From the lobbyist's view


A former political moneyman gives the inside scoop
Doug Thompson writes a great piece on lobbying and influence.

The ever-widening Jack Abramoff scandal gives Americans a glimpse of just how the money game is played in politics but influence peddling goes far beyond one disgraced lobbyist.

Money, someone once said, is the mother’s milk of politics and our elected officials have been sucking on the tits of political motherhood for a long, long time.

I know. I was one of those who bought and sold politicians. For five years, I ran the political programs division of the giant National Association of Realtors, an 800,000 plus member association with a multi-million dollar political action committee that could lavish incredible largesse on elections.

In 1988, we gave the maximum contributions allowed by law to 432 out of 435 Congressional races and every Senate race contested that year. We spent another $1.7 million on “independent expenditure” campaigns that helped determine the outcome of three Senate and four Congressional races.

Worth reading.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Sat - January 7, 2006 at 04:42 AM  Tag


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