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Human Events: Closing the tribal donation 'loophole'
Monday, February 6, 2006
Human Events Online, a conservative publication, asks members of Congress a hot political question: Should the tribal donation "loophole" be closed? Reporter Amanda B. Carpenter got some rather interesting answers out of several senators and a couple of congressmen.
Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Delaware) said: "I didn’t even know it existed. I’d have to think about it."
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York) responded: "I don’t know anything about that, I’ll have to look into it. You’re the first person that’s ever asked me that."
Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colorado) said: "It seems to me that if we have rules for the political process for our nation then everyone that would participate in that political process should abide by the same set of rules."
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) had a simple answer when asked if tribal donations should be subject to certain limits. "Yes. I think it should," he said.
Rep. John Shadegg (R-Arizona), who unsuccessfully ran for House majority leader, was the only one to say tribes were "victimized" in the Jack Abramoff scandal. "I don’t think we should put Indian tribes under more strict rules than everybody else, and I don’t think they be under more lenient rules than anybody else," he said.
Sen. David Vitter (D-Louisiana) claimed to have an inside tack. "I am literally just coming back from a meeting with Sen. McCain about all sorts of Indian gambling and reform issues, and we talked about that," he said. He said some sort of limit to tribal donations will "certainly" be included in lobbying reform legislation.
Get the Story:
Q&A With Senators:
Should the Indian-Contributions Loophole in McCain-Feingold Be Closed?
(Human Events 2/6)
Earlier Human Events Article:
McCain's
Law Preserved Loophole for Tribal Contributions (Human Events Online January
29, 2006)
Federal Elections Commission Opinions:
Advisory Opinion
1999-32 (January 28, 2000) |
Advisory Opinion
2000-05 (May 15, 2000) |
Advisory Opinion
2005-01 (March 14, 2005)
More Advisory Opinion 2005-01 Documents:
Advisory
Opinion Draft A and Draft B |
Tribe's Request
for Advisory Opinion
Relevant Links:
PoliticalMoneyLine -
http://www.politicalmoneyline.comCenter
for Responsive Politics -
http://www.opensecrets.org
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