Moolah & Wampum, Lies & Influence

Count on WaPo columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. to brush up so close to outright lies that you'll find yourself wondering what the definition of "is" is.

In his column this morning, a wonder of exclusion and distortion, Dionne positions the Abramoff scandal as a GOP-only affair:

Republicans once fell all over themselves to get his "moolah,'' the term used famously by the disgraced super lobbyist, and to get his advice on dealing with that warm and cuddly entity known as "the lobbying community.''

And Democrats didn't? Dionne never mentions that Abramoff was an equal opportunity guy, doling out about $3 million to GOP off-holders and $1.5 million to Dems. Yes, that's two-to-one, but as I pointed out yesterday, that's what you'd expect from lobbyists in an era when the GOP controls DC.

Dionne was happy as a canary to sing GOP names, but he ignored the prominent Dems who were just as happy to accept Abramoff money, including Harry Reid ($60,000, which he refuses to return), Dick Durbin (at least $11,000), Hillary Clinton (at least $2,000), Tim Johnson (at least $8,250), Barbara Mikulski (at least $5,000), Max Baucus (at least $18,892), Byron Dorgan (at least $67,000), and many, many House Dems. (source)

Dionne can't simply hide behind the fact that he's an opinion columnist. He's entitled to his own opinion, but he's not entitled to his own facts. The facts speak for themselves: Jack Abramoff was a GOP guy, sure, but the Dems clammored just as hard to get their hands on his "moola."

What about the Indians?

Lost in the media coverage, which predictably is focused on smearing the GOP, is the larger question of Indian gaming's, and more specifically, Indian wampum's influence in the halls of power.

I have a good friend who is a political consultant to the Indians. He's always been pretty well off, but now he's added a private jet to his monster yacht, and he's purchased the house next door to his home near the beach.

He is, I believe, an honest guy, no Jack Abramoff, and look how good Indian money and Indian issues have been to him.

With the help of people like my friend, the tribes have become extremely savvy politically, unlike the poor guys Abramoff duped. And they are very quick to use their influence and wealth to spread the sickness of gambling across the nation.

The tribes are no different from the unions and the business and farm interests. Michael Medved had it right on Wednesday, when he said the problem isn't that we need more campaign reform, it's that we need smaller government.

As long as government has big power, it will attract big money. (h/t RCP)