"... lowly members of the public without thousands of dollars to donate are left wondering whom the politicians really represent."

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Political access for sale
Editorial, Philip Brownlee for The Wichita Eagle, October 2, 2014

The public has long suspected that corporations and other big donors pay for access to politicians. But documents mistakenly published on the Republican Governors Association’s website laid bare how crass and commercial the selling is – including a menu listing what access can be purchased at what price.

The documents showed that corporations have poured millions of dollars into the campaigns of Republican governors since 2008, the New York Times reported. One document also revealed the corporate “members” of the Republican Governors Public Policy Committee, which was set up as a 501(c)(4) organization in order to keep its donors secret.

One of the documents lists which companies attended the policy committee’s Carlsbad, Calif., meeting last year, as well as who represented the companies and what they contributed. Koch Companies Public Sector was at the highest giving level, whose members donated at least $250,000, and was represented by Allen Richardson, regional manager for government affairs, according to the document.

Gov. Sam Brownback’s senior staff was well-represented at the Carlsbad gathering. Those attending, according to the document, included Landon Fulmer, Brownback’s chief of staff; Jon Hummell, Brownback’s policy director; Eileen Hawley, Brownback’s press secretary; David Kensinger, a former Brownback chief of staff who directs a Brownback political action committee; and Mark Dugan, Lt. Gov. Jeff Coyler’s former chief of staff.

What’s most unseemly about the documents is that they also outline what the corporations receive for their donations. For example, one 2009 document states that a “Governors Board” membership – a $50,000 annual contribution or a one-time donation of $100,000 – “offers the ability to bring their particular expertise to the political process.” Board membership also included two tickets to “an exclusive breakfast with the Republican governors and members of their staff.”

The benefits increase at higher donation levels, much like a public television pledge drive (only for much, much larger donations). For example, “Cabinet Membership” – $100,000 annually or a single payment of $200,000 – included two invitations to an “intimate gathering with the Republican governors and special Republican VIP guests.”

“This is a classic example of how corporations are trying to use secret money, hidden from the American people, to buy influence, and how the governors association is selling it,” Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a group that advocates more transparency and controls over political money, told the Times.

It is not just Republicans selling access, of course. The Democratic Governors Association engages in similar selling, and several of the corporations contacted by the Times said they donate to both groups.

And these are only the governors associations. Many other groups also sell access.

Meanwhile, lowly members of the public without thousands of dollars to donate are left wondering whom the politicians really represent.
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