While opponents to public financing argue that there is no problem with lobbying, and that money given to politicians is not meant to influence congressional action, they may find that argument harder to make after the recent actions of one of nation's top 10 corporate donors to politicians.
From
The Hill:
Lobbyists are shaking their heads over an apparent ploy by the
homebuilders' lobby to freeze its political action committee (PAC)
contributions to lawmakers until they come to the aid of the troubled
housing sector.
The move, which the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) announced last week, has prompted dismay on K Street, in part because it buttressed the popular image of lobbyists tying contributions to votes.
"A lot of lawmakers are going to get uncomfortable at this point dealing with Build-PAC," said Craig Holman, the campaign finance lobbyist for ethics watchdog Public Citizen.
Some lobbyists, perhaps concerned about the strong whiff of quid pro quo with which the NAHB's action seemed to taint all of K Street, downplayed the effectiveness of the move.
Say bye-bye to what was arguably once the most powerful PAC in the nation. Tom DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC) filed termination papers with the FEC on April 24, ending it's decade of unsurpassed influence over Republican lawmakers and policy.
ARMPAC was a "leadership PAC," different from congressional re-election committees in that they are used by Congressmen to contribute to colleagues' PACs - a measure to gain influence with one's peers on Capitol Hill. Leadership PACs can accept larger donations than re-election committees - $5,000 per individual per year - and make larger donations to toher lawmakers - $10,000 per election cycle.
What made ARMPAC so influential? Money, of course - more money than anyone else.
And, in an 11-year run among GOP leadership ranks, no one in Congress used political money to maximize his own influence more than DeLay. From 2001 through 2005, as DeLay's power reached its apex, his PAC dished out more than $2.6 million in donations to other House and Senate candidates as well as national political party committees.
In 2004, the PAC, known on Capitol Hill as ARMPAC, gave out $781,299 in donations, according to FEC reports. [That's about $150,000 more than the man above him in leadership, then-Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), gave out that year.]
Of course, ARMPAC was central to the scandal that has brought down so many in Washington and still threatens so many more. DeLay pal Ed Buckham worked closely with the PAC, and his and Abramoff's clients became huge ARMPAC donors. An offshoot of ARMPAC known as Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) was the money-laundering tool that got DeLay indicted on charges in Texas and led to his fall from leadership.
Let's hope this serves as a warning to all other Congressmen who use their leadership PACs to curry favor and influence. Don't let your committee become the next ARMPAC.
According to FEC records, Julie Doolittle, wife of Representative John T. Doolittle (R-CA), has received an unprecedented $140,000 from Rep. Doolittle's leadership PAC since 2003. Julie Doolittle runs a one-person firm called Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions, which receives a 15 percent commission from the leadership PAC on donations that she is "directly involved in raising."
But this would imply that Julie Doolittle has been directly involved in raising every single dollar netted by Rep. Doolittle's leadership PAC, the Superior California Federal Leadership Fund. During the 2004 election cycle she received $68,630, or 15 percent of the $457,533 raised by the PAC. And in the current election cycle she has received $69,896, 15 percent of the $465,973 raised thus far. Troubling is the fact that Rep. Doolittle's leadership PAC lists donations that are not connected to Sierra Dominion, a company without a telephone listing or website.
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