The congressional money game on travel to Cuba
By John McAuliff
The House Committee on International Affairs has announced a hearing on travel to Cuba will be held on November 18th.
I took a look at the record of which members of the Committee had received funds from the pro-embargo anti-travel US Cuba Democracy PAC.
The list is not conclusive about votes in the committee. Some people, like Chairman Howard Berman, no doubt receive PAC money with the hope of assuring access. Others receive nothing because they are completely committed, pro or con, and any investment would be redundant or ineffective.
Nevertheless, the amounts given may be suggestive of how important a particular vote is to Miami hard-liners. The first set of figures below the break is donations for the completed 2008 election cycle. Figures preceded by a + are downpayments for the 2010 cycle.
Personally, I think PAC donations, like campaign contributions above a reasonable middle class limit, are inherently corrupting to democracy. Absent prohibition, they must be counteracted by exposure which questions whether loyalty is owed more to voting constituents or to far away donors.
Colleagues tell me I am naive and that until we play the same game our impact is marginal.
Democrats:
Ackerman, Gary (D-NY) $1,000 +$1,000
Berman, Howard L (D-CA) $5,000 +$5,000
Berkley, Shelley (D-NV) $5,000 +$2,500
Carnahan, Russ (D-MO) $2,000 +$1,000
Connolly, Gerry (D-VA) +$2,000
Engel, Eliot L (D-NY) $7,500 +$5,000
Giffords, Gabrielle (D-AZ) $5,000 +$1,000
Green, Gene (D-TX) $1,000 +$1,000
Klein, Ron (D-FL) $10,000
McMahon, Michael E (D-NY) +$2,000
Miller, Brad (D-NC) $7,000 +$1,000
Payne, Donald M (D-NJ) $2,500
Sherman, Brad (D-CA) $8,500
Sires, Albio (D-NJ) $10,000 + $5,000
Wexler, Robert (D-FL) $6,000
Non recipients:
Eni Faleomavaega, Bill Delahunt, Diane Watson, John Tanner, Lynn Woolsey, Sheila Jackson Lee, Barbara Lee, Joseph Crowley, Mike Ross, David Scott, Jim Costa, Keith Ellison
Republicans:
Bilirakis, Gus (R-FL) $3,000
Burton, Dan (R-IN) $6,000
Fortenberry, Jeffrey (R-NE) $1,000
Mack, Connie (R-FL) $2,000
Manzullo, Don (R-IL) $1,000
McCaul, Michael (R-TX) +$2,000
Pence, Mike (R-IN) $7,500 +$1,000
Poe, Ted (R-TX) $5,000
Smith, Chris (R-NJ) $10,000
Non-recipient:
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Elton Gallegly, Dana Rohrabacher, Edward Royce, Ron Paul, Jeff Flake, Joe Wilson, John Boozman, J, Gresham Barrett, Bob Inglis
If you want to see the full list of south Florida donors to the US Cuba Democracy PAC and of the recipients in the House and Senate, go to the Opensecrets site.
**It would be interesting to see an analysis of who is donating to the Democracy PAC. For example, are Bacardi family members and employees a big source? If so, are they more motivated by anti-Castro politics or by trying to protect their market share? Imagine what happens to their bottom line when one million cases per year of the real Havana Club and other Cuban rums are available in the US.
