctuate each pitch with a campaign donation. But his hometown congressman, Representative Bill Lowery of San Diego, a Republican, told him that presenting the checks during the sessions was not how things were done, Mr. Wilkes recalled.
Instead, Mr. Wilkes said, Mr. Lowery taught him the right way to do it: hand over the envelope in the hallway outside the suite, at least a few feet away.
...that's some integrity right there.
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