[EL] Pay-to-play will thrive in budget debate

[Craig Holman]

 Colleagues:

Below is a snippet of an op-ed I published in Roll Call today on the supercommittee and pay-to-play corruption. It would have been appropriate to mention the Solyndra issue (but the story broke after I wrote the piece), in which many congressional Republicans are beginning to realize -- in contradiction to their opposition to Obama's proposed transparency executive order -- that the lack of full disclosure of political spending by government contractors may result in pay-to-play favoritism in the awarding of contracts.

http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_33/craig_holman_pay_to_play_will_thrive_budget_debate-208921-1.html



Pay-to-play corruption thrives in the shadows. As long as the public is generally kept in the dark as to how much a corporation is spending on behalf of super committee officials and their respective parties, pay-to-play can be an exceedingly effective tool in shaping the budget debate.


There is a viable solution that could take effect almost immediately: a proposed executive order under consideration by President Barack Obama that would require government contractors to fully disclose their campaign contributions and expenditures to the public, including corporate funds for spending on elections laundered through third-party groups.


 

Craig Holman, Ph.D.
Government Affairs Lobbyist
Public Citizen
215 Pennsylvania Avenue NE
Washington, D.C. 20003
TEL: (202) 454-5182
CEL: (202) 905-7413
FAX: (202) 547-7392
Holman at aol.com
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