Posted on 05/05/2008 7:26:51 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Karen Bass, the speaker-elect of the state Assembly, gathered checks last month from big contributors at The Kitchen, the exclusive Sacramento eatery.
The price of admission was $5,000, well above the $3,600 cap on direct donations she can receive in her re-election account.
But Bass, like a growing number of the state's leaders, wasn't collecting funds for her re-election. Instead, the money went to a ballot measure committee she controls.
Despite a 2000 law meant to curb the size of checks California politicians could collect from deep-pocketed interest groups, many lawmakers are skirting those limits by soliciting funds for ballot accounts.
In many cases, the money is arriving in increments of tens, and even hundreds, of thousands of dollars.
--snip--
Ross Johnson, chairman of the state campaign watchdog agency, the Fair Political Practices Commission, calls the differing rules "absolutely illogical" with "potential for abuse."
Politicians have used the funds for everything from TV ads featuring themselves to family Christmas cards to leverage in policy negotiations with well-heeled special interests. At the Capitol, where clout is often measured by the size of a candidate's campaign chest, supporters say ballot committees are a necessary fact of life.
But watchdogs fear the oversized checks come with outsized influence.
"It doesn't matter what pocket that special interest is putting the money in," Johnson said. "Whether it's your shirt pocket or your coat pocket or your pants pocket, it is the receipt of the money that carries with it the potential for undue influence."
Dan Weitzman, a prominent Democratic fundraiser, said the accounts are a way to show leadership in the Capitol. Among his clients are Bass and Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
The ballot accounts are legal and can be created without a specific ballot measure in mind. Donations to them can be limitless. The only difference is that elected officials can’t spend the money directly on their own re-election campaigns.
well, you have to look at the positive side:
don perata and fabian nunez
are out!
They are just the tip of the iceberg that is rotten to the core and made up of both parties.
Yet again, we see the worthlessness of McCain-Feingold.
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