Friday, January 06, 2006
DeLay, Daschle and Abramoff: Some Scandals Matter More Than Others
As long as politicians can make or break a business, that business will seek ways to make friends with politicians. Add feminism, which claims it is sexist to inquire if a wife's career might benefit from her husband's job, and you have a lobbying loophole no one dare touch. For proof, Google "Hillary Rodham Clinton" and "cattle futures" or ponder Linda Daschle's remarkable lobbying career, as described by the Washington Monthly in 2002. At that time, Linda's husband, Tom, was the elected leader of Senate Democrats.
Linda saw herself as an independent career woman:
"What is it about Linda Daschle's actions that have any bearing on Tom Daschle's public service? I just don't see the connection," [Linda] says. "I think a congressional spouse is entitled to a career, self-fulfillment. I love what I do.
The drug company Schering-Plough, which sought to extend the patent on its allergy drug, Claritin, came to a different conclusion. It hired Linda Daschle, who has no expertise in pharmaceutical issues, as a lobbyist. For good measure:
Schering-Plough ... has also been kind to Sen. Daschle's pet charity, the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS). In 1997, Richard Kinney, Schering-Plough's in-house lobbyist who was working on the patent issue, joined the board and the company has sponsored NOFAS's annual fundraiser, which both Daschles host every year.
The Monthly added that, despite Schering-Plough's largess, "Sen. Daschle says he opposes the patent extension on its merits." Still, noted the Monthly, other folks thought engaging Linda Daschle as a lobbyist was money well spent:
Schering-Plough isn't the only one of Linda Daschle's clients to simultaneously seek good will from her husband: The air transport industry gave more than $100,000 in campaign contributions to the senator's campaign in the last election cycle. Northwest Airlines, which paid Linda Daschle's firm $190,000 in 1999, was the second-largest donor to Tom Daschle's Senate campaign in 1998.
Full disclosure: I personally contributed $100 to Tom DeLay's legal defense fund in 2005. I also worked with accused DeLay staffer Tony Rudy on a bilingual education reform bill in 1998 and still consider him my friend.
|posted by Jim on 4:37 PM|
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