The federal prosecution of former Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell helps us to understand the financial corruption that goes to the heart of America’s welfare-warfare state and the regulated economy.
Federal prosecutors are alleging that McDonnell performed official favors for Jonnie R. Williams, Sr., in return for large campaign contributions that Williams gave to McDonnell.
Pardon me for pointing out the obvious, but that’s what goes on with 99 percent of all the people who end up in public office. They do favors for people who donate to them. The bigger the donation, the bigger the favors.
Duh!
So, why are they prosecuting McDonnell for doing what everyone else does?
Because, the prosecutors say, McDonnell and Williams had an express “quid pro quo.” That is, they are alleged to have entered into an express agreement, one that essentially said: You donate to my campaign and I, in turn, will use my official position to promote your company’s product.
And what about everyone else? Well, you see, with them there is supposedly no express quid pro quo and, therefore, under federal law they haven’t done anything wrong. The big campaign contribution is made and the favor is done but since there isn’t an express agreement, it’s not considered a federal criminal offense.
Pardon me again but if that’s not an utterly ridiculous distinction, I don’t know what is.
I hope I’m not bursting anyone’s balloon, especially those who were enamored with civics classes in high school, but the reason that people make big donations to political candidates is not because they have an ardent love of America and its democratic system. They donate big money to candidates in the hopes of and with the expectation that the candidate will perform favors for them after he is elected.
Every politician knows how this game works. Campaign contributions are nothing more than advance forms of bribery.
Okay, there’s normally not an express agreement to that effect because everyone knows that that could bring on the wrath of federal prosecutors. But everyone knows that in return for the contribution, favors are expected. It’s just how the system works.
What happens if an elected public official refuses to do favors for his big campaign contributors? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure what happens. If he turns his back on his big donors, then the next time he runs, they don’t give him any more moolah. To ensure that the money continues flowing, the public official must do the favors.
All that matters in this corrupt system is that there not be an express agreement to do what everyone is doing anyway.
So, is the answer to such political corruption to enact an endless array of rules, regulations, and laws that regulate or even ban the donation of money to political candidates or the granting of official favors to the donors? Or is the solution to “get better people into public office?”
Both proposals are popular, but the fact is that as long as public officials wield the power to do good things for people and bad things to people, the incentive to donate to public officials and the incentive to accept the money and do favors afterward will exist.
We see this phenomenon especially at the federal level, where the welfare-warfare state puts more than $3 trillion in the hands of members of Congress to dole out to people. That’s a lot of money. Not surprisingly, there are countless people feeding at the federal trough or trying desperately to do so.
The federal income tax funds this monstrosity. As everyone knows, it is riddled with thousands of deductions, credits, exceptions, exemptions, and other provisions. Some are favorable to people and others are not. Not surprisingly, there are countless people willing to pay big money to be granted a favorable provision in the federal tax code.
There is also the regulated economy to consider. Members of Congress have the power to impose any economic regulations they want on businesses. Such power serves as a strong inducement for businessmen to donate to federal campaigns.
While the money, tax provisions, and regulations are not so pronounced at the state level, the power to do favors is still there, as evidenced by McDonnell’s use of his official position, whether there was an formal agreement or not, to promote the product that Williams’ company was marketing.
So, what is the real solution to financial corruption in politics? At least at the federal level, the solution is to dismantle the welfare-warfare state apparatus and completely separate economy and the state. That would mean: Repeal all welfare programs, grants, and subsidies, abolish the income tax, and put a permanent end to economic regulations.
In other words, restore a genuine free-enterprise economic system to our land, one that is free of government welfare, warfare, and interference. Of course, that wouldn’t eliminate all financial corruption in politics but it sure would put a big dent in it. I’ll bet that most big campaign contributors would prefer to keep their hard-earned money in their pockets rather than give it to political candidates who lack the power to do good things for them and bad things to them.
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