I guess Sarah Palin didn’t pony up the dough.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0709/The_Conservative_Union_for_rent.html
“”The American Conservative Union asked FedEx for a check for $2 million to $3 million in return for the group’s endorsement in a bitter legislative dispute, then flipped and sided with UPS after FedEx refused to pay.
For the $2 million+, ACU offered a range of services that included: “Producing op-eds and articles written by ACU’s Chairman David Keene and / or other members of the ACU’s board of directors. (Note that Mr. Keene writes a weekly column that appears in The Hill.)”
The conservative group’s remarkable demand — black-and-white proof of the longtime Washington practice known as “pay for play” — was contained in a private letter to FedEx that was provided to POLITICO.
The letter exposes the practice by some political interest groups of taking stands not for reasons of pure principle, as their members and supporters might assume, but also in part because a sponsor is paying big money.
Maury Lane, FedEx’s director of corporate communications, said: “Clearly the ACU shopped their beliefs and UPS bought.”””
So much for the ACU as an organization.
Busted! So long ACU. Thy deeds will be remembered.
The letter exposes the practice by some political interest groups of taking stands not for reasons of pure principle, as their members and supporters might assume, but also in part because a sponsor is paying big money.
Huh? I fail to see the problem here. It involves two private organizations so why are they trying to frame it as some sort of "corruption"? This happens all of the time.
Now, if the ACU tried to shake down a politician, THAT'S a problem. But FedEx? C'mon.