Among the thousands of emails recently divulged by “villainous” WikiLeaks, a few were especially disturbing but received little attention from the media. The emails were between the top finance guy of the Democrat Party and a big personnel official at the White House. The party guy sent a list of big donors for the White […]
Among the thousands of emails recently divulged by “villainous” WikiLeaks, a few were especially disturbing but received little attention from the media.
The emails were between the top finance guy of the Democrat Party and a big personnel official at the White House. The party guy sent a list of big donors for the White House to consider for federal commissions and boards.
In other words, it was evidence of pay-to-play. You pay big bucks to the party. In return, you get to sit on a prestigious board.
One email noted that one of the big hitters wanted to be put on the Postal Service board of governors. Sure enough, months later President Obama appointed him. Congress blocked the appointment.
The emails should have attracted more comment. They did not, for a couple reasons. One is that they got lost in the blizzard of political news that week. Another is that they were mere morsels. In the feast of 20,000 emails WikiLeaks served up. Reporters had their plates full.
A third reason why the pay-to-play emails were set aside: They were hardly a revelation. We all know pay-to-play is as common as steak dinners in Washington.
Nobody believed Obama when he promised to abolish it. Many candidates before him made the same promises. And nobody believed them.
This is because we all know the truth. If you kick in enough money, you can buy the ambassadorship to New Zealand or some other small country. Heck, you can probably even buy some of the countries. You can buy your way onto various boards and commissions in Washington and buy some status.
If you sit across the political divide from Clinton, Obama, and the Democrats, you have no right to be smug at this point. These shenanigans are just as popular among Republicans. Yes, they sell ambassadorships too. Some of these little countries haven’t seen a career diplomat as ambassador from America for decades.
Now you may feel this is corruption. Well, you are right.
And you may be one of those who goes further. You might say these high and mighty positions must be fake. After all, they go the highest bidders. The number-one qualification is the ability to write numbers with lots of zeroes on checks. If you say such a thing people might call you a cynic. I would call you a pretty good observer of reality.
I would recommend to Washington that we add the term “For Sale” to our country’s official seal.
If I sent a big enough check with my recommendation, I’d probably get appointed to the Presidential Commission to Consider Changes to the National Seal.
From Tom…as in Morgan.
Tom Morgan writes about political, financial, and other subjects from his home near Oneonta. Several upstate radio stations carry his daily commentary, Tom Morgan’s Money Talk. Contact him at tomasinmorgan@yahoo.com