Extortion: How Politicians Extract Your Money, Buy Votes, and Line Their Own Pockets

by Schweizer, Peter

  6. Robert Dreyfuss, “Reforming Reform,” The American Prospect (December 18, 2000).

  7. CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington), “Family Affair Report Details Nepotism in Congress,” http://www.citizensforethics.org/pages/family-affair-report-reveals-nepotism-abuse-in-congress.

  8. Sitkoff, “Politics and the Business Corporation,” p. 1132.

  9. Ibid., 1135.

  10. “Cash from the Packers: Story of a Republican Demand While the Beef Inquiry Was On,” New York Times, September 17, 1905.

  11. Sitkoff, “Politics and the Business Corporation,” p. 1135.

  12. Ibid.

  13. Fred Wertheimer, “Soft Money and Political Extortion,” Baltimore Sun, June 5, 2000.

  14. U.S. Senate, “Résumé of Congressional Activity,” http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/reference/two_column_table/Resumes.htm; Josh Tauberer, “Kill Bill: How many bills are there? How many are enacted?” Govtrack.com, August 4, 2011.

  15. MapLight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Contributor, Apache Corporation; Election Cycle, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012” (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed April 15, 2013).

  16. Ray Plank, interview with the author.

  17. “Basically Taking Over,” Las Vegas Review-Journal, June 11, 2008.

  18. John Hofmeister, interview with the author.

  19. Bob Herbold, interview with the author.

  20. John Hofmeister, interview with the author.

  21. Former FBI agent Bill Roemer, quoted in Kirsten Lindberg, Joseph Petrenko, Jerry Gladden, and Wayne A. Johnson, “Traditional Organized Crime in Chicago,” International Review of Law, Computers, and Technology (March 1998): 47–73.

  22. John Bresnahan, “Tim Bishop’s Bar Mitzvah Episode Could Spell Trouble,” Politico, August 15, 2012.

  23. Brittany H. Bramlett, James G. Gimpel, and Frances E. Lee, “The Political Ecology of Opinion in Big-Donor Neighborhoods,” Political Behavior 33 (2011): 565–600.

  24. Gary J. Miller, “Confiscation, Credible Commitment, and Progressive Reform in the United States,” Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics 145, no. 4 (December 1989): 686–92.

  25. John Hofmeister, interview with the author.

  26. “Shakedown on K Street,” BloombergBusinessweek, February 19, 2006, http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-02-19/shakedown-on-k-street.

  27. Ruth Marcus, “Intoxicated on Fundraising,” Washington Post, June 2, 2010.

  28. New York Times, June 19, 1974, p. 35; David Burnham, New York Times, February 26, 1975, p. 16.

  29. Susan E. Dudley and Richard D. Otis Jr., “eRulemaking: A Case Example of eGov Transformation,” Working Paper 57, Mercatus Center, George Mason University.

  30. Harvey A. Silverglate, Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent (New York: Encounter Books, 2011). See also the introduction by Alan Dershowitz.

  31. William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, vol. IV, Of Public Wrongs (1857), 1, p. 146.

  32. United States v. Barber, 668 F.2d 778 (4th Cir., 1982) at 783.

  33. Posner quoted in “Casenotes: Criminal Law,” University of Dayton Law Review 19, 251, p. 272.

  34. Fred S. McChesney, Money for Nothing: Politicians, Rent Extraction, and Political Extortion (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997), p. 45.

  35. Frank Bovenkerk, “‘Wanted: Mafia Boss’—Essay on the Personology of Organized Crime,” Crime, Law, and Social Change 33 (2000): 237.

  36. “Corruption Perception Index,” http.//www.transparency.org/research/cpi/overview.

  37. World Bank, “Worldwide Governance Indicators,” http://info.worldbank.org/governance/wgi/sc_chart.asp.

  38. Klaus Schwab, ed., The Global Competiveness Report, 2012–2013 (Geneva: World Economic Forum, 2013), pp. 390–92, http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GlobalCompetitivenessReport_2012-13.pdf.

  39. A. Block, “Mafia,” in International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, ed. Neil J. Smelser and Paul B. Bates (Oxford: Elsevier Science, 2001), p. 9125.

  2. America’s Most Expensive Tollbooth

  1. Robert Longley, “Salaries and Benefits of U.S. Congress Members,” About.com, U.S. Government Info, http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm (accessed April 17, 2013).

  2. “Federal Employees, 2011,” Asbury Park Press, http://php.app.com/fed_employees11/search.php.

  3. Library of Congress Thomas, “Bill Text Versions—112th Congress (2011–2012), H.R. 1002,” http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.1002: (accessed April 17, 2013).

  4. Molly Zelvonberg, “Wireless Tax Fairness Act of 2011 Passed,” Examiner, November 1, 2011, http://www.examiner.com/article/wireless-tax-fairness-act-of-2011-passed (accessed April 17, 2013).

  5. Opensecrets.org, “Donor Lookup: AT&T,” https://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.php?sort=D (accessed April 17, 2013).

  6. Thomas Catan, “Washington Wire: Echoes of Nixon’s Order on ITT Deal in Democrats’ Letter to Obama on AT&T,” Wall Street Journal, September 15, 2011, http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/09/15/echoes-of-nixons-order-on-itt-deal-in-democrats-letter-to-obama-on-att/ (accessed April 17, 2013).

  7. Brendan Sasso, “House Republicans Put Pressure on Obama to Drop AT&T Lawsuit,” The Hill, September 20, 2011.

  8. MapLight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Legislator, John Boehner; Interest Group, Communications and Electronics Industry; Election Cycle, 2012” (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed April 12, 2013).

  9. MapLight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Interest Group, Communications and Electronics Industry; Election Cycle, 2012” (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed April 12, 2013).

  10. MapLight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Legislator, John Boehner, Interest Groups, Communications and Electronics Industry and Telephone Utilities; Election Cycle, 2012” (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed April 12, 2013).

  11. Illustration source: MapLight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Legislator, John Boehner; Election Cycles, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012” (financial disclosure documents, 2005–2012), http://maplight.org/us-congress/contributions?s=1&politician=155&office_party=Senate%2CHouse%2CDemocrat%2CRepublican%2CIndependent&election=2008%2C2010%2C2012&string=AT%26T&business_sector=any&business_industry=any&source=All.

  12. MapLight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Contributor, Verizon; Election Cycle, 2012” (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed April 12, 2013).

  13. Opensecrets.org, “Lobbying: Hastert, Joshua,” http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/lobbyist.php?id=Y0000028642L (accessed April 17, 2013).

  14. Lynn Sweet, “Against History,” Illinois Issues Online, September 2002, http://illinoisissues.uis.edu/features/2002sept/hastert.html (accessed April 17, 2013).

  15. Opensecrets.org, “Lobbying: Clyburn, William Jr.,” http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/lobbyist.php?id=Y0000019707L (accessed April 17, 2013).

  16. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), “Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn,” http://www.fcc.gov/leadership/mignon-clyburn (accessed April 12, 2013).

  17. Library of Congress Thomas, “Bill Text Versions—112th Congress (2011–2012), H.R. 2940,” http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.2940: (accessed April 17, 2013).

  18. Library of Congress Thomas, “Bill Text Versions—112th Congress (2011–2012), H.R. 1070,” http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.1070: (accessed April 17, 2013).

  19. Govtrack.us, “H.R. 1070 (112th): Small Company Capital Formation Act of 2011,” March 14, 2011, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr1070 (accessed April 12, 2013); and “H.R. 2940 (112th): Access to Capital for Job Creators Act,” September 15, 2011, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr2940 (accessed April 12, 2013).

  20. MapLight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Legislator, John Boehner; Date, October 1–December 1, 2011” (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed April 15, 2013).

  21. Ibid.

  22. Ibid.

  23. Ibid.

  24. Ibid.

&nbs
p; 25. Deirdre Shesgreen, “Speaker John Boehner Displays ‘Deft Touch with Fundraising,’” Cincinnati Enquirer, January 9, 2012, http://westchesterbuzz.com/2012/01/10/speaker-john-boehner-displays-deft-touch-with-fundraising (accessed April 17, 2013).

  26. “DealBook: Boehner to Bankers: Stand Up to ‘Punk’ Staffers,” New York Times, March 18, 2013, http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/boehner-to-bankers-stand-up-to-punk-staffers (accessed April 17, 2013).

  27. Steptoe & Johnson LLP, “Daily Tax Update—January 31, 2012: Tax Extenders Focus of Finance Tax Reform Hearing,” http://www.steptoe.com/resources-detail-8002.html (accessed April 17, 2013).

  28. Anna Palmer, “K Street Mounts Blitz for Tax Breaks,” Politico, December 4, 2011.

  29. Kent Hoover, “Five Tax Breaks That Business Groups Want Extended,” The Business Journals, April 26, 2012.

  30. Palmer, “K Street Mounts Blitz for Tax Breaks.”

  31. “Tax Support for Oil and Gas Debated,” Albuquerque Journal, December 4, 2011.

  32. MapLight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Legislator, Max Baucus; Date, January 1–December 31, 2011” (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed April 16, 2013).

  33. Ibid.

  34. Opensecrets.org, “PACs: Contributors,” https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgave2.php?cycle=2012 (accessed April 17, 2013).

  35. Jay Costa, “What’s the Cost of a Seat in Congress?” MapLight, March 10, 2013, http://maplight.org/content/73190.

  36. Lee Drutman, “Ways and Means, Financial Services, and Energy and Commerce Are Top House Fundraising Committees,” Sunlight Foundation, April 2, 2012, http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/04/02/housecommittees.

  37. Elizabeth Williamson, “A Conversation with Rep. Dave Camp,” Wall Street Journal, November 21, 2010.

  38. MapLight, U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Legislator, Dave Camp; Election Cycle, 2012 (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed April 15, 2013).

  39. Ernst & Young, “Tax Extenders Have Expired—Again,” Technical Line, no. 2012–10 (February 9, 2012), http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/TechnicalLine_BB2279_TaxExtenders_9February2012/$FILE/TechnicalLine_BB2279_TaxExtenders_9February2012.pdf.

  40. MapLight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Legislator, Dave Camp; Election Cycle, 2012” (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed April 15, 2013).

  41. Howard Gleckman, “Is House Review of Tax Breaks a Donation Shakedown, or Could We See Reform?” Forbes, April 26, 2012.

  42. House Committee on Ways and Means, “Chairman Tiberi Announces Hearings on Certain Expiring Tax Provisions” (hearing advisory), April 26, 2012.

  43. MapLight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Legislator, Dave Camp; Election Cycle, 2012” (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed April 20, 2013).

  44. MapLight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Legislator, Dave Camp; Date, March 1–April 26, 2012” (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed April 17, 2013).

  45. Maplight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Legislator, Patrick Tiberi; Date, March 1–April 26, 2012” (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed April 17, 2013).

  46. Tim Weiner, “Struggles in His Past, Burdens in His Present ,” New York Times, August 5, 1999.

  47. “The New Team: Ray LaHood,” New York Times, December 26, 2011.

  48. U.S. House of Representatives, “Department of Defense Appropriations Bill, 2013,” Report 112-, 112th Cong., 2nd sess., http://appropriations.house.gov/ uploadedfiles/defense-fy13-fullcommitteereport.pdf.

  49. U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Appropriations, “Press Release: House Appropriations Committee Releases Fiscal Year 2013 Defense Appropriations Bill,” May 7, 2012, http://appropriations.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=294116 (accessed April 17, 2013).

  50. “Operating Expenditures—Congressman Bill Young Campaign Committee (2012 Election Cycle),” available at: FEC.Gov, http://www.fec.gov/fecviewer/CandCmteTransaction.do.

  51. MapLight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Legislator, C. Young; Date, March 15–31, 2012” (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed April 17, 2013).

  52. Ibid.

  53. MapLight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Legislator, C. Young; Date, January 1–March 31, 2012” (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed April 17, 2013).

  54. MapLight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions: Legislator, C. Young; Date, April 1–December 31, 2012” (see ch. 1, n. 2; accessed April 17, 2013).

  55. Van Scoyoc Associates, “Our People,” http://www.vsadc.com/people (accessed April 17, 2013).

  56. Van Scoyoc Associates, “Our Clients,” http://www.vsadc.com/clients (accessed April 17, 2013).

  57. David S. Fallis and Dan Keating, “In Congress, Relatives Lobby on Bills Before Family Members,” Washington Post, December 29, 2012.

  58. Bill Adair and Wess Allison, “Rep. Young’s Earmarks Help His Children’s Employers,” Tampa Bay Times, April 8, 2008.

  59. Ibid.

  3. Protection: For a Price

  1. “Couple Plans ‘Mafia-Free’ Wedding ,” BBC News, April 1, 2009.

  2. “A Bullet for a Businessman ,” Bloomberg Businessweek, November 3, 1991.

  3. Alan Dershowitz, introduction to Silverglate, Three Felonies a Day.

  4. Opensecrets.org, “Bundlers,” http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/bundlers.php?id=n00009638 (accessed May 3, 2013).

  5. Chart sources: http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/bundlers.php?id=N00009638 (2008 election); www.opensecrets.org/pres12/bundlers.php (2012 election).

  6. “Obama Slams ‘Fat Cat Bankers,’” CBS News, December 13, 2009, http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5975092n (accessed May 03, 2013).

  7. Roger Parloff, “Why Wall Street Could Go to Jail,” CNNMoney, http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0812/gallery.parloff_quotes.fortune (last updated January 6, 2009; accessed May 3, 2013).

  8. Tom Gardner, “Hundreds Should Go to Jail,” The Motley Fool, January 29, 2009, http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2009/01/29/hundreds-should-go-to-jail.aspx (accessed May 3, 2013).

  9. Lindsey Ellerson, “The Note: Obama to Bankers: I’m Standing ‘Between You and the Pitchforks,’” ABC News, April 3, 2009, http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2009/04/obama-to-banker (accessed May 3, 2013).

  10. Eamon Javers, “Inside Obama’s Bank CEOs Meeting,” Politico, April 3, 2009.

  11. Lucy Madison, “Obama: ‘Occupy Wall Street’ Reflects ‘Broad-Based Frustration,’” CBS News, October 9, 2011, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20116707-503544/obama-occupy-wall-street-reflects-broad-based-frustration (accessed May 3, 2013).

  12. Jessica Desvariex, “Pelosi Supports Occupy Wall Street Movement,” ABC News, October 9, 2011, http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/pelosi-supports-occupy-wall-street-movement/story?id=14696893 (accessed May 3, 2013).

  13. Joshua Altman, “DNC Chairwoman: Occupy Wall Street Embodies How ‘Working People Feel,’” The Hill, October 11, 2011.

  14. Robert Reich, “Only $4.2 Billion to Buy This Election?” October 27, 2010, http://robertreich.org/post/1419481402 (accessed May 3, 2013).

  15. Peter H. Aranson, American Government: Strategy and Choice (Cambridge, Mass.: Winthrop Publishers, 1981), pp. 252–53.

  16. “Links to Printed United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations: Hearings and Reports 106th–112th Congresses,” March 15, 2013, http://www.hsgac.senate.gov/download/report-and-exhibit-links-wall-street_the- financial-crisis (accessed May 3, 2013).

  17. Halah Touryalai, “Goldman Sachs CEO Lawyers Up Amid DOJ Investigation,” Forbes, August 22, 2011.

  18. April 8, 2011—One week before the report is released, Goldman managing director Bruce Heyman gives $30,800 to the Democratic National Committee and $5,000 to Barack Obama.

  April 11, 2011—Two days before the report is released, Goldman senior director John Farmer writes a $25,800 check to the Democratic National Committee.

  June 7, 2011—Susan Scher, a banker at Goldman in New York City, contributes $5,000 to Barack Obama and $5,000 to the Democratic National Committee.

&n
bsp; June 19, 2011—Goldman managing director Sanjeev Mehra gives $5,000 to the Obama campaign and $30,800 to the Democratic National Committee. His wife also makes a donation. Mehra had never given to Obama before.

  June 21, 2011—Jonathan Lopatin, a senior executive at Goldman, writes a $20,000 check to the Democratic National Committee and a $5,000 check to the Obama campaign. This is his first-ever contribution to Obama, and by far his largest contribution ever to an individual candidate (Opensecrets.org, “Donor Lookup,” http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/index.php; MapLight, “U.S. Congress—Find Contributions” http://maplight.org/us-congress/contributions).

  19. Goldman Sachs reported in its Form 10-Q that the Justice Department announced on August 9, 2012, that it would not press criminal charges against the firm or its employees arising out of the issues raised by the staff report of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. See U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, “The Goldman Sachs Group: Form 10-Q,” September 30, 2012, http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/886982/000119312512458820/d41105 3d10q.htm (accessed May 3, 2013).

  20. Peter Wallsten, “Obama Plans to Turn Anti–Wall Street Anger on Mitt Romney, Republicans ,” Washington Post, October 14, 2011.

  21. Josh Gerstein, “Carney Defends Obama Meeting Wall Street Donors at White House,” Politico, June 14, 2011.

  22. Heidi Przybyla, “Obama Seen as Anti-Business by 77% of U.S. Investors,” Bloomberg, January 21, 2010.

  23. Eamon Javers, “For Fundraising, Obama Relies Even More on Wall Street,” CNBC, July 22, 2011, http://www.cnbc.com/id/43854224 (accessed May 03, 2013).

  24. Anna Sale, “Graphic: Obama Campaign Sees Fundraiser Turnover,” WNYC, February 17, 2012, http://www.wnyc.org/articles/its-free-country/2012/feb/17/amongst-glitzy-galas-ny-finance-and-business-bundlers-still-raise-most-obama (accessed May 3, 2013).

  25. Devin Banerjee, “Levy: Obama Needs McDonald’s Fundraiser for Wall Street,” Bloomberg, June 20, 2012.

  26. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, “Opening Statement of Senator Carl Levin at Hearing on Tax Haven Banks and U.S. Tax Compliance: Obtaining the Names of U.S. Clients with Swiss Accounts,” March 4, 2009, http://www.levin.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=1cc17ddd-d117-4dc1-83e3-7dc150a9e168 (accessed May 3, 2013).