That’s Where the Money Is

nytimes.com — It’s beyond astonishing to me that John Boehner has a real chance to be speaker of the House of Representatives. I’ve always thought of Mr. Boehner as one of the especially sleazy figures in a capital seething with sleaze. I remember writing about that day back in the mid-’90s when this quintessential influence-peddler handed out checks from tobacco lobbyists to fellow Congressional sleazes right on the floor of the House. Mr. Boehner is the minority leader in the House and would most likely become speaker if the Republicans win control in next month’s elections. He has stopped funneling corporate money to his colleagues on the House floor. But nothing else has changed, except that his already outsized influence-peddling has grown. The amount of democracy-destroying money that manages to make its way into Boehner Land has increased to a staggering degree.The hack who once handed out checks on the House floor is now a coddled, gilded flunky of the nation’s big-time corporate elite.

more »