Extortion: How Politicians Extract Your Money, Buy Votes, and Line Their Own Pockets

by Schweizer, Peter

  27. “UBS in Settlement Talks with SEC over Mortgage Bond Deal—WSJ,” Reuters, March 23, 2013; “SEC Charges UBS Global Asset Management for Pricing Violations in Mutual Fund Portfolios,” January 17, 2012, www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/1365171488750#.UgLEmbYnhFs.

  28. Andrew Ramonas, “DOJ Drops UBS Tax Evasion Case,” Main Justice: Politics, Policy, and the Law, October 22, 2010, http://www.mainjustice.com/2010/10/22/doj-drops-ubs-tax-evasion-case (accessed May 3, 2013).

  29. Opensecrets.org, “2012 Presidential: Barack Obama’s Bundlers”; see, for example, U.S. Department of Justice, “Justice Department Reaches Settlement with Bank of America to Resolve Allegations of Discrimination Against Recipients of Disability Income,” September 13, 2012, http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/September/12-crt-1116.html; U.S. Department of Justice, “Federal Government and State Attorneys General Reach $25 Billion Agreement with Five Largest Mortgage Servicers to Address Mortgage Loan Servicing and Foreclosure Abuses,” February 9, 2012, http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/February/12-ag-186.html; Phil Mattingly, “U.S. Won’t Prosecute Goldman Sachs, Employees over CDO Deals,” Bloomberg Businessweek, August 10, 2012, http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-08-09/justice-finds-no-viable-basis-for-charges-against-goldman.

  30. Opensecrets.org, “2012 Presidential: Barack Obama’s Bundlers,” March 25, 2013, http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/bundlers.php (accessed May 3, 2013).

  31. Matthew Goldstein, “SEC Closes Fairfax Investigation on Hedge Funds—Sources,” Reuters, December 8, 2011.

  32. Jen Sabella, “Obama New York Fundraiser with Rahm Emanuel Moved,” Huffington Post, July 14, 2011.

  33. Opensecrets.org, “Barack Obama’s Bundlers.”

  34. Katie Thomas, “Pfizer Settles U.S. Charges of Bribing Doctors Abroad,” New York Times, August 8, 2012.

  35. Sarah Fulmer and April Knill, “Political Contributions and the Severity of Government Enforcement,” paper presented at the meeting of the American Finance Association, San Diego, March 1, 2012, p. 16.

  36. “Obama, Wall Street, and Lobbyists,” Christian Science Monitor, April 22, 2010.

  37. Mike Allen, “Obama Campaign Adds Senior Adviser,” Politico, October 24, 2011.

  38. Justin Elliott, “Top Obama Campaign Aide Lobbied for Bank Bailout,” Salon, January 9, 2012.

  39. Keach Hagey, “NPR Host’s Husband Joins Obama Campaign,” Politico, October 24, 2011.

  40. Collins Johnson Group, “About Us,” http://thecollinsjohnsongroup.com/about.html (accessed May 5, 2013).

  41. Nicholas D. Kristof, “Taxes and Billionaires,” New York Times, July 7, 2011.

  42. MapLight, “U.S. Congress —Find Contributions: Legislator, John Boehner; Interest Group, Finance/Insurance/Real Estate and Securities & Investment; Date, June 8–9, 2011 (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed May 5, 2013).

  43. Ibid.

  44. “Know Your Power Couples,” The Daily Beast, http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/galleries/2008/12/24/photos-know-your-power-couples.html (accessed May 5, 2013).

  45. Timothy P. Carney, “K Street: More Shakedown Than Bribery?” Washington Examiner, February 14, 2012.

  46. SKDKnickerbocker, “Anita Dunn,” www.skdknick.com/about/anita-dun (accessed May 5, 2013).

  47. Patrick Howley, “The Democrats’ Hedge Fund Shakedown Comments,” Washington Free Beacon, January 14, 2012.

  48. “Bio: Hilary Rosen,” Huffington Post, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hilary-rosen (accessed May 5, 2013).

  49. Elizabeth Wasserman and Jonathan Allen, “Barack Obama, Trustbuster?” Politico, August 16, 2012; Eric Lichtblau and Eric Lipton, “Strategizing for the President, and Corporate Clients, Too,” New York Times, October 19, 2012.

  50. Thomas Catan, Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg, and Chad Bray, “U.S. Alleges E-Book Scheme ,” Wall Street Journal, April 11, 2012.

  51. John Aloysius Farrell, “Obama Sues Publishers, Who Respond with a Fundraiser,” National Journal, March 25, 2012, http://www.nationaljournal.com/blogs/decoded/2012/05/obama-sues-publishers-who-respond-with-a-fundraiser-25 (accessed May 5, 2013).

  52. Library of Congress Thomas, “Bill Text Versions—112th Congress (2011–2012), H.R. 3523,” http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.3523: (accessed May 5, 2013).

  53. MapLight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Legislator, James Clyburn; Interest Group, Communications and Electronics Industry; Date, March 1–April 30, 2012 (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed May 5, 2013).

  54. Opensecrets.org, “Lobbyist Profile: Alexander, Stacey,” http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/lobbyist.php?id=Y0000039600L&year=2012; and “Lobbyist Profile: Mason, Marcus,” http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/lobbyist.php?id=Y00000114 11L (accessed May 5, 2013).

  55. Govtrack.us, “House Vote #192 in 2012: H.R. 3523 (112th): Cyberspace Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act,” April 26, 2012, http://www.govtrack.us/con gress/votes/112-2012/h192.

  56. Alicia Mundy, “U.S. Effort to Remove Drug CEO Jolts Firms ,” Wall Street Journal, April 26, 2011.

  57. John Stanton, “Former Baucus Aide at Center of Flap over Insurer’s Mailings on Health Reform,” Roll Call, September 23, 2009.

  4. The Underground Washington Economy

  1. Matthew Mosk, “Fundraisers Tap Those Who Can’t Say No,” Washington Post, August 7, 2009; and Clyde Wilcox, “Design Campaign Finance Disclosure in the States: Tracing the Tributaries of Campaign Finance,” Election Law Journal (December 2005): 376.

  2. Sunlight Foundation, Political Party Time, http://politicalpartytime.org/www/partytime_dump_all.csv.

  3. George Mitchell quoted in Mark C. Alexander, “Let Them Do Their Jobs: The Compelling Government Interest in Protecting the Time of Candidates and Elected Officials,” Loyola University Chicago Law Journal 37: 14–15.

  4. Ryan J. Reilly and Melissa Jeltsen, “House Ethics: Timing on Fundraisers, Financial Reform Was a Coincidence,” TPMMuckraker, January 27, 2011, http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/01/house_ethics_timing_on_fundraisers_financial_reform_was_coindicence.php?p=0.

  5. Ibid.

  6. Ibid.

  7. Stanley Brubaker, “The Limits of Campaign Spending Limits,” Public Interest (Fall 1998): 40.

  8. Benjamin S. Feuer, “Between Political Speech and Cold, Hard Cash: Evaluating the FEC’s New Regulations for 527 Groups,” Northwestern University Law Review 100, no. 2 (2006): 932.

  9. Andrew B. Hall, “How Much of the Incumbency Advantage Is Financial?” January 10, 2013, p. 2, http://polmeth.wustl.edu/media/Paper/HallHowMuch.pdf.

  10. Chris Murphy, “I Didn’t Get Elected to Be a Fundraiser: How Trolling for Donations Detracts From Lawmakers’ Mission,” Hartford Courant, February 3, 2008.

  11. Larry Makinson, “Speaking Freely: Washington Insiders Talk About Money in Politics,” Center for Responsive Politics, 2003.

  12. Stephen Ansolabehere, John M. de Figueiredo, and James M. Snyder Jr., “Why Is There So Little Money in U.S. Politics?” Working Paper 9409, National Bureau of Economic Research, December 2002, p. 15.

  13. Douglas D. Roscoe and Shannon Jenkins, “A Meta-Analysis of Campaign Contributions’ Impact on Roll Call Voting,” Social Science Quarterly 86, no. 1 (2005): 52–68.

  14. David Mills and Robert Weisberg, “Corrupting the Harm Requirement in White-Collar Crime,” Stanford Law Review 60, no. 5 (March 2008): 1381.

  15. Thomas Brunell, “The Relationship Between Political Parties and Interest Groups: Explaining Patterns of PAC Contributions for Congress,” Political Research Quarterly 58 (2005): 682.

  16. Amy J. Hillman, Gerald D. Keim, and Douglas Schuler, “Corporate Political Activity: A Review and Research Agenda,” Journal of Management 30, no. 6 (2004): 848.

  17. See Appendix 1.

  18. U.S. Congressman Fred Upton, “Committee Assignments,” http://upton.house.gov/biography/committees.htm; see Appendix 1. The dues listed are one-sixth of the total assessment for the cycle.

  19. U.S. Congressman Dave Camp, “Biography,” http://camp.ho
use.gov/biography/; see Appendix 1. The dues listed are one-sixth of the total assessment for the cycle.

  20. U.S. Congressman Lamar Smith, “Biography,” http://lamarsmith.house.gov/biog raphy/; see Appendix 1. The dues listed are one-sixth of the total assessment for the cycle.

  21. U.S. House of Representatives, Democratic Caucus, “The Democratic Caucus,” http://www.dems.gov/democratic-caucus.

  22. National Republican Congressional Committee, “NRCC Patriot Program,” http://electgoppatriots.com/; “U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz Reappointed to Powerful Ways and Means Committee in 113th Congress,” Times Herald (Montgomery County, Penn.), December 12, 2012.

  23. Stuart Rothenberg, “The Most Vulnerable House Incumbent(s) of 2013,” Rothenberg Political Report, April 17, 2013, http://rothenbergpoliticalreport.com/news/article/the-most-vulnerable-house-incumbents-of-2014.

  24. Mark Wegner, “Congress Daily: House Races, Hoyer Links Fundraising to Keeping Seats on Key Panels,” National Journal Daily, February 2, 2011.

  25. Congressman Jim Cooper, “Forum: Fixing Congress,” Boston Review, May 2, 2011.

  26. Molly K. Hooper, “House Republican Campaign Chief Furious After Leak on Party Dues,” The Hill, March 17, 2011.

  27. For this exemption, see Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, House Ethics Manual, 110th Cong., 2nd sess. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2008), p. 145, http://ethics.house.gov/sites/ethics.house.gov/files/documents/2008_House_Ethics_Manual.pdf.

  28. See Cornell University Law School, Legal Information Institute, “2 USC § 439A—Use of Contributed Amounts for Certain Purposes,” http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/2/439a.

  29. William Bernhard and Tracy Sulkin, “Following the Party? Member-to-Member Campaign Contributions and Cue-Taking in the U.S. House,” paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Seattle, September 1–4, 2011, p. 10.

  30. James Valvo and Carl Oberg, “Exposing the Special Interests Behind Waxman-Markey,” Policy Paper 0909, Americans for Prosperity, September 2009, http://americansforprosperity.org/files/Policy_Paper_0909_0.pdf.

  31. Govtrack.us, “House Vote #477 in 2009: H.R. 2454 (111th): American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009,” June 26, 2009, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/111-2009/h477.

  32. Keenan Steiner and Jake Harper, “In GOP Leadership Race, McMorris Rodgers Has the Dough Behind Her,” Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group, November 14, 2012, http://reporting.sunlightfoundation.com/2012/gop-leadership-race-mcmorris-rodgers-has-dough-behind-her/.

  33. Federal Election Commission (FEC), “Candidate and Committee Viewer: “PAC TO THE FUTURE,” http://www.fec.gov/fecviewer/CandidateCommitteeDetail.do.

  34. Jonathan Tamari, “Andrews Used Wife to Vet Use of Campaign Funds on Trip,” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 12, 2012.

  35. Robert Pear and Jennifer Steinhauer, “House Rebukes GOP Leaders over Spending,” New York Times, September 21, 2011.

  36. Ibid.

  37. Major Garrett, “Beyond Mediation,” National Journal, September 30, 2011.

  38. Federal Election Commission (FEC), “Candidate and Committee Viewer: Freedom Project,” http://www.fec.gov/fecviewer/CandidateCommitteeDetail.do.

  39. Govtrack.us, “House Vote #72 in 2012: H.R. 3630 (112th): Middle-Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012,” February 17, 2012, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/112-2012/h72.

  40. “2012 House Races,” Politico, http://www.politico.com/2012-election/map/#/House/2012/TN.

  41. Jennifer Steinhauer and Robert Pear, “House Set to Vote Down Payroll Tax Cut Extension,” New York Times, December 19, 2011.

  42. Federal Election Commission (FEC), “Candidate and Committee Viewer: Majority Committee PAC,” http://www.fec.gov/fecviewer/CandidateCommitteeDetail.do; “Election 2010,” New York Times, http://elections.nytimes.com/2010/results/house.

  43. Federal Election Commission (FEC), “Candidate and Committee Viewer: AmeriPAC: The Fund for a Greater America,” http://www.fec.gov/fecviewer/Candi dateCommitteeDetail.do.

  44. Govtrack.us, “House Vote #477 in 2009: H.R. 2454 (111th): American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009,” June 26, 2009, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/111-2009/h477.

  45. Kristin Kanthak and George A. Krause, The Diversity Paradox: Political Parties, Legislatures, and the Organizational Foundations of Representation in America (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), p. 79.

  46. Kathryn Pearson, Party Discipline in the Contemporary Congress: Rewarding Loyalty in Theory and Practice (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), p. 11.

  47. Ibid.

  48. Suzanne Robbins, “Cash Flows: Leadership PACs in the U.S. Congress from 1992 to 2008,” Proceedings of the Forty-Third Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science, IEEE Computer Society, Koloa Kauai, Hawaii, January 5–8, 2010, p. 2.

  49. Quoted in Marian Currinder, Money in the House: Campaign Funds and Congressional Party Politics (Boulder, Colo.: Westview, 2009), p. 252 (ellipses in original).

  50. Federal Election Commission (FEC), “Candidate and Committee Viewer: Mountaineer,” http://www.fec.gov/fecviewer/CandidateCommitteeDetail.do.

  51. Federal Election Commission (FEC), “Candidate and Committee Viewer: AmeriPAC: The Fund for a Greater America,” http://www.fec.gov/fecviewer/CandidateCommitteeDetail.do.

  52. Timothy J. Burger, “California’s Napolitano Makes $220,000 from 1998 Campaign Loan,” Bloomberg, February 13, 2009, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=aUZXCuqGb_Lw&pid=newsarchive.

  53. Ibid.

  54. See CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington), Family Affair Report (2012), p. 41, http://www.citizensforethics.org/page/-/PDFs/Reports/Family_Affair_House_2012_CREW.pdf?nocdn=1. The author has independently verified these numbers by examining FEC files.

  55. Ibid.

  56. Ibid.

  57. “Rep. Rodney Alexander (R),” National Journal, http://www.nationaljournal.com/almanac/member/8.

  58. Katherine Skiba, “Numerous Battles Haven’t Slowed Rep. Bobby Rush,” Chicago Tribune, September 19, 2011.

  59. See Elliott Peterson’s LinkedIn profile at: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/elliott-peterson/59/215/9a9; CQ MoneyLine, “Peterson, Collin C., 2009–2010 Election Cycle” (itemized disbursement data), http://www.politicalmoneyline.com/tr/tr_mg_cand.aspx?&sCandID=H2MN07014&sCycle=2010 (subscription required).

  60. “Election Results [1992–2012]: District 4 in Texas,” PoliGu.com, http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/Profiles/House/Texas/Ralph_Hall/ElectionResults.

  61. “Election Results [1992–2012]: District 6 in Texas,” PoliGu.com, http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/Profiles/House/Texas/Joe_Barton/ElectionResults.

  62. “Election Results [1992–2010]: District 9 in North Carolina,” PoliGu.com, http://www.thepoliticalguide.com/Profiles/House/North_Carolina/Sue_Myrick/ElectionResults.

  63. Federal Election Commission (FEC), “Candidate and Committee Viewer: Randy Forbes,” http://www.fec.gov/fecviewer/CandidateCommitteeDetail.do.

  64. Federal Election Commission (FEC), “Candidate and Committee Viewer: Gary Miller,” http://www.fec.gov/fecviewer/CandidateCommitteeDetail.do.

  65. CREW, Family Affair Report, pp. 205–6.

  5. The Double-Milker: You May Not Be Interested in Washington, but Washington Is Interested in You

  1. Bruce Bouton, “RMA Members Attend GRAMMYs on the Hill,” International Musician 109, no. 6 (June 2011).

  2. “Internet Piracy and How to Stop It: A Senate Bill Has Commendable Goals, but Needs Some Work Before It Can Be Law” (editorial), New York Times, June 9, 2011.

  3. Business Software Alliance, “Shadow Market: 2011 BSA Global Software Piracy Study,” 9th ed., May 2012, http://globalstudy.bsa.org/2011/downloads/study_pdf/2011_BSA_Piracy_Study-Standard.pdf.

  4. Maria Pallante, John Clark, Michael O’Leary, Linda Kirkpatrick, Katherine Oyama, and Paul Almeida, testimony before House Judiciary Committee he
aring on H.R. 3261 (Stop Online Piracy Act), 112th Cong., 1st sess., November 16, 2011.

  5. Paul Harris, “Veep Vows War on Fakes,” Daily Variety, December 16, 2009, p. 5.

  6. Ted Johnson, “Veep on Piracy Pulpit,” Daily Variety, April 13, 2011.

  7. Matthew K. Dames, “Why the Frame of ‘Piracy’ Matters,” Information Daily 26, no. 6 (June 2009): 22.

  8. Johnson, “Veep on Piracy Pulpit.”

  9. Dave Boyer and Susan Crabtree, “Obama Presses China on Rights, Trade; Vice President Xi Jinping Visits U.S.,” Washington Times, February 15, 2012; Jonathan Weisman and Greg White, “Biden Decries Russian Corruption During Visit,” Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2011.

  10. Tom Barkley and Jarod Favole, “U.S. Sets Coordinated Response to Intellectual-Property Threats ,” Wall Street Journal, June 23, 2010.

  11. Govtrack.us, “H.R. 3261 (112th): Stop Online Piracy Act,” October 26, 2011, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr3261 (accessed April 2, 2013); Govtrack.us, “S. 968 (112th): Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011,” May 12, 2011, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s968 (accessed March 2, 2013).

  12. Paul Sexton, “Business Diary: Glen Barros,” Financial Times, February 14, 2011.

  13. Cecilia Kang and Perry Bacon Jr., “Obama’s Fundraising Faces Key Test in California ,” Washington Post, April 19, 2011.

  14. Tina Daunt, “Disappointed Hollywood Giving Obama Cold Shoulder ,” Hollywood Reporter, September 15, 2011.

  15. Nicholas Confessore, “Small Donors Are Slow to Return to the Obama Fold,” New York Times, September 24, 2011.

  16. Carla Marinucci, “Fans Resent Lack of Public Obama Events,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 2, 2013.

  17. Dave Rosenberg, “Sony Pictures CEO Hates the Internet,” CNet News, May 16, 2009, http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10242526-62.html (accessed May 6, 2013).