We Are Who We Take Money Fromby: susantheWed May 05, 2010 at 19:50:44 PM EDT |
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That's why we investigate who donates to our elected officials. We pay attention to who the big corporate campaign donors are.
In 2005, Abramoff's money, via Tom DeLay's ARMPAC , caused considerable stir. J. D. Hayworth, the Republican primarying McCain in Arizona kept his Abramoff money. Pressure exerted by NH Democrats forced Jeb Bradley to return his $15,000 from ARMPAC. Ron Paul came under fire in 2007 for refusing to return donations from Neo-Nazi Don Black, the creator of StormFront, a white nationalist website. Former Speaker of the NH House, Gene Chandler, got in big trouble for taking donations and not reporting them. Even as oil devastates the seafood industry and the coast of Louisiana, Senator Mary Landrieu is calling for accelerated offshore oil drilling. Mary Landrieu is the top recipient in Congress of donations from BP. A recent press release from the NHDP criticizes Kelly Ayotte for taking some $150K from Wall St. execs, including a billionaire hedge fund manager. Given that we watch and we criticize - it was especially painful to learn that one of the sponsors of the recent NHDP 100 Club Dinner was Wal-Mart. As we all know, Wal-Mart has long been criticized for their shoddy business practices, including not paying overtime, not providing health insurance for employees, and paying so poorly that many employees are eligible for food stamps and Medicaid. They are anti-union. They are anti-women. Wal-Mart pharmacies do not stock the morning after pill. Wal-Mart engages in censorship. Books, movies, and CDs purchased at Wal-Mart may be censored for bad language. Wal-Mart is an evil empire in many, many respects. I'm dismayed that the NHDP accepted money from Wal-Mart. Not only are their ethics non-existent, taking money from them will lead to speculation about what they got in return. Aren't we handing them enough ammo already? |