Buying democracy in Alabama

Buying democracy in Alabama: (And how we might stop PAC-to-PAC corruption)
by Glen Browder
Special to The Star Anniston Star
Oct 17, 2010

“We’re gonna support who supports democracy. And the (expletive deleted) who doesn’t support democracy get ready to get their (expletive deleted) (expletive deleted) busted.”

Please pardon the coarse language conveyed here on the pages of a family newspaper.

No, more accurately, pardon the wiretapped gutter-talk of one of the indicted gambling bosses who, allegedly, almost passed their crooked legislation on Goat Hill in Montgomery.

Ironically, their conversations, electronically tapped by the U.S. Justice Department, indicate that powerful gambling interests came pretty close to “buying democracy” with a secret, illegal conspiracy for getting a public vote on the electronic bingo issue. I shudder to think how far they might have gone to sway that election if the FBI had not intervened.

Of course, everyone is innocent until proven guilty; many sincerely view this whole deal as a partisan attack to affect next month’s elections. But those wiretapped transcripts, if accurate, tell an outrageous tale about the sad state of politics in Alabama.

I’ll skip the details, other than noting for the record that the Justice Department indictment charges 11 individuals — legislators, lobbyists, businessmen and their associates — with conspiracy, bribery, extortion, money laundering, fraud, obstruction of justice and making false statements.

THE CORRUPTING ROLE OF PAC-TO-PAC TRANSFERS.

Instead, I want to focus attention on the practice of PAC-to-PAC transfers that encourage, facilitate and enhance such corrupt actions. Rich, powerful special interests commonly shuffle money from one political-action committee to another, and on to another, and on to another, allowing them to exercise vast influence in campaigns and the law-making process without the public having a clue about their nefarious politicking. In a way, it’s humorous reading what the conspirators apparently said on the tapes about “supporting democracy” while hiding their bribery through multiple PACs, but it’s not funny when you realize that this scam almost succeeded.

PAC-to-PAC abuse may or may not be illegal, but it surely encourages bad politics in Montgomery. The high cost of campaigning and sorry rules of the game pressure politicians and lobbyists to play along; even honest, decent people get tangled in the web of public deception. There currently are 859 PACs registered in Alabama. The whole system is ripe for corruption as charged in the federal indictment.

BUT ALABAMA DEMOCRACY DOES NOT HAVE TO WORK THIS WAY.

We can never eliminate the possibility of corruption, but we can make it harder on corrupt politicians, lobbyists and special interests by correcting the PAC-to-PAC problem.

I was Secretary of State when we passed the Alabama Fair Practices Act in 1988. I can speak for myself and both sponsors — Rep. Jim Campbell and Sen. Jim Bennett — in attesting that we did not intend to allow such shenanigans as PAC-to-PAC transfers to subvert the democratic process. But attorney general opinions in 1989 and 1991 opened the door to this practice, and mass political malfeasance has tainted legitimate politicking ever since. Now, to repeat a comment Bennett made recently, “I cannot very well defend a practice that is just outright laundering of money.”

HOW CAN WE FIGHT BACK?

There are several ways whereby we might put an end to this buying of democracy in Alabama, and I’ll enumerate these options.

1. COURT CHALLENGE: The Alabama Fair Campaign Practices Act was designed to prohibit corrupt money-laundering. I strongly believe that those attorney general opinions of 1989 and 1991 are simply weak interpretations of the AFCPA’s intent and wording and have no solid legal authority. A federal judge decreed just last year on another issue that the Alabama Constitution and the Code of Alabama are the law: “These governing laws do not authorize the Attorney General of the State of Alabama to legalize otherwise-illegal activity, or to declare any particular activity to be legal.” Further, he ruled, “Even written opinions of the Attorney General in accordance with Alabama Code are not binding statements of law, but merely advisory, and do not have the effect of law.” Some civic-minded citizen needs to seek court clarification and guidance about PAC-to-PAC transfers in light of this logic and current corrupt practices.

2. NEW LEGAL OPINION: A simpler option is getting the Alabama attorney general to re-examine the issue of PAC-to-PAC transfers. It is acceptable practice for state officials to ask for updated interpretations of previous opinions, and this issue certainly merits reconsideration. Fortunately, James Anderson, the Democrat, and Luther Strange, the Republican, are now running for this position as Alabama’s top legal counsel, and I imagine they’d be responsive to our pleas in light of the recent indictments and as Election Day approaches.

3. LEGISLATIVE ACTION: Of course, the most obvious solution to the current problem is for the state Legislature to pass a new law specifying that PAC-to-PAC transfers are illegal. State Rep. Jeff McLaughlin has waged a valiant struggle for this cause over the years, but this fight will not be won until the leadership of both the House and Senate take responsibility for pushing through PAC reform. Fortunately, again, Democrat Jim Folsom and Republican Kay Ivey are heatedly competing for lieutenant governor and all legislative candidates are on next month’s ballot, so this would be a good time to secure their commitments to do more than lip service.

4. EXECUTIVE PRESSURE: Barring other options, the governor of Alabama is the single critical figure in changing this shell game. Previous chief executives have voiced general support, but it is going to take determined leadership to force PAC reform through the Legislature. Republican Robert Bentley and Democrat Ron Sparks have both staked out positions on corruption and reform.

Now, let’s get them to pledge publicly, before the election, that they’ll not sign any other bills into law until a PAC-to-PAC ban is delivered to the governor’s office.

In sum, the current tale of crooked politicians, lobbyists and special interests “buying democracy” in Montgomery is a sad and outrageous development. We can never fully cleanse politics, but we have several options for correcting the money-laundering game that encourages corruption. We need to challenge the prevailing “legal opinion” in court. Now’s the time to press the party nominees for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and state Legislature to skip the rhetoric and stop PAC-to-PAC transfers.

Dr. Glen Browder is Emeritus Professor of American Democracy at Jacksonville State University. He is a former U.S. congressman, Alabama Secretary of State and Alabama state legislator, and he is considered the “father” of the Alabama Fair Campaign Practices Act.


It's issues such as this that Beacon Hill would be wise to note before blindly embracing the Gambling Industry.