“IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN A CAREER IN POLITICS, AND LOTS OF CASH…”

1/28/09

I sent the following letter to the Chicago Sun-Times in response to a column by Carol Marin, one of our town’s more accomplished political writers:


1/28/09

In her 1/28/09 Commentary piece on the Blagojevich imbroglio, Carol Marin approvingly quotes freshman Democratic Representative Bill Burns of Chicago:

“What drove the impeachment of this governor was the need for campaign cash. Same for George Ryan in the licenses-for-bribes probe, money for his campaign fund.”

Ms. Marin goes on to conclude

“Nothing changes until the (campaign finance) system changes.”

There is a large element of truth in Ms. Marin’s contention, but she omits a substantial point. While it was the quest for campaign money that led to the downfall of Governors Ryan and Blagojevich, that money was not being raised exclusively to fund their campaigns. A truly corrupt politician, or even a mildly corrupt, garden variety Chicago/Illinois politician, has long found ways to funnel “campaign” money into his pocket. Until recently, doing so in Illinois was both simple and legal; all a pol had to do was to report any campaign money converted into personal funds on his or her income tax return. Even after the law was changed and such conversions were made illegal, and doubtless even while that law was in effect, our scrofulous pols channeled money to themselves through jobs or contracts for friends. Money funneled to such friends and supporters easily found its way into the politicians’ pockets through “gifts” or by employing more direct methods, such as channeling such contracts and jobs to the pols’ spouses.

It is not only the need for campaign funds that drives corrupt politicians. Campaign funds, in addition to legitimately funding campaigns, often serve as conduits for channeling money to politicians without having to pay outright bribes. Even if, as Cindy Canary of the Illinois Campaign for Reform prescribes, caps are put on the amounts of campaign money that pols can raise, or even if more drastic campaign reform measures are adopted, pols will simply find other, and perhaps even cruder ways, to put sell their offices for personal gain. Campaign reform will only affect the methodology employed by nefarious pols to line their pockets.