More g.o.p. corruption! Coconut Road - NY Times

[groovedaddy]

June 7, 2007
Campaign Funds for Alaskan; Road Aid to Florida
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK - NY Times

WASHINGTON, June 6 — It is no secret that campaign contributions sometimes lead to lucrative official favors. Rarely, though, are the tradeoffs quite as obvious as in the twisted case of Coconut Road.

The road, a stretch of pavement near Fort Myers, Fla., that touches five golf clubs on its way to the Gulf of Mexico, is the target of a $10 million earmark that appeared mysteriously in a 2006 transportation bill written by Representative Don Young, Republican of Alaska.

Mr. Young, who last year steered more than $200 million to a so-called bridge to nowhere reaching 80 people on Gravina Island, Alaska, has no constituents in Florida.

The Republican congressman whose district does include Coconut Road says he did not seek the money. County authorities have twice voted not to use it, until Mr. Young and the district congressman wrote letters warning that a refusal could jeopardize future federal money for the county.

The Coconut Road money is a boon, however, to Daniel J. Aronoff, a real estate developer who helped raise $40,000 for Mr. Young at the nearby Hyatt Coconut Point hotel days before he introduced the measure.

http://tinyurl.com/23rr3k

[ThomCat]

1. Money in exchange for official favors

= bribery. Strong-arming the county into taking and using the money is proof that this was done solely to benefit the developer. Why isn't this being prosecuted?

[Grillydad]

2. Equally important, Publicly Funded Elections

Why are we as Americans not calling for publicly funded elections to take the money out of politics so that are leaders can suggest policy that benefits a majority of US citizens without worrying about what Microsoft, IBM or Haliburton think about it? As a First Amendment issue, the courts have long balanced the rights of one against the needs of many. Each candidate will be able to make their case for their qualifications and policies, without inappropriate influences. It would cost significantly less than what we spend annually in Iraq. Policing Lobbyist wopuld be easier because it would shut down an avenue for legal "bribes."