February 6, 2006
In a 1992 comedy film, Eddie Murphy starred as a young black con artist who became a freshman Congressman ("The Distinguished Gentleman") and found a corrupt system in Washington where "money for" and "money against" was virtually thrown at him from many, many special interest groups and their lobbyists.
Except for the obvious racial difference, that movie might well be "The Patrick McHenry Story." If it weren't such a sad indictment of our political system, one could even find humor in an hour or two on the
Federal Election Commission's website (www.fec.gov),perusing McHenry's campaign contributions.
First, there's the infamous "Club for Growth Inc.," which donated more than $182,000 to pay McHenry campaign expenses--in a one-week period in early August 2004--which our young "Distinguished Gentleman" used to publish innuendos and distortions of Sheriff David Huffman's record, so he could win that primary runoff by 86 votes.
The Club for Growth's website says it wants to elect Congressmen who will pursue "pro-growth economic policies." But the Federal Election Commission currently is suing the Club for Growth for "illegal campaign activities," the suit says, in the 2000-2004 national elections, including failure to register as a political action committee (PAC) and donating more than $9 million, "which exceeds the limits of the Federal Election Campaign Act."
What does this big money group want from McHenry, a "powerless" little freshman Congressman fromCherryville, NC?
And why does McHenry so doggedly support the impugned integrity of indicted Texas Congressman Tom Delay (Hickory Daily Record, Jan. 14, 2006, page A8)? In 2004, Delay gave McHenry $10,000 in campaign funds. Last year, the "Friends of (former Texas Senator) Phil Gramm" gave McHenry $6,000 and the "Texas Freedom Fund" kicked in another $2,500. Could the $18,500 in Texas money be a factor in his blind support of a man of such questionable ethics? Delay was indicted for campaign money-laundering.
And why does our illustrious young public servant take so many campaign contributions from OUTSIDE the 10th District of North Carolina? For instance, why would RJ Reynolds and Lorillard--cigarette companies located in Winston-Salem and Greensboro--give him $17,500? And why would three sugar-producing concerns give him another $10,000? Come on now, the 10th District produces neither cigarettes nor sugar!
And remember how McHenry viciously attacked Huffman for a 2004 campaign money snafu involving a "loan" from "a beer distributor?" I'd like to hear young Patrick explain why he's taken $25,000 from the National Beer Distributors, $3,000 from the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America and $1,000 from Anheuser-Busch. Sounds a bit hypocritical, doesn't it?
The only local company PAC I recognized on the list was Alex Lee Inc. ($10,000). How about $3,000 from Dickstein Shapiro Morin andOshinsky LLP (PA)? Doesn't sound like a 10th District law firm, does it? Do these names remind you a little of the name "Abramoff"? High-roller lobbyist and campaign contributor Jack Abramoff is indicted and has confessed to quite a few influence-peddling no-nos. But I'd like to know how many other non-indicted,non-confessed "Abramoffs" are out there trying to buy the votes of my congressman.
What do these people, who don't live here or work herein the 10th District, want for their money, Patrick? Sadly, the contributions I list don't even scratch the surface. Mostly, they don't include fourth-quarter
200 gifts. Young Mr. McHenry, the PAC man, is awash in campaign money from banking, finance, credit,insurance, railroad, energy, automobile, accounting,attorneys, homebuilders, general contractors, medical lociations and many, many more special interests.
The "over $15,000 club" includes Bank of America ($16,525), the National Association of Realtors($16.000), the AMA ($15,000) and several Republican campaign groups. There's not enough room here to even BEGIN listing the $10,000 contributors, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth!
With the kind of campaign monies he's collected to run all those self-serving radio spots, McHenry might even be able to beat God in a Republican primary!
No one I know would spend this kind of money without making quite sure they received "something" in return. Would you? Of course not, and these PACs and associations don't, either! I want our 10th District
"Distinguished Gentleman," Mr. McHenry, to stand up publically and tell us--the voting public--what he's promised all these "outside" monied interests! If the FEC is required to list his campaign financiers,
McHenry should be required to reveal what he's promised them!
Stand up, Patrick! Address this issue in public!
In the Eddie Murphy movie, the recipients laughingly joked that campaign moneybags received "a little access" and "good government." In this instance, that isn't funny. If people are trying to "buy" McHenry's
votes, too, what do we get if we don't have $10,000 to throw away get? The shaft?
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