Debbie Rodella: A Case of Trickle-Down Bribery
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Tags: bribery, Ethics Reform, House Business and Industry Committee, State Representative Debbie Rodella, Tommy Rodella
Tags: bribery, Ethics Reform, House Business and Industry Committee, State Representative Debbie Rodella, Tommy Rodella
State Representative Debbie Rodella is in the news again, testing New Mexico's shaky ethics laws. This time it revolves around the Rio Arriba County Democrat's practice of using her campaign funds to give small gifts to voters for things like phone cards, Christmas parties and funeral expenses.
In a letter to the state Attorney General requesting an advisory opinion as to the legality of this practice, Rodella wrote that her intent was to "garner good will from these men and women and their family and friends." She further described the gifts as "random acts of kindness." (For more see Abq. Journal - "Rodella To AG: Define A Bribe")
On Tuesday, the Santa Fe New Mexican got to the heart of the problem with Rodella's campaign practices:
That's it in a nutshell. There is a logic to all this. Consider how it works:
* Debbie gives small gifts to win the gratitude - and the votes -- of families in her district -- "targeted" acts of kindness, if you will.
* Of course, this isn't cash out of Debbie's pocket. It's money from her campaign account - money she got in the form of campaign contributions.
* And who gives Rodella those campaign contributions in the first place? The SF New Mexican calls them "big interests." That's exactly right. Since 2004, Rodella has collected almost $74,000 from big special interests. Here's a detailed analysis by industry sector of her campaign finance reports (source: Ethics Division, NM Secretary of State):
29% - healthcare, insurance and pharmaceuticals
15% - banking and payday lending
13% - liquor and tobacco
11% - land development
10% - corporate lobbyists
10% - gas, oil and energy
7% - gambling
4% - telecommunications
1% -waste management
* Here's the kicker. So why, you ask, does big industry give Rodella so much? It's pretty obvious. She chairs the very powerful House Business and Industry Committee. That's the committee where insurance reform, environmental health and predatory lending bills go to die - or at least be amended beyond recognition. And it's where corporate-friendly bills pass through like the proverbial crap through a goose.
So when Debbie so generously peels off a crisp hundred to "help out" a voter's family with the cost of a funeral, what the recipient doesn't realize is that what they're getting is truly chump change compared to the tens of thousands Debbie has received due to the original "kindness" of her corporate clients at the legislature. Trickle down bribery.
At the end of the day, it's Rodella's constituents who are getting screwed when she promotes the corporate agenda at the expense of her district's interests on an issue like healthcare.
More backstory: Debbie's other act of kindness
This isn't the first time that Rodella provoked controversy over her use of campaign funds. There was the occasion in 2006 when she spent $7,500 from her campaign account on mailers and other materials for the campaign of her husband, Tommy Rodella, in his magistrate judge race in Democratic Primary. He narrowly won that election over five other opponents. Other than his wife's expenditures, Tommy raised a grand total of just $50 from two other donors. (see Albuq. Journal, August 8, 2007, "N.M. Candidates Can Be Two-for-One Deals")
Alas, Debbie's efforts to advance her husband's career came crashing down in May of this year, when the state Supreme Court voted unanimously to remove Judge Rodella from office for judicial misconduct. (SF New Mexican)
A bribe is a bribe is a bribe...
There you have it. Chalk all of this up as just one more case study on why we need campaign contribution limits and Clean Elections public financing reforms in New Mexico.
(Postscript: Heaven help you if you try to use the NM Secretary of State's website to access campaign finance reports. It's hit and miss at best. More on that train wreck in a later post.)
In a letter to the state Attorney General requesting an advisory opinion as to the legality of this practice, Rodella wrote that her intent was to "garner good will from these men and women and their family and friends." She further described the gifts as "random acts of kindness." (For more see Abq. Journal - "Rodella To AG: Define A Bribe")
On Tuesday, the Santa Fe New Mexican got to the heart of the problem with Rodella's campaign practices:
"Random acts of kindness" is how the representative coyly characterizes her largesse.
She's performed such acts often enough to raise eyebrows, and questions of impropriety -- mainly because it isn't her own money she's giving away; it's her campaign fund, replenished from time to time by big interests who'd like her to think kindly of them when key legislation comes up.
(Santa Fe New Mexican)
That's it in a nutshell. There is a logic to all this. Consider how it works:
* Debbie gives small gifts to win the gratitude - and the votes -- of families in her district -- "targeted" acts of kindness, if you will.
* Of course, this isn't cash out of Debbie's pocket. It's money from her campaign account - money she got in the form of campaign contributions.
* And who gives Rodella those campaign contributions in the first place? The SF New Mexican calls them "big interests." That's exactly right. Since 2004, Rodella has collected almost $74,000 from big special interests. Here's a detailed analysis by industry sector of her campaign finance reports (source: Ethics Division, NM Secretary of State):
29% - healthcare, insurance and pharmaceuticals
15% - banking and payday lending
13% - liquor and tobacco
11% - land development
10% - corporate lobbyists
10% - gas, oil and energy
7% - gambling
4% - telecommunications
1% -waste management
* Here's the kicker. So why, you ask, does big industry give Rodella so much? It's pretty obvious. She chairs the very powerful House Business and Industry Committee. That's the committee where insurance reform, environmental health and predatory lending bills go to die - or at least be amended beyond recognition. And it's where corporate-friendly bills pass through like the proverbial crap through a goose.
So when Debbie so generously peels off a crisp hundred to "help out" a voter's family with the cost of a funeral, what the recipient doesn't realize is that what they're getting is truly chump change compared to the tens of thousands Debbie has received due to the original "kindness" of her corporate clients at the legislature. Trickle down bribery.
At the end of the day, it's Rodella's constituents who are getting screwed when she promotes the corporate agenda at the expense of her district's interests on an issue like healthcare.
More backstory: Debbie's other act of kindness
This isn't the first time that Rodella provoked controversy over her use of campaign funds. There was the occasion in 2006 when she spent $7,500 from her campaign account on mailers and other materials for the campaign of her husband, Tommy Rodella, in his magistrate judge race in Democratic Primary. He narrowly won that election over five other opponents. Other than his wife's expenditures, Tommy raised a grand total of just $50 from two other donors. (see Albuq. Journal, August 8, 2007, "N.M. Candidates Can Be Two-for-One Deals")
Alas, Debbie's efforts to advance her husband's career came crashing down in May of this year, when the state Supreme Court voted unanimously to remove Judge Rodella from office for judicial misconduct. (SF New Mexican)
A bribe is a bribe is a bribe...
There you have it. Chalk all of this up as just one more case study on why we need campaign contribution limits and Clean Elections public financing reforms in New Mexico.
(Postscript: Heaven help you if you try to use the NM Secretary of State's website to access campaign finance reports. It's hit and miss at best. More on that train wreck in a later post.)
