As I’ve mentioned before, my Congressman (Michael McCaul) is running unopposed in the GOP primary next week, but that I have taken an interest in two other races: Congressional Districts 14 and 22.
I was working on a corruption article about Pete Olson, who is running for Tom Delay’s old seat in District 22, but have scrapped it for this one instead:
Six Degrees of Pete Olson
Everyone knows how to play “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.” So let’s play the same game with Pete Olson and some disgraced and corrupt lobbyist.
Williams & Jenson
While probably the most obscure tie in the Six Degrees of Pete Olson, dear readers, this law firm is one of the most powerful lobbying entities in Washington, D.C… While the practice of lobbying isn’t illegal, it certainly has caused more than a couple later links in the “Six Degrees” chain further down the line. It should be noted that Pete Olson’s first campaign fundraiser was held in Washington, D.C. and not Texas. It was held in a town home owned by the Williams & Jenson firm and hosted by three of Washington’s top lobbyists.
I think that the bottom line I should bring up at this point is that lobbying is NOT an illegal activity. Our government wouldn’t function without lobbyists…however, what has become far more prevalent in the recent years is just how they can actually sway a legislator’s vote…rather than the will of his/her constituents.
The Bacon Number between Pete Olson and the lobbying firm of Williams & Jenson is 1.
Duke Cunningham
Now let’s establish the next link in this chain…William & Jenson have done work in the past for former California House Representative Randall “Duke” Cunningham. For those needing a quick refresher, Cunningham represented his upscale San Diego district, running primarily as a truly highly decorated Vietnam fighter pilot and “Top Gun” pioneer. (Guess Duke’s got a Bacon Number of 2 as well.)
Throughout the 1990’s, Cunningham was one of the Republican Party’s most recognized members, but oh how the mighty can fall! Duke Cunningham is now serving the longest sentence ever placed on a seated/sitting member of Congress in a federal penitentiary in Tucson, Arizona. (I’ve driven past this place dozens of times and never even realized it was a federal facility.)
And why is he here? Duke took bribes from defense contractors in exchange for the award and backing of defense related spending projects. I’m not saying the Duke Cunningham is a horrible man, but I will say that he’s just one example of what happens to people when they arrive in Washington, D.C…
They become part of the system they claim to want to change.
What should you be thinking about a Washington insider like Pete Olson who’s already been there? Think there might be a chance that the power he’s had already inside the staff’s of Senator Phil Gramm and John Cornyn might already taken effect?
Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Pete Olson’s “Bacon Number” between himself and disgraced California Representative Duke Cunningham is 2.
Tom Delay
Here we have yet another FORMER congressman who had to leave his seat behind under a cloud of alleged wrongdoing. Since I don’t live in TX-22, my complete understanding of the wrongdoings are probably a little light, but yet again, the problem would appear to be one of power (either real or imagined) of being above the law.
While the indictments against Tom Delay had to do with wrongful campaign finance expenditures, it appears that he might have gone to Washington with his hand up to do some good for his constituents, but wound up with his “hand out” to lobbyists. Two members of his Congressional staff figured prominently in the next “contestant’s” investigation, Jack Abramoff.
Tom Delay remains a “free man” but based on some of the company he keeps, perhaps this is something that may be short-lived. In any event, being forced to resign from not only his position as Majority Whip in the House, but also to be strongly urged not to run for re-election in 2006 places him in that group of people your mother used to warn you about associating with.
The “Bacon Number” Pete Olson to Tom Delay is simply a two. All you have to do is trace the route through Williams & Jenson to Tom Delay directly.
Jack Abramoff
Now this guy’s become almost synonymous with what’s wrong in Washington with crooked lobbyists prowling the district’s streets. Yes, I have to believe that he’s at the center of what everything that’s perceived as wrong with American politics.
Abramoff is also serving a sentence for some of the same sorts of things that Duke Cunningham’s cooling his heels for. Tax evasion, bribery, etc. Not a very nice guy OR upstanding citizen.
As an aside, as a federal employee, I’m subjected to annual ethics training each year that must be conducted in a classroom, face-to-face forum by an Army Judge Advocate General Corps trained lawyer. For the past few years Jack Abramoff, along with Duke Cunningham and our next link in the chain…Tom Delay has been in the centerpiece of these briefings.
How do we play the “Six Degrees of Pete Olson” here?
Williams & Jenson have ties to Tom Delay, who also has ties to Jack Abramoff. The “Bacon Number” between Candidate Wilson and Jack Abramoff is only a 3.
Phil Gramm
I have to admit, I thought that Phil Gramm was much more of a stand up guy than some of my research materials have pointed to. I guess that’s why it really is more important to understand a candidate than simply voting along party lines.
Mr. Gramm seems to have quite a track record of being quite pliable when it comes to acquiescing to the desires and wants of big business…a source of what Gramm often claimed he had. “I have the most reliable friend you can have in politics—ready money.” The source of that money was indeed big business…and one of the largest contributors to his coffers…ENRON.
When Mr. Gramm chose to retire, in spite of being called “too broke and too young” to retire from the Senate by a San Antonio newspaper, they had failed to see how Mr. Gramm and his wife Wendy were tied to Enron financially. (Wendy Gramm had in fact pulled strings for Enron while serving as a political appointee in the first Bush Administration…quite obviously in exchange for a seat on their board just five weeks after her resignation following the Clinton inauguration.) Thanks to the generous salary and stock options made available to Wendy Gramm, as long as Phil toed the line at home…how could he possibly too broke? (Wendy was wise enough to sell all her shares of Enron before the collapse. Surprise, surprise?)
The Bacon Number between Pete Olson and Phil Gramm is an extremely short 1. It was Phil Gramm that urged Olson to work for him first as a Congressional Liaison from the military and then as a full time staffer upon leaving the Navy.
ENRON
This company will probably long be remembered for what it did with some wild and loose accounting practices that in turn bankrupted the savings and retirement funds of thousands of investors and Enron employees.
I remember this well, as I had been looking at picking up some Enron during the fall. According to the facts and figures I was pulling from Investor’s Business Daily, this company wasn’t looking all that bad. Thankfully I was busy with holidays that December…or I could have lost my entire investment as well.
Unethical is probably the kindest thing you’ll ever hear said about Enron and the entire scandal that led to the collapse. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find that there were more than enough accomplices in the mix to share the blame. Could Wendy Gramm be one of them?
The “Bacon Number” between Pete Olson and ENRON is at least a 2, at most a 3 by running through either one or both of the Gramms.
Having said all this and had a little fun with the “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” as it applies to the candidacy of Pete Olson, it’s easy to see that there are enough skeletons in his closet and perhaps the smell of smoke hanging strongly in the air to make you wonder what kind of representative his constituents might be getting.
I’m not maligning ANY of these individuals that Mr. Olson has some times to in totality. I’m sure that each firm, individual or company at a time did in fact serve the public good. What I am convinced of though is that in each case there came a point in time where these entities came to a fork in the road. One led to the continued doing of good for the country or in the case of ENRON their investors. The other path led to corruption and personal self interest.
It seems to me that Mr. Olson’s associated with some people in the past that have trouble making ethical decisions and have trouble discerning right from wrong. Some of these associates and associates of associates are serving time in prison.
Is this the kind of person you want representing the voters of TX-22?
Might it be time to elect someone WITHOUT so much experience in Washington, D.C.?
