"It is not the horse that draws the cart, but the oats" - Proverb

Pay-to-Play in Politics

The Supreme Court is currently considering reversing a corruption charge against former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, according to a spot that was aired on NPR today www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016. It seems that the Supreme Court justices are deciding between an "official act" vs. a corrupt act when doing political business. The justices are "seeking a federal standard that may be administered" to seek convictions on public felony charges and try to come up with a more narrow definition than what they have now.

According to the charges filed against former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife accepted $50,000 loan from businessman Jonnie Williams, money that would help defray costs for the governors' daughter's wedding. Three days after accepting the loan from Mr. Williams, former governor McDonnell had an aide forward information about Jonnie Williams business to the secretary of health because Mr. Williams wanted a health supplement tested by two Virginia Universities because his business couldn't afford scientific testing. This sounds like a case of one palm greasing the other, if you ask me. 

According to the current definition, "official acts" occur when you are holding a political office and perform an activity such as writing a letter to a federal agency so they can look into a matter, to attending political events and attending meetings. It is not illegal to accept money for these "official acts" if the person giving the money is not expecting to shape a government decision. Why does money need to exchange hands in the first place if it is an "official act"? Those acts are part of being an elected official, in my opinion. Also, the person giving the money may not be wanting to "shape a government decision" right now but you can bet dollars to donughts that they want to shape a government decision at some point down the road! The fact that the Supreme Court is considering even overturning this conviction when the government was the one in the first place who convicted former Gov. Bob McDonnell is maddening to me. I believe that money should never be exchanging hands between these types of parties, just the very nature of that activity means that there is a conflict of interest in my opinion. 

The Supreme Court justices will be voting on this case this Friday, April 29, 2016, and it sounds like the only benefit that may come from it is a clearer definition of "official acts" when it comes to government officials doing their job and accepting kick-backs, I mean, loans.