I followed up on The Post's article "Toxins ID'd in river areas" about the Ohio River's major polluters and looked up some campaign contribution data on the companies. For the [Ohio] companies whose data I found, about 85% of their PAC contributions consistently went to Republicans. Individual contributions (from employees) went 100% to Republicans.
This in itself does not prove that Republicans favor polluters (they do, but this doesn't prove it). The industries would simply say that they do business with the state, and they want to ensure a good relationship. Fair enough. It's just a coincidence that Ohio has insufficient environmental oversight and is generally rife with corporate welfare.
In addition to supporting Republicans in general (through contributions to individuals as well as campaign committees), the companies also targeted the legal system. Contributions were made to the Attorney General (Petro), State Auditor (Montgomery), and Supreme Court Justices. Employees bundled contributions to three Justices in particular: Tom Moyer, Judith Lanzinger, and Terence O'Donnell.
Corporate corruption has infiltrated the state's executive and legislative branches. Are Justices Moyer, Lanzinger, and O'Donnell the ones who will usher corporate corruption into Ohio's Supreme Court?
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