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July 12, 2004
Speaking of Bribery
What do you do when it becomes public that you illegally funneled funds from large corrupt corporations into corrupt activities?
In May 2001, Enron's top lobbyists in Washington advised the company chairman that then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was pressing for a $100,000 contribution to his political action committee, in addition to the $250,000 the company had already pledged to the Republican Party that year.DeLay requested that the new donation come from "a combination of corporate and personal money from Enron's executives," with the understanding that it would be partly spent on "the redistricting effort in Texas," said the e-mail to Kenneth L. Lay from lobbyists Rick Shapiro and Linda Robertson.
... Texas law bars corporate financing of state legislature campaigns.
Why, ask for more, of course:
Several weeks ago, DeLay hired two criminal defense attorneys to represent him in the probe. He previously created a fund for corporate donors to help him pay legal bills related to allegations of improper fundraising, and is now considering extending its reach to include the fees for these attorneys.
Even if Delay gets convicted, his success probably makes the temporary, flash-in-the-pan coverage one can expect in today's media environment worth it for the Republican party:
DeLay's fundraising efforts helped produce a stunning political success. Republicans took control of the Texas House for the first time in 130 years, Texas congressional districts were redrawn to send more Republican lawmakers to Washington, and DeLay -- now the House majority leader -- is more likely to retain his powerful post after the November election, according to political experts....
By investing as much as $2.5 million in corporate money in the 2002 election, TRMPAC and another group, the Texas Association of Business, were able to help elect 26 new Republican candidates to the Texas House. The new Republican majority then redrew the congressional district boundaries and, as a result, five Democrats are likely to lose in the Nov. 2 election, according to political experts.
Most unfortunately is that it's only the secret corporate cash (the corporations were told that their "contributions" would not be "disclosable" in public records) for elections that's illegal in Texas -- the resdistricting and the myriads of ways corporations can purchase the government are legal.
Redistricting the way Texas GOP got away with isn't just bad because it allows Republicans to maximize electoral control, It's also bad because it creates homogeneous districts where the candidates, assured of re-election and indefinite incumbency, see little reason to moderate their position or engage any opposing point of view. It doesn't just create more Republicans, it creates more extreme Republicans who also happen to undislodgeable. It lessens political dialogue overall and makes a mockery of elections, regardless of the winners it selecs.
Posted by zeynep at July 12, 2004 02:35 PM
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Tracked on July 2, 2005 06:59 PM