There is always the cliche 'a pox on both your houses.' But I do think the party in power does take extra heat on these things. |
There is no way this is good for him. How bad it will be will depend on what else we see happen. |
There?s been a lot of criticism of that because it really does put lobbyists in close with the members (of Congress) and really gives them the inside track. |
These are people who want to be close to the governor and they're buying access. Their business interests are tied up with his political agenda. And when he spends a lot of time raising money from wealthy donors, their interests are going to be the focus of discussions and he's going to be thinking about that when he makes decisions, no matter what he says. |
They can speak at an event, and as long as the disclaimer is there, it seems like he (McCain) is following the law. |
They do not have to convince the government to spend money on defense, really. Defense is a pretty secure area of the budget. In that sense, there is a built-in power that they have. |
They're a big player, |
This clearly sets up the appearance of a conflict that the state was obviously trying to avoid. |
This is an end run around the campaign finance laws. It does away with the contribution limits and it avoids disclosure, and it's a way for the special interests who are supporting him to buy access and buy influence. |
unusually brazen. ... It shows really poor judgment to put yourself in a position where you are seen as wielding that power for a friend. |
We see this after every major disaster or tragedy. People are putting forward their wish lists and saying it's all connected to the hurricane. We saw it after 9-11. Everyone was saying then that it was national security. |
We've all been waiting to see what they do with those complaints, and I think it's positive that they have brought suit. |
What you're seeing here is what happens when a pharmaceutical industry, through lobbying and campaign contributions and influence buying, gets a program that it wants. What the industry lobbied against was any type of uniform system, and they very much got free rein over what they were going to offer and how they were going to offer it. |
You get this image that they are taking money out of one pocket and giving it to a charity while they are taking money from lobbyist-sponsored fundraisers with the other hand. |
You have to worry that allowing such income, especially when it is so closely associated with Pombo politically, is a reward. |