Culture of corruption?

by Sean Davis

After sweeping back into power in 2006 by accusing Republicans of fostering a "culture of corruption" in the nation's capital, congressional Democrats now find themselves in an ethical quagmire of their own. A.B.C. News recently reported that PMA Group, a defense lobbying firm with significant ties to several top Democrats, was raided last November by the F.B.I. in connection with an investigation into whether the firm traded campaign cash for federal favors. The federal raid has already prompted demands from at least one lawmaker to convene a full-scale congressional ethics inquiry into the connection between campaign donations and the special-interest pork projects known as earmarks. CTC

Founded two decades ago by Paul Magliocchetti, a former top aide to Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Penn.), PMA quickly grew from a regional boutique to a lobbying powerhouse (the firm's initials stand for Paul Magliocchetti Associates). Between 1998 and 2008, the firm ranked in the top ten of all U.S. lobbying firms, with $113.7 million in total revenue according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics.

PMA specialized in getting earmarks, projects funded at the recommendation of a single lawmaker, often without debate or oversight, for small defense contractors. As the firm grew, it became famous for establishing small, unproven companies in the districts of powerful lawmakers in the hopes of winning federal cash to promote "economic development."

An analysis of last year's spending bills shows that PMA was remarkably successful; it secured 154 separate projects for 68 different clients, totaling nearly $300 million in taxpayer funding. Even more striking, however, is the fact that more than one-third of the funding was provided by only five lawmakers, four of whom are senior Democrats with significant power on the House appropriations committee.

Mr. Murtha, the powerful chairman of the defense spending subcommittee, handed out $38.1 million to PMA clients via the 2008 spending bills. Rep. Peter J. Visclosky (D-Ind.) sponsored 16 projects worth $23.8 million, while Rep. Norman D. Dicks (D-Wash.) sponsored five earmarks worth $12.1 million. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), who promised in 2006 to "earmark the sh*t" out of the appropriations committee if given the opportunity, kept his word and funneled nearly $11 million to PMA clients through eight separate line-items.

Rep. C.W. "Bill" Young (R-Fla.), the only Republican found in the top five sponsors of PMA pork, recommended nine separate earmarks totaling $20.4 million.

The firm's lobbyists were every bit as generous to their pork patrons. PMA lobbyists provided nearly $600,000 in campaign contributions to the five lawmakers since 2001 according to a joint analysis by Congressional Quarterly, a D.C.-based newspaper, and Taxpayers for Common Sense, a non-partisan government watchdog. In the 2008 election cycle, five of Mr. Murtha's top six donors were PMA clients. The seventh largest campaign donor was the lobbying firm itself. All told, PMA and its clients donated a whopping $775,000 to Mr. Murtha's 2008 election campaign.

The embattled firm was apparently so thankful for the federal largesse sent its way that it may have even created fake donors to help funnel more money to its friends in Congress, a clear violation of federal campaign finance laws. An investigation by the Washington Post found several campaign donors who had never worked for the company listed as PMA employees on federal election filings. Federal authorities are focused on whether Mr. Magliocchetti, the former Murtha staffer who founded PMA, may have illegally reimbursed his employees for campaign contributions made in their names.

Combined with the Countrywide mortgage scandal surrounding Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), news reports that Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) may have lied about his fundraising activities for Rod Blagojevich, and an ongoing House ethics investigation into whether Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) evaded taxes and filed false financial disclosure forms, the emerging PMA scandal has the potential to wreak havoc on the Democratic party's electoral prospects in 2010. The G.O.P was routed in 2006 due in part to various scandals surrounding the party. If Beltway Democrats wish to maintain their hold on power two years from now, they need to give taxpayers a little more change we can believe in and a lot less corruption we can count on.