Third Term by Paul Begala

Author:Paul Begala
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2008-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

“ONE WORD, ABRAMOFF”

When Jack Abramoff was caught channeling contributions and outright bribes from Indian tribes to dozens of lawmakers in 2006, McCain was chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. It was his job to lead one of the largest congressional corruption investigations in decades. He could have followed the facts without fear or favor, forcing accountability from everyone involved, including numerous colleagues in the House and Senate. It was the perfect opportunity to force reform in lobbying activity and campaign contributions, not to mention congressional ethics. McCain punted.

He gave lip service to reform. He argued that the scandal proved the need for reforms to bring greater transparency: “It’s obvious why it’s needed. One word, Abramoff.” 46 McCain described the relationship between lobbyists, clients, and campaign contributions as “unfortunately, the ordinary way of doing business in this town.” 47 But after all that windup, his pitch fell flat.

The final report delivered from McCain’s committee’s investigation into the scandal declared “no new or revised federal legislation needed.” The report said, “Without doubt, the depth and breadth of [Abramoff’s and associate Michael Scanlon’s] misconduct was astonishing,” but “the Committee concludes that existing federal criminal statutes are sufficient to deter and punish such misconduct.” 48

Worse yet, as the Associated Press reported, McCain covered for members of Congress who had received money from Abramoff. 49 His report included a section on recommendations for further investigations, but it omitted the activity of congressmen. Numerous congressmen were omitted from the report, but the most notable absences were powerful Republicans apparently caught up in the scandal, like House Speaker Dennis Hastert, GOP house whip Roy Blunt, and senators Conrad Burns, Thad Cochran, Trent Lott, Chuck Grassley, and John Ensign. Combined, those members received over $610,000 from Abramoff clients. 50 These members had written letters to the secretary of the interior seeking action on matters that would benefit tribes for whom Abramoff had lobbied.

BOTTOM LINE: A DEN OF LOBBYISTS

McCain has at least 134 lobbyists on staff or raising money for his campaign. His May feint at reforming his campaign only dropped the lobbyist total by four. McCain’s attempts to rewrite the history of his campaign, like his attempts to airbrush out his history of ethical lapses, buckle under the weight of reality. Like Bush, he is a true Washington insider who is trying to brand himself as an outsider. But the “reformer” label just doesn’t hold up.

A reformer doesn’t accept money and trips from a campaign contributor and then try to use the power of the office to help the contributor at the expense of the American taxpayers. A reformer doesn’t reward a campaign contributor with lucrative land deals at the expense of the government. A reformer doesn’t deride corporate influence in politics, then set up an organization to accept donations from corporations with business before his committees. A reformer doesn’t reward campaign contributions with official interventions and favors. A reformer doesn’t punt when it’s his duty to investigate a corruption scandal. A reformer doesn’t surround himself with lobbyists.

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