If you haven’t read the State of the Union and the Obama-GOP Q&A, go ahead and read them now. Otherwise, here’s the news of the past two weeks. As usual, highlights are in red.
Politics
- Political corruption or political gratitude? Or just politics? (Rauch)
Consider Rep. Patricia Porker, a member of the Ways and Means Committee. She is running for re-election.
Consider, next, Marvin Moneybags. He is a wealthy individual with interests before Ways and Means.
Now consider two scenarios.
1) Porker calls up Moneybags and says, “Say, Marvin. I need about $300,000 to run campaign ads, but I’m not allowed to take donations that big. I know you’d hate to see anything happen to those tax credits I’ve helped you with. Just a thought: Go spend $300,000 on ads supporting my candidacy. You won’t regret it.”
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2) Moneybags is a friend and an enthusiastic supporter of Porker’s. Acting on his own, without consulting Porker, he spends $300,000 on “Vote for Porker!” ads.
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Why is Scenario 1 illegal and Scenario 2 legal?
