{"id":3629,"date":"2008-08-27T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-27T16:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/08\/corporate-funded-conventions-epitomize-hypocrisy\/"},"modified":"2009-08-22T14:47:00","modified_gmt":"2009-08-22T20:47:00","slug":"corporate-funded-conventions-epitomize-hypocrisy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2008\/08\/corporate-funded-conventions-epitomize-hypocrisy\/","title":{"rendered":"Corporate-funded conventions epitomize hypocrisy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Talking tough on issues like campaign-finance reform and trying to create an appearance of independence is the current trend in Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:State>. This week, however, Democrats are epitomizing hypocrisy on that subject at their presidential nominating convention. Next week, Republicans will do the same.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The conventions are cesspools of corporate money. Corporations trying to buy influence in Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:State> can spend all they want at the conventions to woo politicians and candidates — something they\u2019re not allowed to do the rest of the time.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s as if the laws are suspended so corporations can foot the bill for these huge infomercials for the two parties,\u201d Massie Ritsch, spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Center of Responsive Politics<\/a>, told The Santa Fe New Mexican<\/a>. \u201cConventions are an opportunity for corporations to do what they\u2019re not normally permitted to do — subsidize campaigns with unlimited amounts of money right out of their treasuries.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Watching and reading about the Democratic National Convention<\/a> in Denver reminds me of Sin City (Las Vegas), where revenue comes largely from tourists openly engaging in shameful behavior they normally reject, or at least try to hide.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

This week Democrats from around the nation are cuddling with corporate lobbyists and executives in rooms filled with cigar smoke and brandy. On Monday, AT&T threw many Democrats a private party<\/a>. You might recall the recent fight in Congress over immunity for telecommunications companies who aided the Bush Administration\u2019s illegal wiretapping program. Think AT&T had a motive for its generosity?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The New Mexican has done a good job this week of reporting — in this article<\/a> and this article<\/a> — on the special interests that are taking care of New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:State>\u2019s delegates to the convention.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Presidential candidates put ethics on hold<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

When the convention ends, the rules return. Barack Obama<\/a> will talk some more about how he has taken on special interests. Check out this quote from his Web site<\/a>, taken from a 2007 speech:<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI am in this race to tell the corporate lobbyists that their days of setting the agenda in Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:State> are over. I have done more than any other candidate in this race to take on lobbyists — and won,\u201d the quote states. \u201cThey have not funded my campaign, they will not run my White House, and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am president.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

But they are paying for the huge infomercial whose primary aim is electing Obama, so they are funding his campaign. Why is the self-proclaimed candidate of change allowing such a contradiction of his own message?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

John McCain<\/a> is just as bad. His Web site<\/a> states that he \u201chas fought to enforce long-standing prohibitions on corporate and union contributions to federal political parties, for sensible donation limits, disclosure of how candidates and campaigns are funded, and the diligent enforcement of these common sense rules that promote maximum public participation in the political process and limit opportunities for corruption.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Except as it relates to the conventions, apparently.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Schmoozing is out in the open<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Schmoozing is out in the open at the conventions, just as the guilty pleasures many people wouldn\u2019t normally embrace are normalized in Vegas.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, the main purpose is to schmooze with the many state officials who we work with on an ongoing basis,\u201d Fred O\u2019Cheskey of Albuquerque, a lobbyist for Southern Union Railroad, told The New Mexican about his courting of the New Mexico delegation this week.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

And Evan Hanson, director of state government affairs for Williams Cos., a natural gas company based in Oklahoma<\/st1:State>, had this to say when The New Mexican asked why his company would want to buy lunch for a bunch of New Mexico<\/st1:State> delegates in Denver<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>:<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe value our relationships with these fine folks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I wonder why. I think this week Denver<\/st1:City>, not Vegas, gets to be called Sin<\/st1:PlaceName> City<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place>. Next week it will be Minneapolis<\/st1:City> and St. Paul<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Talking tough on issues like campaign-finance reform and trying to create an appearance of independence is the current trend in Washington. This week, however, Democrats are epitomizing hypocrisy on that subject at their presidential nominating convention. Next week, Republicans will do the same. The conventions are cesspools of corporate money. Corporations trying to buy influence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-haussamen-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}