How Deep Is Your Sleaze?
Eric Lipton and Ron Nixon write in The New York Times about how companies manage to find their way around bans on earmarks to profit-making businesses:
TOLEDO, Ohio -- Just one day after leaders of the House of Representatives announced a ban on earmarks to profit-making companies, Victoria Kurtz, the vice president for marketing of a small Ohio defense contracting firm, hit on a creative way around it.To keep the taxpayer money flowing, Ms. Kurtz incorporated what she called the Great Lakes Research Center, a nonprofit organization that just happened to specialize in the same kind of work performed by her own company -- and at the same address.
Now, the center -- which intends to sell the Pentagon small hollow metal spheres for body armor that the Defense Department has so far declined to buy in large quantities and may never use -- has $10.4 million in new earmark requests from Representative Marcy Kaptur, Democrat of Ohio.
The congresswoman, who has received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Ms. Kurtz's family and her business's lobbyists, thought the quickly hatched nonprofit organization was a convenient solution.
"They met the requirements of the reform," Ms. Kaptur said in an interview. "Yes, they did."
...Ms. Kaptur said she was pleased that the Ohio defense contractors could form alliances that allowed her office to resubmit the earmark requests. Her first commitment, she said, is to help the Pentagon defend the nation. But if she can deliver government money to local businesses, that is a bonus, she said.
"I am a member who does fight for my region and my state," she said, then adding, "I don't fight mindlessly."
You fight unethically, Marcy Kaptur.
I would hope that people of your district don't reelect you. We all need to stop voting for sleazy politicians, even when their sleaze sometimes benefits us when we're in their district. It's bad for the country, and it's important to remember that sleaze doesn't keep to neat boundaries. If Kaptur can stomach the stuff above, there's a whole lot of ugly in her that we have yet to see.
If memory serves, it was Kaptur who thought Ben Bernanke was a Wall Street CEO (googles)...yep
david foster at July 5, 2010 4:56 AM
Marcy Kaptur does everything mindlessly.
brian at July 5, 2010 8:53 AM
As long as the government keeps giving away cheese, nothing they do will keep the rats away.
Dwatney at July 5, 2010 9:29 AM
Some movie had this approximate dialog:
Thug: So man, do you respect me, or just the gun I'm pointing at you?
Person: I respect you, but my view might change if you didn't have the gun.
If the government were not taxing and handing out money, everyone would laugh at it.
Andrew_M_Garland at July 5, 2010 11:39 AM
It would make no sense for Kaptur's district to vote her out over this. A Congresscritter's job is to keep the pork flowing to his/her constituents. It's the President's job to veto this sort of crap--not that the current one has any inclination to do that job.
Rex Little at July 5, 2010 2:16 PM
I can't see why you are surprised. As soon as the government puts up one barrier, people will find alternatives.
Even if they eliminated earmarks completely, the politicians would find an alternative means of diverting federal money to their constituency.
The only solution is to reduce the size of government and spend less. If program XYZ did not exist, it would no longer have a budget.
EarlW at July 5, 2010 3:58 PM
Repeal the income tax. That would ax the government in minutes. If all the Fed had to live off were tariffs and fees, they would be shrunk.
I know -- what am I smoking. ;-)
Jim P. at July 5, 2010 4:38 PM
No, the job of a congresscritter is NOT supposed to be 'loot the rest of the country to keep myself in office', also known as 'keep the pork flowing'.
But there are enough corrupt politicians and idiot voters out there that it works that way.
Back when I worked at a state agency, every year the Public Employees Association(which should have been registered as a lobby group for the Democrat Party) pushed for anything- including tax hikes- to get us another raise. Lots of members thought this was just wonderful, it either not occurring to them- or not mattering- that they'd be paying the higher taxes and fees and whatever, too.
Firehand at July 5, 2010 5:12 PM
I hate this kind of crap because it's what gives defense contracting a bad rep.
Cousin Dave at July 6, 2010 8:36 AM
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