More CJR comments.
Tip of the Hat
AP Digs Up a Good One
John Solomon of the Associated Press has broken out his shovel and hit paydirt.
In 2000, as a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, John Kerry convinced committee chairman John McCain to drop legislation that would have required American International Group (AIG), the insurer for the Boston Central Artery/Tunnel, to return $150 million in investment revenue it made on taxpayer funding of the "Big Dig."
Solomon obtained documents showing that over the next two years, AIG paid Kerry's way on a trip to Vermont and donated at least $30,000 to the tax-exempt group Kerry used to set up his presidential campaign. Company executives also donated $18,000 to his senate and presidential campaigns, Solomon reports.
Kerry's office confirmed that the Massachusetts senator persuaded McCain to drop legislation that would have closed a funding loophole that allowed AIG to invest the money and keep any profit from the investment. But spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter denied there was a quid pro quo.
As Solomon reports, others don't agree. "The idea that Kerry has not helped or benefited from a specific special interest, which he has said, is utterly absurd," according to Charles Lewis, head of the Center for Public Integrity, which researches the influence of money in politics.
In a campaign where solid investigative work so far has been a rarity, it's nice to see that someone on the trail is still willing to get their tools out and turn over some earth.
--Susan Q. Stranahan
Fact Check
Slow Pitch in the Majors
That whirring noise you're hearing from Tennessee this evening is emanating from Wesley Clark, who's explaining what he really meant when a would-be voter yesterday asked his views on abortion. "Well, I'm against abortion," Clark told a patron of the Catfish Place, deep in the heart of west Tennessee.
Oops. Well, not exactly.
Today, he clarified his views. "I support a woman's right to choose," he said, according to an Associated Press story out of Chattanooga.
Did anybody other than Clark's campaign advisors catch the General flip-flop yesterday?
Sort of. As noted above, Edward Wyatt of The New York Times was with the General at the Catfish Place and recorded the comment. In Wednesday's story Wyatt also noted that a month earlier Clark had portrayed himself as pro-choice, telling a Planned Parenthood forum that "These are your values. These are my values."
The General, he wrote, had simply "adjusted his pitch on some issues." That's putting it mildly. Wyatt's language makes us think we're reading Little League coverage of a Big League game.
--Susan Q. Stranahan |
