When people contribute money to political candidates, I think that’s great. My first thought is that they must agree with the ideas that candidate is campaigning for. But too often career politicians in the Congress show their fundraising efforts are geared to those who want or need to buy influence, not to those who support their general ideas about governance.
Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, the Chairman of the House Republican campaign committee, is under fire from Democrats because he told multi-billionaire Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corporation, that he had not given Republicans enough money, or as Davis put it, “political support.” Bill Gates and his company, Microsoft, have gone through hell in the courts over the past several years for committing the sin of doing better than their competitors in the marketplace.
If Republicans agree that Microsoft is being harmed by arbitrary court action, they shouldn’t need an additional pay-off from Bill Gates in order to fight for what they believe is right and just. The federal budget should not be a slush fund used by career politicians to reward their friends. Nor should the federal regulatory and police powers be used to threaten political enemies.
But the longer politicians stay in Congress, the more they tend to accept and practice a corrupt doctrine. A doctrine that says the federal government and our tax dollars are theirs to use as clubs to coerce political support. No wonder there’s so much cynicism about Washington.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.