Abramoff’s reminder

The Jack Abramoff scandal should have come as a surprise to no one. There are only two politicians in Washington today, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who have not accepted any money from political action committees whatsoever. Our founding fathers, however, did not mean for it to be this way.

Article 1, Section 3 of the Constitution tells us senators are chosen by the legislature of the states, not by the people. This was struck down under the 17th Amendment, which, like the 16th Amendment, derived its ratification from a memo by Philander Knox, Woodrow Wilson’s Secretary of State. The states never properly ratified either amendment and the effect on our country has been ravaging.

As nice as it sounds to have both houses of Congress elected by the people, thus shadowing our memories of a republic while loudly championing democracy, this section of the Constitution provided a balance in and of itself. Having the legislature of the state elect two people to serve its interests in the national forum took away the incentive for outside groups to influence their votes with contributions.

It could certainly be said that interest groups could try and stake their claim on the appointments in the state legislature, calling to mind the campaigns that NARAL Pro-Choice America and Planned Parenthood headed during John Roberts’ Supreme Court confirmation, but is it really necessary for a state assemblyman here to kowtow to an activist’s demands from New York?

When appointed, the senators themselves were only supposed to have a job for a six-year term, and even that was split into two groups of three people serving two years each. Imagine that: senators being in the Senate for only two years, not worrying about re-election, having only to serve the interests of the state senators who, as an extension of the will of the people, appointed them.

Now we find ourselves in this mess. No matter how much we talk up the greatness of our legislative process or the progress we make by it, at the end of the day we’re left only with “the best politicians money can buy.” With the Abramoff scandal, they’re all trying to at least look clean by returning what money was donated from his clients. However, this scandal was a prime example of what our founders intended not to happen.

Jack Abramoff represented the financial interests of several American Indian tribes. A scandal resulted between the Coushatta, Choctaw and Jena tribes. The former two didn’t want the latter to build a casino on its land because of the competition it would create. To deal with the problem, the Coushatta and Choctaw unloaded hundreds of thousands of dollars on several senators, including Minority Leader Sen. Harry Reid and Sen. Byron “Purple Pockets” Dorgan, so they could push legislation to deny the Jena a permit.

Walter Williams nailed it on the head when he explained “[t]he generic favor sought is to get Congress.to grant a privilege or right to one group of Americans that will be denied another group of Americans. A variant of this privilege is to get Congress to do something that would be criminal if done privately.” That is exactly what happened in this situation. Instead of intimidating the Jena tribe from building a casino, the Coushatta and Choctaw simply paid off a few of the right people.

This is just one shocking story that is only a part of one incredible scandal, but money buys way too much power up on the Hill. The influence of money from such groups as the National Education Association, Planned Parenthood and the NAACP holds a death grip on the conscience and fears of our national politicians. They know if they don’t supply the vote, their pet organization won’t supply them with donations, even though what they may be voting for could erode our rights, our freedoms or even our sovereignty.