Organized Crime?

Tim Allen of the online slightly Liberal opinion provider politico.com has written an article When the Exception Swallows the Rule  about the failures of the Campaign Finance law to regulate the fund raising behavior of elected officials in Washington.  

Then the Washington Post admitted that it has been selling access to Washington Lobbyists and their Union, Non profit, Special Interest and Corporate clients.  Access cost $250,000.00 per attendee at special off the books and record Salons which were held at the publishers home.  The "fee" provided the lobbyists clients access to White House top staffers along with law makers and staff from the hill.

How the fees were then distributed and "shared" is unclear and still developing.  But it is increasingly clear that as our system is returning to the ancient system of centrally controlled economic and political domination of individual activity with government power, our politicians use the power they have for their own financial gain.

One only has to consider two such politicians [one from each party] who started their political careers poor and worked exclusively in public office but then retired as multi millionaires.  Where did they get the money?

Consider the two Presidential nominees of the 1996 presidential election.  Bill Clinton, taught in law school served as the Attorney General of Arkansas, then was the Governor of the State, and ran for Federal Office as a multi millionaire.  Robert Dole was so poor that his family lived in the basement of a rural home in Russell, Kansas  After his education was completed Dole served in state and county office until he was elected to Congress in 1960. 

How did these two become millionaires?

No one really knows.  The Clintons expalined it by referring to Hilary's investment activity but almost all of the Clinton investments were losers.  One possible explanation is the above referenced news about selling access and politicians accessing their excess campaign cash for personal use.

Political campaigns are big business and those who are involved in them make millions in conducting them and in raising the campaign funds.  We all know that both Pat Buchanon and Ralph Nader have been perennial independent candidates for President.  Casual observers ask why?  But the news media with the Washington post being one of the longest lasting leaders have never dealt with the reasons.  Why?

If the candidate gets access to his funds and if a Presidential candidate gets access to Federal Funds as some have in recent years.  That is one explanation that has never before been probed.  Maybe the Washington Post will tell us what the politicians did with the unreported cash they raised in their Salons.