The
New York Times reported today that Dr. Richard Carmona -- the first Surgeon General under President George W. Bush --
testified that his work was repeatedly compromised by political considerations. Going before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Dr. Carmona, who was Surgeon-General from 2003 to 2006, said that:
"Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, theological or political agenda is ignored, marginalized or simply buried...I was blocked at every turn. I was told the decision had already been made -- stand down, don't talk about it."
Issues such as stem-cell research and sex education were among those he noted that he was ordered not to support. Further, the Times reports that
Dr. Carmona said he was ordered to mention President Bush three times on every page of his speeches. He also said he was asked to make speeches to support Republican political candidates and to attend political briefings.
The New York Times has a great story about a particularly egregious example of the influence of money in politics.
Rep. Don Young (R-AL), best recalled perhaps for the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere" $200 million earmark last year, is at it again. Again with the bridges. Young has steered $10 million to build a bridge in Florida. Now, one might ask, what would an Alaskan congressman want with building bridges in Florida?
The answer lies, very simply, in the fact that he has a campaign contributer who stands to gain a lot from this:
The Coconut Road [the bridge in question] money is a boon, however, to Daniel J. Aronoff, a real estate developer who helped raise $40,000 for Mr. Young at the nearby Hyatt Coconut Point hotel days before he introduced the measure.
Several studies by the Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Federal Highway Administration have all warned about the potential environmental impact of this undertaking. County planners had voted not to use the money, until they were threatened by Rep. Young that it would jeopardize future federal resources for the area.
Usually, as the article in the Times notes, this kind of thing is done more discreetly. Of course, $40,000 isn't easy to come by, and, with the cost of running for reelection, it's not a bad deal. Perhaps if Young put a sign on his door that read "Representative for Sale," he might get more business. Or perhaps, if we institute clean elections, he wouldn't need to.
The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that the president of the Kentucky State Senate, David Williams, held a luncheon with 80 attendees, with about half of them lobbyists. At this luncheon, he encouraged the lobbyists to raise money--with a goal of up to $50,000 per person--to elect Republicans to the State Senate:
... the lobbyists and others were invited to sign a `commitment form' pledging to raise or give one of four amounts--$5,000, $10,000, $25,000, or $50,000--to the Republican Party of Kentucky Senate Trust or the Senate Republican Caucus Committee.
None of this would be a problem, really, if it weren't such an attempt to skirt the law. As the article notes, lobbyists cannot give to a candidate's campaign or the Senate Republican Caucus Committee, but they can give to the Senate Trust, and their clients can give to the Trust as well as the Caucus Committee, who in turn fund candidates--thus, the law is bypassed through a process that bears more than a passing similarity to money laundering.
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