Excerpted, edited with comment by Carolyn Bennett

Money Crime, its impunity in High Office resulting from the failure to indict it leaves no time seriously to deliberate and solve problems in domestic or international affairs

"The question is where the impetus for change will come from, because poor people are virtually invisible to the U.S. Senate. [Senators] are disproportionately wealthy and represent, economically, only a narrow slice of the population. This, combined with the fact that the constituents that they see as most relevant, those in the best position to affect their tenures in office, are also disproportionately wealthy, leads to a serious imbalance of power. Too few people have too much wealth, power, and access, and too many people have too little" - The Conscience of a Liberal: Reclaiming the compassionate agenda -Senator Paul Wellstone (b. July 21, 1944 - d. October 25, 2002)

TODAY
Corrupt in public office - TOO TENTACLED TO FAIL

Senator John Ensign (R-Nev.) landed a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994; in 2000, money put him in the U. S. Senate and he has handed out to "thirty-four current lawmakers, all Republican, at least $279,650 through his candidate committees and leadership PAC (called Battle Born PAC) since 1994." Since the 1994 election results, "Ensign has contributed nearly $661,000 of his own (?) campaign cash to the leadership PACs and candidate committees of other current or former lawmakers. Only 12 other senators, past or present, have given more money through their leadership PACs and only nine senators have contributed more money through their candidate committees."

Top 20 John Ensign financially aided (1994 - )
Names and totals

Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) $20,000
Sen. James W DeMint (R-SC) $18,000
Sen. John Thune (R-SD) $16,000
Sen. David Vitter (R-La) $15,000
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) $11,000
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) $11,000
Sen. John A Barrasso (R-Wyo.) $10,000
Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) $10,000
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) $10,000
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) $10,000
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) $10,000
Sen. James M Inhofe (R-Okla.) $10,000
Sen. Michael O Johanns (R-Neb.) $10,000
Sen. Jon L Kyl (R-Ariz.) $10,000
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) $10,000
Rep. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) $10,000
Sen. James E Risch (R-Idaho) $10,000
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) $10,000
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) $10,000
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) $10,000

During Ensign’s entrenchment in public office, thirty-seven current lawmakers have kicked back to Ensign "nearly the full amount that he's doled out to them: $265,550.

Biggest among Ensign’s long-term fans measured in dollars "seems to be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). Through his candidate committees and leadership PAC, McConnell has funneled $37,000 to Ensign over the years.

Top 20 Members financially aided John Ensign (1994 - )
Names and totals

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) $37,000
Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) $22,000
Sen. Richard C Shelby (R-Ala.) $20,000
Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) $13,240
Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) $12,000
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) $10,500
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) $10,000
Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond (R-Mo.) $10,000
Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) $10,000
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) $10,000
Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) $10,000
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) $10,000
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) $10,000
Sen. Jon L Kyl (R-Ariz.) $10,000
Sen. John Thune (R-SD) $10,000
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) $9,000
Sen. Orrin G Hatch (R-Utah) $8,000
Sen. James M Inhofe (R-Okla.) $7,000
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) $6,000
Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) $5,000

Source
"Capital Eye Report: Aides, Lobbyists and Contributors among Those Left in Wake of Sen. John Ensign’s Alleged Ethics Scandal" (published by Lindsay Renick Mayer & Michael Beckel), October 8, 2009, http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/10/aides-lobbyists-and-contributo.html

AGAIN
"The question is where the impetus for change will come from, because poor people are virtually invisible to the U.S. Senate....

"[Senators] are disproportionately wealthy and represent, economically, only a narrow slice of the population. This, combined with the fact that the constituents that they see as most relevant, those in the best position to affect their tenures in office, are also disproportionately wealthy, leads to a serious imbalance of power. Too few people have too much wealth, power, and access, and too many people have too little." - The Conscience of a Liberal: Reclaiming the compassionate agenda - Senator Paul Wellstone (b. 1944 - d. 2002).

Paul Wellstone was an American politician, educator, author; a popular U.S. senator from Minnesota, a staunch liberal Democrat at a time when the Democratic Party was retreating to a centrist position. He died in a plane crash near Eveleth, Minnesota, October 25, 2000.

Posted by Bennett's Column at 2:55 PM
Labels: corruption in U.S. public office, John Ensign, money in politics, Paul Wellstone, U.S. House and Senate affairs

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