Why Are $20 Lunches Bad, But $100,000 Checks Okay?
Implicit in the debate about whether legislators should end their practice of accepting meals and gifts from lobbyists are the assumptions that (1) it gives lobbyists unfair access to legislators (2) lawmakers could be tempted to return the favor with an official action of some kind.
I think these are fair concerns, and would vote to limit lobbyist gifts and meals if I could. At the same time, I don't understand the logic behind limiting such relatively small bits of support while ignoring enormous shows of support that come in the form of campaign checks.
Majority Leader Steve Tilley – who's pushing a lobbyist gift ban at no real cost to himself, and hoping this whole discussion distracts attention from his own questionable actions – says he was inspired to stop taking free meals after talking with his dad and deciding that taking lobbyist meals "sure looks bad."
If enjoying a lobbyist-purchased hamburger "sure looks bad" – then what does a $100,000 check from Rex Sinquefield or $100,000 check from a Tom Burcham-controlled PAC look like? Or what does it look like when a legislator co-owns an airplane and business with Rex Sinquefield's lobbyist, with undisclosed profit- and resource-sharing agreements?
Tilley's refusal to support reasonable limits on campaign contributions is probably related to how many large campaign contributions he receives. In just the past year, he's accepted more than a few.
|
Contributor |
Date |
Amount |
|
Rex Sinquefield |
2/6/2009 |
$100,000 |
|
Missouri Leadership Committee |
1/21/2009 |
$100,000 |
|
Howard Wood |
2/6/2009 |
$50,000 |
|
Life Sciences Fund Of The Greater Kansas City Chamber Of Commerce |
6/25/2009 |
$50,000 |
|
David & Debra Humphreys |
4/15/2009 |
$25,000 |
|
Lee Mechanical Contractors |
2/19/2009 |
$15,000 |
|
Six States Rental, Inc |
2/25/2009 |
$15,000 |
|
Rightchoice Managed Care Inc |
6/22/2009 |
$12,500 |
|
Missouri Leadership Committee |
1/19/2009 |
$10,000 |
|
Brad Bedell |
6/10/2009 |
$10,000 |
|
U-City Forest Manor LLC |
8/11/2009 |
$10,000 |
|
St. Joe Manor LLC |
8/11/2009 |
$10,000 |
|
Community Manor |
8/11/2009 |
$10,000 |
|
Creve Coeur Manor LLC |
8/11/2009 |
$10,000 |
|
Hillview Healthcare LLC |
8/11/2009 |
$10,000 |
|
V.P. Braxton |
2/6/2009 |
$7,500 |
|
Blue Cross Blue Shield Of Kansas City PAC |
6/10/2009 |
$7,500 |
|
Crowne Pointe Golf Club |
6/24/2009 |
$6,100 |
|
Anheuser Busch Cos |
6/29/2009 |
$6,000 |
|
Crown Pointe Golf Club |
6/24/2009 |
$5,200 |
|
Pyramid Home Health Services |
2/6/2009 |
$5,000 |
|
Ticketmaster, LLC |
2/6/2009 |
$5,000 |
|
Us Tool & Grinding |
2/6/2009 |
$5,000 |
|
Integrity Home Care |
3/30/2009 |
$5,000 |
|
MO Optometric Pac |
6/5/2009 |
$5,000 |
|
Drury Development Corp |
4/2/2009 |
$5,000 |
|
MO Hospital Association PAC |
6/2/2009 |
$5,000 |
|
AT&T MO Employee Pac |
6/22/2009 |
$5,000 |
|
MOIndependent Bankers Assoc PAC |
6/29/2009 |
$5,000 |
|
Cornerstone Health Care Inc |
6/30/2009 |
$5,000 |
|
Pyramid Home Health Services |
7/17/2009 |
$5,000 |
|
Eoi Employee PAC |
9/2/2009 |
$5,000 |
|
Pyramid Home Health Services |
9/4/2009 |
$5,000 |
|
Mo Optometric PAC |
9/16/2009 |
$5,000 |
|
QC Holdings Inc |
9/18/2009 |
$5,000 |
Tilley then, in turn, distributes this money in a manner than increases his own power. Sometimes he writes $100,000 checks to the House Republican Campaign Committee (he actually did that twice this year), and sometimes he transfer the money to his preferred candidates and colleagues.
If we're going to talk about limiting meals and trinkets from special interests -- why not campaign donations too?
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