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TechnoratiA few weeks ago, I took a look at U.S. Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and how one man can use one committee chairmanship (in this case, the Senate Finance Committee chairmanship) to obstruct, undermine and destroy the agenda of an entire political party and progressive movement. Today, we get another example - one so egregious that it is allowing Republican senators to righteously attack Democrats as selling out to K Street lobbyists. And what, pray tell, is one senior Democrat's response? That the whole pay-to-play culture is all just "a lot of fun."
On the front page of the Washington Post's business section, we get this story about the current state of the minimum wage bill:
"Democrats have stripped out a variety of contentious tax measures that had been tied to the minimum-wage legislation, under pressure from some of the nation's largest business lobbies. Gone is a measure that would have restricted what executives and other highly paid employees can place in deferred-compensation plans, one of the most popular benefits in corporate America. Gone is a proposal to deny tax deductions for fines and penalties associated with lawsuits. And gone are measures to target a variety of corporate tax shelters. The demise of these measures infuriated one of their chief sponsors, who yesterday accused Democrats of 'caving in to K Street, pure and simple.' "Frankly, I thought it would be easier to close tax loopholes and tax shelters with Democrats in control of Congress than Republicans, and I've been totally dismayed,' Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) said in an interview. 'Democratic leaders blew it for small business.' Carol Guthrie, spokeswoman for Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), defended the minimum-wage package, saying Baucus 'fully intends to revisit...provisions not included.'"
Understand that Grassley's comments signal that Baucus actually had the support of his ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee to enact all of these progressive reforms. Yet, incredibly, he went ahead and stripped out these measures anyway.
Why, you ask? Maybe today's story in the Billings Gazette about Baucus setting up a joint lobbyist fundraising operation with Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel has something to do with it. As the story notes, the new PAC allows"donors to make one campaign contribution to both chairmen who oversee taxes, trade and major entitlement programs." You are a lobbyist and want something stripped out of a bill? Just write a check to the new PAC and - poof! - your wish is magically granted. And this formula has been quite impressive. In just the first three months of this year, the PAC has vacuumed in $144,000 - that's $12,000 a week, for those who are counting.
Most hilarious/insulting, of course, are the denials about what the PAC is set up to do:
"Baucus Chief of Staff Jim Messina said the account is a way for two longtime friends to help each other and their re-election committees. 'They have a lot of fun together,' said. "They like each other and now they're the top two tax people in the country and this seemed like a good way to raise money for the campaign together and spend time together.'...Messina said the account would 'absolutely not' allow people interested in the issues that come before the panels to have more influence by donating to both chairmen at once."
Yes, folks - Baucus's office thinks we are so absolutely stupid that we will believe that two lawmakers from totally opposite parts of the country have set up a joint fundraising operation as a way for two good buddies to horse around and have "fun" - not because it provides a convenient, efficient receptacle for pay-to-play cash (Note to Baucus staff: At the absolute minimum, we'd at least like you to take an extra 5 minutes out of your busy cocktail party schmoozing schedules in DC to cook up better fairy tales for the folks back home - we like our bullshit a little less raw and a little more sugarcoated - it makes us think you don't think we are all morons).
This little anecdote is the Hostile Takeover of our government - and shows why the election of a congressional Democratic majority is no excuse for the progressive movement to back down. There's lots of work to be done keeping the pressure on.
David Sirota is the author of the book Hostile Takeover. To order the book, go to Amazon
Barnes & Noble or Powell's Bookstore. To subscribe to Sirota's regular newsletter, go to www.davidsirota.com and sign up on the left hand side.
© 2007 David Sirota
11 Comments so far
Show AllI can see why people turned off by political parties would want to become Independents. The problem I see with this is that independents still depend on representatives to make all decisions.
I joined the Greens because they are a grassroots party where decisions are made are made by concensus. This overcomes the hurdle of depending on politicians who can often be threatened or bought.
The Republicans work full time for the corporate/elite-
The Democrats only most of the time --
Ralph Nader has been telling us about this for decades.
Additionally, we now -- after decades of ExxonMobil propaganda where they spent tens of millions to lie to the American public about Global Warming -- have a situation reaching crisis levels.
40% of the animal species on this planet are in threat of extinction.
Bee colonies are collapsing.
And, yes, fascism is crossing the threshold in America.
One of the first things we need is IRV -- which is Instant Runoff Voting -- which is being used in some areas of America and in Europe. It creates third-party opportunities without harming a second-choice candidate.
We also need to ban corporations/elites from any involvement in our elections.
That means overcoming this very neo-con Supreme Court.
Nor is the corporate press going to give any help with these issues.
This is person-to-person -- get up and go.
How long will it be before the American public comprehends that as bad as the Republicans are, and they are truly evil,the Democrats are only a shade less disgusting. This realization would,of course, require that a legion of Nader haters swallow hard and cry uncle. The superior attitude of Democratic voters, imagining themselves to be truly progressive, when finally melted away, will reveal a pack of brainless lemmings smart enough to believe in natural selection, but sufficiently obtuse to believe that representatives who genuflect to Israel and to business lobbyists are going to pull us out of the muck we are in.
If they are taking money or favors from the PACs they are no longer working for Us. You can expect that at least half of those in the Congress are corrupt -- the other half knows it and still does nothing to clean out the trash.
No, but after I vote for Kucinich in the primaries, I'm changing my voting status to "Independent".
Have you joined the Green Party yet?
I seem to remember "corruption" as a main concern of voters during the exit poll surveys of the 2006 elections.
The only way to stop this is public funding of political campaigns. No more corporate donations, no more buying legislation, no more screwing the American people.
So ... seems like we need Green Party campaigns against both candidates ... with the solitary goal of trying to strip enough votes away from both of these jerks such that we kick them out of office. We shouldn't care who actually wins, just that these guys lose.
Then, we stand straight in the face of the next people to take these chairs and say "serve the people, or you'll be the next one on the unemployment line."
Mendo Chuck,
We did deal with it in 1776. But as the saying goes, "the price of freedom (and democracy) is eternal vigilence."
Or, more bluntly, the only rights you will keep are the rights that you are willing to defend.
We're one step away from Fascism.
Money makes the world go round . . .
No money you get no help . . . Leave them poor and unarmed and you have subjects. I thought we dealt with this in 1776.
The work won't be done until all current elected officials are run out of office. Today's political system is not run by the people. It's run by money. The whole system must be changed.
Hoa Binh