K Street Redux
Stephen Moore writes on the suicidal impulse of corporate America and the strongarm donation solicitation tactics the Democrats are using. It is not a pretty picture.
The late Milton Friedman used to rail against what he called corporate America's "suicidal impulse." By that he meant that the business community continually financed the very politicians who were intent on robbing their profits and slitting their throats.
It's happening again. The latest quarterly Federal Election Commission Report on political giving, released this week, shows the majority of corporate money flowing to the Democrats. Firms like Comcast, General Electric, Federal Express and UPS have shifted campaign giving away from the GOP. Employees of five major defense contractors including Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrup-Grumman spent $104,000 on Democratic presidential candidates, versus $88,800 for the Republican field.
Meanwhile, according to FEC data, about 85% of the donations from Roll Call newspaper's top-20 list of corporate lobbyists are helping Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid protect and expand their House and Senate majorities. Roll Call calls it a "Democratic donor surge," noting that many of the highest-priced lobbyists already "maxed out"–they've bumped up against the legal limit in how much they are allowed to give the Democrats……..
……… When Republicans were in control, Ms. Pelosi and company denounced the "K Street Project," run by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. They protested that corporate lobbyists were allowed to become a fourth branch of government–and in some cases their protests had merit, as Republicans curried favor with money interests.
Meanwhile, Democrats under Rep. Rahm Emanuel and Sen. Schumer have quietly erected their own K Street Project, and employ some of the same strong-arm tactics they once deplored. "I've never felt the squeeze that we're under now to give to Democrats and to hire them," says one telecom industry representative. "They've put out the word that if you have an issue on trade, taxes, or regulation, you'd better be a donor and you'd better not be part of any effort to run ads against our freshmen incumbents."
Why does corporate America go along? The standard excuse is that this is the way the game is played. They've made a calculated decision that Democrats are going to sweep in 2008. Republicans rightly object that corporate interests are making this a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Moore points out what should be obvious: if the corporate donors think the money will somehow save them, they are seriously deluding themselves. The Democrats have already signaled - loud an clear - that corporate taxation will skyrocket, protectionist trade policies will be enacted and that unions will get pretty much whatever they want if the Dems run the table in 2008. The money will just ensure that it happens.
By syn, Friday, 19 October , 2007 @ 8:50 am
I consider the Church( as in Catholic, Methodist, Prespertarian, Baptist, Epscopalian, Jewish, Church of Christ, Protestant etc etc) exhibiting the same form of ’suicidal impulses’ whenever its members vote into office ‘pro-abortion’ politicans who offer the Church members all sorts of golden entitlement goodies in return.
I mean, what good will the plantation slave be to the state if all the slaves are dead?
I happen to believe God’s word is about human freedom and the sanctity of life not about feeling entitled to getting the ‘feeling-good’ goodies which the slave plantation offers to hand-out to Jesus’s poor.
By Mwalimu Daudi, Friday, 19 October , 2007 @ 4:47 pm
I disagree a bit with Stephen Moore on this. It is true that some business leaders view lobbying Democrats as paying off a protection racket. It is also true that some don’t really know what they are getting themselves into. But others see it as a smart business investment that will pay big dividends in the long run. It’s easier to crush the competition if you have a bunch of goons on your side - particularly if they sit in Congress.