Culture of Corruption – The Beginning?
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are calling the Abramoff scandal the Culture of Corruption within the Republican party. But is this where the culture began?
Many of you who read blogs are too young to remember the destruction that was brought upon Americans by the Jimmy Carter era. From that era was born the Tony Coelho (D – California) Factor.
A Washington Times editorial (01/18/06) The Tony Coelho factor provides a history that the Democrats simply don’t want you to know.
As former Wall Street Journal reporter Brooks Jackson documented in his masterful look into Capitol Hill corruption, “Honest Graft,” the system that allowed a man like Mr. Abramoff to flourish largely was built by former Rep. Tony Coelho, California Democrat, in the 1980s. Allowed inside Mr. Coelho’s Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Mr. Jackson saw first hand how donations were wrung from corporate political action committees, which in turn expected a return on their investment, often in the form of legislative gifts.
Frankly, this is not a new idea but one that was simply updated for the times. Coelho masterfully balanced the cash flow in and the legislation out. The Elite 535 took notice and we are here today because of it.
By 1978, Mr. Jackson writes, “the cost of staying in office was rising rapidly.” Indeed, “the incumbents of 1978 had spent on the average only $87,000 to win their seats two years earlier. But the average cost of winning rose by 46 percent, to nearly $128,000, in the 1978 campaigns.” Newcomer Tony Coelho “was alert to the change.” He outspent his first House opponent $266,000 to $104,000.
Take a look at the top 4 House of Representative candidate’s receipts through September 2005 (From Political Money Line).
Why do the candidates need this kind of money and who provides it? That is the Coelho Factor! It is bi-partisan. Money begets power and power begets stupid government.
how much did dirty harry reid get?
January 27th, 2006 at 4:51 pm