http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201102040210/NEWS02/102040356
By Bill Theobald
Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON — Rep. Marsha Blackburn's donations from special-interest groups skyrocketed during the last election cycle as she assumed a leadership role on a powerful House committee.
Blackburn, a Republican member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, received $939,544 from political action committees over the past two years, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
That's 38 times what she received from PACs during her first election campaign in 2002. Back then, most of her contributions came from individuals. More than half of her recent contributions came from PACs, including many with issues before the Energy and Commerce Committee.
More special-interest dollars are headed her way. Blackburn has scheduled at least nine fundraisers in Washington over the next two months, in addition to two held last month, according to the Sunlight Foundation's Political Party Time website. Three of the nine are billed as dinners with five guests who are expected to donate $500-$2,000 each.
Such aggressive fundraising may seem strange given that Blackburn, of Brentwood, won 72 percent of the vote in last year's election, doesn't face re-election until 2012 and started the year with $849,056 in her campaign account.
But her fundraising is standard for a lawmaker seeking to advance in Congress in these respects:
Her large campaign bank account creates a strong disincentive for anyone to run against her.
Republicans now control the House, and Blackburn is vice chairman of the Energy and Commerce subcommittee that handles commerce, manufacturing and trade. That makes her attractive to donors from the health-care, communications, finance and insurance industries, among others.
Blackburn can use the money she raises through her campaign committee and a separate leadership committee, Wedge PAC, to curry favor through donations to other Republican House members and candidates, and to party committees.
"You never know what the next election cycle is going to look like," she said.
Her PAC contributions, she said, represent donations from constituents who work for those companies.
"We have so many constituents who work for corporations, and those constituents will ask for a contribution from that PAC to my election," she said.
Memphis-based FedEx has been Blackburn's largest donor during her House career, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington watchdog group. The next-largest donors are AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications, the American Bankers Association, and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.
Blackburn said those who object to PAC contributions usually favor public financing of elections.
"I think it is important for individuals to be able to contribute their time, their effort, their energy, their money to help those that share their philosophy of government, their philosophy of free enterprise in the private sector," Blackburn said.
She declined to discuss her political aspirations.
"It's not my job to chart my path. That's God's job," she said.
Blackburn's path probably won't take her beyond the House, at least for now. Tennessee has two popular GOP senators and a new Republican governor.
Campaign finance reform advocates say Blackburn's PAC donations show how special-interest groups improperly gain influence with lawmakers.
"It's a sorry state of affairs when we say that this is the way the system works," said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist with Public Citizen, a Washington consumer advocacy group that favors public financing of elections. "This is the classic case of influence-peddling."
Blackburn's campaign committee raised nearly $1.6 million during 2009-10. Of that, $858,544 came from PACs. Her biggest backers were PACs representing health care ($249,817) and communications/technology ($105,250), according to an analysis by Congressional Quarterly.
In addition, Wedge PAC raised $146,839 over the two-year cycle, with $81,000 coming from PACs.
Blackburn's Wedge PAC leadership committee and her campaign committee donated a combined $274,225 in 2009 and 2010 to candidates and party committees, including $148,500 to the National Republican Congressional Committee. The NRCC supports the campaigns of GOP House candidates around the country.
When Blackburn first ran for Congress, she raised $24,665 from PACs, out of a total of $648,824.
Three bills she introduced in January have a long list of GOP co-sponsors and backing from many in the business community. One is a proposed substitute for the health-care reform law enacted last year, another would block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and the third would block the Federal Communications Commission from regulating the Internet.
These are the first major bills Blackburn has introduced during her eight years in the House that are likely to receive committee hearings and could come up for final votes in the GOP-controlled chamber.
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, who came to the House the same year as Blackburn and is now in leadership, received about $1 million in PAC contributions over the past two years and gave nearly $1 million to House candidates and party committees.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., another member of Blackburn's class and a Democratic House leader, raised $1.3 million from PACs in 2009-10 and doled out about $2 million to candidate and party committees.
The Sunlight Foundation's list of 11 Blackburn fundraisers from January to March isn't comprehensive because the group gets its information from invitations anonymously forwarded by lobbyists and others, said Nancy Watzman, a consultant with the foundation.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Chattanooga, is the only other member of the 11-member Tennessee congressional delegation with events this year listed on the site.
Blackburn's first event was a Jan. 19 lunch at The Capitol Hill Club, a Republican-run venue blocks from the Capitol. The suggested contribution was $1,000 a PAC or $500 a person. "Co-hosting" the event cost $2,000 a PAC or $1,000 a person. Six of Blackburn's nine remaining events are scheduled in March.
Holman, with Public Citizen, said Blackburn's campaign fundraising is "potentially corrupting."
"If they give you money, it is very, very difficult to say no to these contributors," Holman said. "This a potential problem. It needs to be watched."
One of Blackburn's largest donors, AT&T, declined a reporter's request for comment on its contributions, but not before contacting Blackburn's office to alert staffers to the request.
WASHINGTON — Rep. Marsha Blackburn's donations from special-interest groups skyrocketed during the last election cycle as she assumed a leadership role on a powerful House committee.
Blackburn, a Republican member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, received $939,544 from political action committees over the past two years, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.
That's 38 times what she received from PACs during her first election campaign in 2002. Back then, most of her contributions came from individuals. More than half of her recent contributions came from PACs, including many with issues before the Energy and Commerce Committee.
More special-interest dollars are headed her way. Blackburn has scheduled at least nine fundraisers in Washington over the next two months, in addition to two held last month, according to the Sunlight Foundation's Political Party Time website. Three of the nine are billed as dinners with five guests who are expected to donate $500-$2,000 each.
Such aggressive fundraising may seem strange given that Blackburn, of Brentwood, won 72 percent of the vote in last year's election, doesn't face re-election until 2012 and started the year with $849,056 in her campaign account.
But her fundraising is standard for a lawmaker seeking to advance in Congress in these respects:
Her large campaign bank account creates a strong disincentive for anyone to run against her.
Republicans now control the House, and Blackburn is vice chairman of the Energy and Commerce subcommittee that handles commerce, manufacturing and trade. That makes her attractive to donors from the health-care, communications, finance and insurance industries, among others.
Blackburn can use the money she raises through her campaign committee and a separate leadership committee, Wedge PAC, to curry favor through donations to other Republican House members and candidates, and to party committees.
She defends donations
Blackburn said her early fundraising is a way to be prepared."You never know what the next election cycle is going to look like," she said.
Her PAC contributions, she said, represent donations from constituents who work for those companies.
"We have so many constituents who work for corporations, and those constituents will ask for a contribution from that PAC to my election," she said.
Memphis-based FedEx has been Blackburn's largest donor during her House career, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington watchdog group. The next-largest donors are AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications, the American Bankers Association, and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.
Blackburn said those who object to PAC contributions usually favor public financing of elections.
"I think it is important for individuals to be able to contribute their time, their effort, their energy, their money to help those that share their philosophy of government, their philosophy of free enterprise in the private sector," Blackburn said.
She declined to discuss her political aspirations.
"It's not my job to chart my path. That's God's job," she said.
Blackburn's path probably won't take her beyond the House, at least for now. Tennessee has two popular GOP senators and a new Republican governor.
Campaign finance reform advocates say Blackburn's PAC donations show how special-interest groups improperly gain influence with lawmakers.
"It's a sorry state of affairs when we say that this is the way the system works," said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist with Public Citizen, a Washington consumer advocacy group that favors public financing of elections. "This is the classic case of influence-peddling."
Blackburn's campaign committee raised nearly $1.6 million during 2009-10. Of that, $858,544 came from PACs. Her biggest backers were PACs representing health care ($249,817) and communications/technology ($105,250), according to an analysis by Congressional Quarterly.
In addition, Wedge PAC raised $146,839 over the two-year cycle, with $81,000 coming from PACs.
Blackburn's Wedge PAC leadership committee and her campaign committee donated a combined $274,225 in 2009 and 2010 to candidates and party committees, including $148,500 to the National Republican Congressional Committee. The NRCC supports the campaigns of GOP House candidates around the country.
When Blackburn first ran for Congress, she raised $24,665 from PACs, out of a total of $648,824.
Businesses back billls
Legislation Blackburn has introduced reflects the interests of many of her PAC donors.Three bills she introduced in January have a long list of GOP co-sponsors and backing from many in the business community. One is a proposed substitute for the health-care reform law enacted last year, another would block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions, and the third would block the Federal Communications Commission from regulating the Internet.
These are the first major bills Blackburn has introduced during her eight years in the House that are likely to receive committee hearings and could come up for final votes in the GOP-controlled chamber.
Strategy isn't unusual
Blackburn's fundraising strategy isn't unusual.Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, who came to the House the same year as Blackburn and is now in leadership, received about $1 million in PAC contributions over the past two years and gave nearly $1 million to House candidates and party committees.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., another member of Blackburn's class and a Democratic House leader, raised $1.3 million from PACs in 2009-10 and doled out about $2 million to candidate and party committees.
The Sunlight Foundation's list of 11 Blackburn fundraisers from January to March isn't comprehensive because the group gets its information from invitations anonymously forwarded by lobbyists and others, said Nancy Watzman, a consultant with the foundation.
Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Chattanooga, is the only other member of the 11-member Tennessee congressional delegation with events this year listed on the site.
Blackburn's first event was a Jan. 19 lunch at The Capitol Hill Club, a Republican-run venue blocks from the Capitol. The suggested contribution was $1,000 a PAC or $500 a person. "Co-hosting" the event cost $2,000 a PAC or $1,000 a person. Six of Blackburn's nine remaining events are scheduled in March.
Holman, with Public Citizen, said Blackburn's campaign fundraising is "potentially corrupting."
"If they give you money, it is very, very difficult to say no to these contributors," Holman said. "This a potential problem. It needs to be watched."
One of Blackburn's largest donors, AT&T, declined a reporter's request for comment on its contributions, but not before contacting Blackburn's office to alert staffers to the request.
Contact Bill Theobald at wtheobal@gannett.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment