Dann’s DC Office: Same Old Pork
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 By David HansenWhat an amazing spin put out by Stephen Koff of the Plain Dealer on AG Marc Dann’s lobbying office in Washington, DC. He writes in regard to this office that few have noticed Dann’s “pioneering ways.” [The Columbus Dispatch runs the article today with the sub-header of "Ohio Attorney General's Innovation".]
Sorry, Steve. There is nothing pioneering about one government entity lobbying another government entity for handouts. This is a well-established, pernicious process that costs taxpayers both in needlessly inflating demand for government spending and in the intrinsic waste of government spending money to get money from…government. This process is highly susceptible to pork-barrel politics and in general defeats the kind of efficient, transparent government Ohioans deserve for their tax dollars.
Ohio taxpayers already pay the dues for Marc Dann’s membership in the National Association of Attorneys Generals (NAAG). This group lobbies Washington as their website describes:
The NAAG Legislative Project coordinates the legislative efforts of the association by facilitating the information flow between Washington, D.C. and the Sate Attorneys General and their staffs. NAAG’s Legislative Director, in conjunction with NAAG’s Project Directors, serves as the initial point of contact for requests from State Attorney General offices, members of Congress and their staff, other interested associations and individuals about Attorney General views on federal legislation.
By the way, the Governor of Ohio also maintains an office in Washington, D.C. which costs state taxpayers $1.6 million in the 2008-09 budget.
Oh, and the Ohio congressional delegation counts 2 senators and 18 members of congress most of whom are looking to bring home pork every chance they can get.
And as far as the Ohio sheriffs whose favor Dann and his spendthrift aide were trying to curry with our tax dollars, according to its website the Buckeye State Sheriffs’ Association partners with the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA). I haven’t been able to plow through the NSA website, but any organization located on Duke Street in Alexandria, Virginia as is NSA almost certainly does its share of “facilitating the information flow” (a wonderful euphanism for ‘lobbying’) on behalf of sheriffs nationwide, and in Ohio.
So, we have the governor’s office in DC, we have 20 members of Congress, we have the NAAG and we have NSA, just mention a few of the government entities pay for by Ohio taxpayers lobbying government for handouts. To pay for all this and then on top of it for AG Dann to open up his own separate office so that political patronage accrues to him as opposed to Gov. Strickland or different law enforcement lobbying organizations is wasteful duplication in government — it is neither pioneering nor innovative.
The fawning review of this phenomenon offered by Koff is a service to politicians and the business-as-usual status quo, but it is a glaring disservice to Ohio taxpayers.
Cross-posted to www.EyeOnTheStatehouse.org.
Tags: AG Activism, DC Offices, government lobbying, Pork
