The View From Over Here: In VA, Gift-Giving All Year

In Virginia, it is always Christmas for elected officials.  For example, Gov. Bob McDonnell contracts a lavish wedding reception for his daughter, but doesn’t have to actually pay for it.  His good buddy Jonnie Williams of Star Scientific writes a check for $15,000 to cover most of the tab.

And, in Virginia, McDonnell does not even have to report it, he just marks it down as a personal gift to his daughter.  The over $100,000 in airplane rides Williams has given him are also personal gifts.  The governor refuses to say what other gifts he or his family may have gotten.

Attorney General and candidate for governor Ken Cuccinelli also knows Star Scientific, except when he forgets.  While the Attorney General’s office was engaged in defending the Commonwealth from a suit filed against it by Star Scientific, Cuccinelli forgot altogether that he owned substantial stock in  the company.  An ethical AG would have recused himself from
the case immediately.  But Cuccinelli didn’t have to, because he simply forgot.

These two guys obviously get pretty high scores on the sleazeometer.  But, the real problem is Virginia law, which permits, even encourages, such opportunities for influence peddling.  Public officials are not required to report personal gifts to family members or gifts from personal friends regardless of their value. To my knowledge nor are these flows monitored in any serious manner.  Likewise, gifts to legislators, like our own State Senator and Delegate, from those with interest
in public policy outcomes, in theory are reported but they are not limited.

These lax rules encourage influence peddling.  In less ethically challenged states, gifts of more than nominal value to public officials are simply illegal.  Why should such gifts be permitted in Virginia?  A good question to ask our elected officials, don't you think?

And don’t even get me started on campaign contributions!  In Virginia there are no real campaign contribution limits.  The only requirement is that cash and in-kind goodie be reported from time to time.  Curiously, the media in general takes little interest in who is paying whose bills. 

For those who care, such information can be found at places like the website
of the Virginia Public Access Project—www.VPAP.org  Here you can find who is paying for Cuccinelli to be your next governor.  Leading his pack are the Koch Brothers! 

If you look a bit further, you can also see how Virginia Dominion exercises such incredible influence in the Virginia General Assembly and the Executive.  Dominion Power pays money to the campaign of every single legislator—senators and delegates—as well as those of the governor, lt. governor and attorney general.

In fact, Dominion calibrates contributions to a recipient’s position in the feeding chain—i.e., a first-term delegate might get only $1,000 per year, a person with greater seniority or position of political party leadership maybe $10,000 to $20,000.  Attorney General and Governors get as much as $50,000. 

Our own Del. Ken Plum has taken $20,000 from Dominion in just the last two years, while Sen. Janet Howell has taken $8,000 in that time, according to VPAP. 

Why does this state-regulated utility make substantial payments to all those who 
write it’s regulations? 

So many questions, so few answers.