Bought and paid for (politicians, fake charities, etc.)

[Hannah Bell]

According to a report in the New York Times, Boehner's political action committee--called the "Freedom Project"--has, in the last 18 months, spent at least $67,000 at the Ritz-Carlton Naples in Florida, $20,000 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Va., and $29,000 at the Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, all for fundraising events....

In the run-up to the vote, Democrats are trying to make Boehner the bogeyman for the corrupting role that corporate money plays in political process. President Obama invoked his name nine times in a recent speech. And Boehner certainly fits the bill....BUT DESPITE what Obama and the Democrats say, the Republicans don't have the you-scratch-my-back-I'll-scratch-yours market cornered in Washington...

A recent report in the New York Times described charities, started by politicians and funded by corporations, that want to do business with those politicians. Reviewing federal tax records and House and Senate disclosure reports, the Times found at least two dozen charities that accepted millions in donations from corporations that included AT&T, Chevron, General Dynamics, Morgan Stanley and Eli Lilly...

Campaign finance rules put restrictions on the amounts that businesses can contribute to political campaigns. There aren't, however, restrictions on what they can donate to charities. So corporations let their charitable donations do the talking. And it's clear that they want something in return...

http://socialistworker.org/2010/09/17/bought-and-paid-for

[truedelphi]

1. Your Op states that

Campaign finance rules put restrictions on the amounts that businesses can contribute to political campaigns.

The big problem for the voter is figuring out who and what the various groups are. "Citizens for Safe Energy" Could be citizens for alternative energy sources, or a group of nuclear power proponents. Take an issue out there, and there are several hundred groups all sounding like they are about doing the right thing for the citizensry, but many of them are not.

[maryf]

2. K&R nt