30 August 2005

More Pay-to-Play from Statehouse Republicans?

From the Right Angle Blog comes word of a Plain Dealer article linking state contracts with campaign contributions. The article states:

Four of every five dollars requested by Attorney General Jim Petro for special counsel contracts for this fiscal year will go to law firms that have given money to his political campaigns.

…state Democratic leaders said 41 of the 57 law firms receiving contracts on Monday have given Republican Petro more than $800,000 since 1998. Those same firms yesterday were awarded $15.4 million in contracts.

In accordance with the GOP playbook, Petro’s office sidestepped questions and accused critics of playing politics. And then they went on to point out that over half of the firms been given contracts for years, going back to a Democratic AG.

This is another classic Republican reaction: well, the Democrats used to do it, so you’re not allowed to say anything about it now. All this illustrates is that both major parties are corrupt and under the influence of special interests. It does not exonerate the Republicans from culpability or the appearance thereof. If there is the appearance of impropriety, then the office should open itself up to a transparent investigation and either exculpate itself or accept fair punishment.

Unless you’re in Kentucky

1 comment:

WestEnder said...

You have reiterated the classic GOP argument even after it has been pointed out.

Rather than address the question of whether or not a public official acted in a manner incongruent with the public interest, all you have done is regurgitate the "Dems are just playing politics" line.

Whether the Dems or Repubs are playing politics is not the issue. The issue is that a system that has come to be dominated by special interests undermines the public interest.

Whether it serves republican special interests or democratic ones is of no matter to me. In either case, it does not serve the public interest.