Congressional Charities and Corporate Cash

The lead article in today’s New York Times, “Congressional Charities Pulling in Corporate Cash,” shows how determined lobbyists and other influentials will always find a loophole in an attempt to affect lawmakers votes.

Despite campaign finance reform, limiting the amount that corporations can give to an individual campaign, donations to a candidate’s foundation are tellingly described as “one of the last major unregulated fronts in the pay-to-play culture in Washington.”

The article provides plentiful statistics of corporate contributions to these foundations, often undisclosed, when the lawmakers are simultaneously making legislative decisions about issues affecting the donor’s bottom line.

In addition to these conflicts of interest, lawmakers are exploiting the loophole themselves, using their foundations to conduct an ongoing political campaign, by supporting local projects and even selling t-shirts and caps with the lawmaker’s name on them.

The article particularly condemns the Joe Baca Foundation for giving away Thanksgiving turkeys, college scholarships and much more to local constituents. Lisa Murkowski, the recently defeated Senator from Alaska, also is cited for her misuse of a foundation to help cure breast cancer. Apparently, there are a lot of oil and gas companies who have developed a sudden interest in this cancer.

One hopes this article will lead to some legislative action, but it is the corrupt culture on Capitol Hill that deserves the ultimate blame. Unless something is done about that, all the regulations in the world will be rendered ineffective.