McCAIN WILL ROOT OUT CORRUPTION IN WASHINGTON - August 12, 2008

For good reason, Democrats are successfully tarring the Republican brand with corruption. The latest example of the exploitation of these conservative scandals is seen in the recent indictment of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, who, at 84, is the longest serving Republican in the Senate. On July 29th he was charged with seven felony counts, including allegations that he lied to conceal his acceptance of $250,000 in gifts and services from a now-defunct Alaska oil services and construction company.

As former Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Stevens wielded huge influence in

decisions impacting millions of Americans. A

strong advocate for allocating millions towards

member’s pet projects, Stevens is most notorious

as the champion of federal funding for the “Bridge

to Nowhere.” The bridge would have connected a

tiny island to one very small town in Alaska at a

cost in excess of $220 million to federal taxpayers.

Senator Stevens pushed forward the earmark to

the detriment of the Katrina-damaged Interstate

10 bridge across Lake Pontchartrain, which is the

largest estuary in southern Louisiana and a vital

commercial resource for New Orleans.

While this earmark was eventually thrown out, it drew into focus the excesses of Congressional earmarks and Stevens became a symbol of these abuses. Coming on top of recent Republican ethic scandals involving Majority Leader Tom Delay and Congressmen Duke Cunningham, the Stevens’ indictment underscores public perceptions of Republican corruption that Democrats will wield in an effort to demoralize Republican voters heading into November.

Ironically, Democrats who utilize the earmarking process are alleging that somehow Republicans alone are to blame for Washington’s spending addiction. Yet they, along with their Republican colleagues, return to the watering hole each year to advance constituent wants and special interests’ greed. However much Democrats would like to portray the ethical morality of their own party as being superior to that of their counterparts, such an assertion is patently false.

The reality that corruption is bipartisan is underscored by recent examples which accentuate the point that corruption exists within the enclave of congressional Democrats. The evidence includes, but is not limited to: Senator Menendez (D-NJ) who steered money to a lobbyist friend, Representative Jefferson (D-LA) who was indicted on money laundering, racketeering and obstruction of justice, and Representative Mollohan (D-WV) who formed nonprofits from which he received campaign contributions, all while securing earmarks that went to the organizations!

Juxtaposed to Stevens, for over two decades Republican Presidential nominee Senator John McCain has personified the crusade to end perceived political corruption by seeking reforms to the campaign finance system and legislative earmarking. While Senator Barack Obama expounds on the need for a new type of politics, McCain has been in the vanguard of bipartisan efforts that resulted in some of the more far reaching political reforms enacted in Washington since the 1970s.

As Obama toiled in the Illinois statehouse, McCain was leading efforts to reform the nation’s campaign finance laws to reduce the potential for monied interests to corrupt the political system. A seven year partnership with liberal Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) bore fruit in 2002 as McCain steered into law the most important campaign finance reforms since the 1970s. McCain-Feingold, as the landmark legislation was called, eliminated the use of soft money – contributions to political parties and political action committees that enabled big donors to circumvent federal limits on direct contributions to candidates – and restricted the use of issue advocacy ads in the run up to elections.

McCain continued his efforts at reform in seeking to address the explosion of earmarks under the Republican Congress. He has repeatedly called for the abolishment of line item earmarks that occur during the final hours before a bill is voted on, labeling them as “disgraceful” and a “waste of taxpayer money.” This type of pork-barrel spending in Washington is seen by him as the worst form of deception to the American public who entrust Congress with the power of the purse. McCain’s stance is particularly noteworthy in that it implicitly criticized his own party’s leadership, including Stevens.

Obama has recently joined McCain’s efforts to reform the practice of earmarking. Both Senators McCain and Obama introduced the Federal Funding Accountability Act of 2006 which requires the full disclosure of all entities or organizations receiving federal funds beginning in fiscal year (FY) 2007 on a website maintained by the Office of Management and Budget. But while both candidates have sponsored earmark reform legislation, voters might want to examine whether these efforts were done for political expediency or out of conviction.

In February, the Washington Post published an article that mentioned the two presidential contenders and highlighted the earmarks they were able to procure. The article cited figures from the non-partisan watchdog group the Taxpayers for Common Sense, which noted that Obama garnered “…$91 million placing him in the bottom quarter of senators who seek earmarks.” McCain however, was “one of five senators to reject earmarks entirely, part of his long-standing view that such measures prompt needless spending.” The article noted criticism that Obama received for using a 2006 earmark to secure money for the University of Chicago hospital where his wife worked. While Obama continues to practice pork barrel politics as usual, McCain stands on a record of consistent conviction in opposition to traditional Washington politics.

McCain has pledged to take his two decades of fighting corrupting influences with him to the White House, where he has promised to veto any earmarks that cross his desk as President. In contrast, Senator Obama continues to straddle the fence, stating that earmarks can be useful tools to complete local projects – a perspective shared by Senator Stevens when he brought the American people the “Bridge to Nowhere.”

One shouldn’t be surprised by Senator Obama’s continually evolving position on earmarks. After all, upon discovering his abilities as a fundraiser, he quickly threw aside principle and his long standing support for public finance limits for campaigns by rejecting spending limits. McCain? He accepted federal spending limits in his bid for President.
 

Stephanie Kimball

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Author of the article holds B.A. degree in Political Science from the University of California Davis. For the last 9 years she has been working as a Legislative Director for several Republican Assembly members in the State of California.
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