Casey in the Chron Considers Pols Corruption of Charities
politicians set up charitable foundations, and encourage donars to give generously. One of the advantages of making charitable contributions to a politician's charity is that disclosure is not required, at least in political databases. Another is that the size of the contribution is not limited, enabling donors to stand apart from the crowd.
Chron.com | Charitable corruption: "Even when a charity is legitimate, we ordinary taxpayers have to wonder whether donors are buying tax breaks and other favors unavailable to us. Now that DeLay has lost his leadership post, we may acquire some evidence. If corporate and lobby donations remain at their extraordinary level, we'll know donors were motivated by charitable instincts, not political calculations.
Consider some of the major donors to DeLay's personal charities, according to the New York Times: ExxonMobil and AT&T at $50,000 each; Corrections Corp., which runs federal prisons, $100,000; the Bill & Melinda Gates (as in Microsoft) Foundation, $100,000; and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, $250,000.
These are only a few. One of the advantages of making charitable contributions to a politician's charity is that disclosure is not required, at least in political databases. Another is that the size of the contribution is not limited, enabling donors to stand apart from the crowd.
Funding charities by selling political clout is unseemly enough, but recent revelations from Abramoff and related investigations offer darker plots."