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--> --> Double Giver: a nag known to curry favor If there's anything worse than buying favors and access through campaign contributions, it's the practice of double giving. Contributors to political action committees and candidates, simultaneously scattering bucketloads of dough to competing parties and party hopefuls, is the most grotesque example of buying influence with our elected officials. Double givers have no ideological interest. They just want to appear on the list of a winner. It's like the guy who buys a winning ticket on every horse in the race. He roots for them all, and guarantees he'll cash in at the window. Enron, the embattled energy giant, lapped the field in the double-giver sweepstakes. The Houston-based company lathered both the Democratic and Republican Party with $1.6 million in the 1999-2000 election cycle, according to Janice Thompson of the Money in Politics Research Action Project in Portland. That amounted to contributions to 71 out of 100 U.S. Senators, and 40 percent of the House members over the last decade. Arthur Andersen, Enron's former accounting firm that is a saddle-mate in the ongoing scandal, ran the good race as well, edging out Enron at the wire. Andersen made contributions to 95 out of 100 U.S. Senators and to 63 percent of House members. In Oregon, Andersen contributed to both Oregon senators. According to Thompson, one out of every three dollars given in 2000 to Oregon's Democratic and Republican leadership committees was from a double giver. Sprint gave $1,150 to each of the four Republican and Democratic leadership committees. Seagrams Co. gave $1,000 to each of these PACs. "Double giving on both the federal and state levels reveals a campaign finance system trap for both contributors and candidates," said Kappy Eaton, chair of MiPRAP's steering committee and an activist with the League of Women Voters. "This double giving is bad for democracy and indicates the need for campaign finance reform." It also makes it exceedingly difficult to find anyone in government with the unfettered will to pursue Enron, et al. And, it makes for a bad horse race. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing