medicineman
New Member
it's feeding time in congress:
Cunningham's possible abuse of his clout has opened a window on the congressional appropriations process, giving the public a rare glimpse at the growing premium that contractors place on obtaining influence on Capitol Hill.
by Marcus Stern and Jerry Kammer, COPLEY NEWS SERVICE/The San Diego Union-Tribune
August 31st, 2005
WASHINGTON When Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham first responded to questions about his dealings with defense contractor Mitchell Wade, he stressed that his position on the House defense appropriations subcommittee did not enable him to secure contracts for Wade's company, MZM Inc.
"I do not have the authority or ability to award a contract to Mr. Wade's company and no single member of Congress, no matter how influential, can dictate to the armed services who will be awarded contracts," the Rancho Santa Fe Republican said during a June 23 news conference.
While Cunningham's claim is technically correct under the government's doctrine of separation of powers, it doesn't reflect the reality that many members of Congress, especially members of appropriations committees, have a great deal of say over how funds are allocated.
A federal grand jury in San Diego is probing Cunningham's dealings with Wade after disclosures that Wade bought and sold Cunningham's Del Mar home at a $700,000 loss and allowed Cunningham to live aboard his yacht in Washington. Wade has since resigned as head of MZM, and the company is in the process of being sold to a New York-based equity firm.
Since receiving its first federal contract in 2002, Washington-based MZM has collected more than $163 million in government contracts.
Cunningham's dealings with another defense contractor Brent Wilkes, president of Poway-based ADCS Inc. have also come under scrutiny. On Aug. 16, agents from the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and Defense Department raided the company's headquarters. Agents were seeking records pertaining to government contracts secured by ADCS, particularly deals related to the House defense appropriations subcommittee, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
The raid came seven weeks after a similar raid on MZM.
Like MZM, ADCS won millions of dollars of government contracts while making significant campaign donations to Cunningham and other members of the House defense appropriations subcommittee. The subcommittee repeatedly penciled in funding for projects involving the company, even though the Pentagon had not requested the money.
Cunningham's possible abuse of his clout has opened a window on the congressional appropriations process, giving the public a rare glimpse at the growing premium that contractors place on obtaining influence on Capitol Hill.
Cunningham's seats on the defense appropriations subcommittee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence give him influence over the kinds of military-intelligence contracts MZM has been seeking, said Nathan Facey, a former aide to Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee.
"It's one-stop shopping," Facey said of Cunningham's potential usefulness to Wade. "He can get an earmark lined up in the intelligence committee, and then he can walk it over to appropriations and say, 'It's classified, so I can't talk about it, but it's a good program.' "
Earmarks are relatively small provisions that members of Congress insert into a bill to fund specific programs that often benefit their districts or supporters. They typically write them cryptically to obscure the lawmaker and the beneficiary.
Wade poured $272,426 into the political process in the past five years, with the help of political action committees, employees and friends, according to data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics. Wilkes orchestrated $499,200 in contributions during the same period, according to the center's data.
"They know the process," Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said of contractors. "They come in and say, 'This is what we need, so can you ask for this? Can you write a letter to the appropriators?' It's really pernicious because once you get an earmark in a bill, you're going to support the bill, or your earmark is removed. . . . Members are getting hooked on earmarks quickly. They are led to believe that that is the way you get re-elected."
News accounts contribute to the problem, said Jacques Gansler, former undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.
"The problem with pork is that in the local press it's always viewed as a plus. It's 'Congressman Jones just got us a $20 million project and isn't that wonderful' even though the executive branch didn't ask for it and it's not necessarily a priority in terms of the nation's interest."
Pork-barreling has always been a feature of the federal budget process, but as the budget has expanded in recent decades, so has the pork. The mounting pressure on lawmakers to raise large sums of money for campaigns has further accelerated the trend. In the past decade, the process has become more ingrained and efficiently managed, and has spread to parts of the budget previously untouched.
US: A View into Political Pork Process Cunningham's possible abuse of his clout has opened a window on the congressional appropriations process, giving the public a rare glimpse at the growing premium that contractors place on obtaining influence on Capitol Hill.
by Marcus Stern and Jerry Kammer, COPLEY NEWS SERVICE/The San Diego Union-Tribune
August 31st, 2005
WASHINGTON When Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham first responded to questions about his dealings with defense contractor Mitchell Wade, he stressed that his position on the House defense appropriations subcommittee did not enable him to secure contracts for Wade's company, MZM Inc.
"I do not have the authority or ability to award a contract to Mr. Wade's company and no single member of Congress, no matter how influential, can dictate to the armed services who will be awarded contracts," the Rancho Santa Fe Republican said during a June 23 news conference.
While Cunningham's claim is technically correct under the government's doctrine of separation of powers, it doesn't reflect the reality that many members of Congress, especially members of appropriations committees, have a great deal of say over how funds are allocated.
A federal grand jury in San Diego is probing Cunningham's dealings with Wade after disclosures that Wade bought and sold Cunningham's Del Mar home at a $700,000 loss and allowed Cunningham to live aboard his yacht in Washington. Wade has since resigned as head of MZM, and the company is in the process of being sold to a New York-based equity firm.
Since receiving its first federal contract in 2002, Washington-based MZM has collected more than $163 million in government contracts.
Cunningham's dealings with another defense contractor Brent Wilkes, president of Poway-based ADCS Inc. have also come under scrutiny. On Aug. 16, agents from the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and Defense Department raided the company's headquarters. Agents were seeking records pertaining to government contracts secured by ADCS, particularly deals related to the House defense appropriations subcommittee, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
The raid came seven weeks after a similar raid on MZM.
Like MZM, ADCS won millions of dollars of government contracts while making significant campaign donations to Cunningham and other members of the House defense appropriations subcommittee. The subcommittee repeatedly penciled in funding for projects involving the company, even though the Pentagon had not requested the money.
Cunningham's possible abuse of his clout has opened a window on the congressional appropriations process, giving the public a rare glimpse at the growing premium that contractors place on obtaining influence on Capitol Hill.
Cunningham's seats on the defense appropriations subcommittee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence give him influence over the kinds of military-intelligence contracts MZM has been seeking, said Nathan Facey, a former aide to Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee.
"It's one-stop shopping," Facey said of Cunningham's potential usefulness to Wade. "He can get an earmark lined up in the intelligence committee, and then he can walk it over to appropriations and say, 'It's classified, so I can't talk about it, but it's a good program.' "
Earmarks are relatively small provisions that members of Congress insert into a bill to fund specific programs that often benefit their districts or supporters. They typically write them cryptically to obscure the lawmaker and the beneficiary.
Wade poured $272,426 into the political process in the past five years, with the help of political action committees, employees and friends, according to data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics. Wilkes orchestrated $499,200 in contributions during the same period, according to the center's data.
"They know the process," Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., said of contractors. "They come in and say, 'This is what we need, so can you ask for this? Can you write a letter to the appropriators?' It's really pernicious because once you get an earmark in a bill, you're going to support the bill, or your earmark is removed. . . . Members are getting hooked on earmarks quickly. They are led to believe that that is the way you get re-elected."
News accounts contribute to the problem, said Jacques Gansler, former undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics.
"The problem with pork is that in the local press it's always viewed as a plus. It's 'Congressman Jones just got us a $20 million project and isn't that wonderful' even though the executive branch didn't ask for it and it's not necessarily a priority in terms of the nation's interest."
Pork-barreling has always been a feature of the federal budget process, but as the budget has expanded in recent decades, so has the pork. The mounting pressure on lawmakers to raise large sums of money for campaigns has further accelerated the trend. In the past decade, the process has become more ingrained and efficiently managed, and has spread to parts of the budget previously untouched.