Baucus Quietly Feeding Lobbyists

Until last Spring, no one ever really talked about Max Baucus. But as far as the Democrats go, he’s clearly one of the most corrupt — in a quiet, below-the-radar northwestern way. Here’s the latest — this time regarding climate legislation:

The Sunlight Foundation’s Paul Blumenthal traces Sen. Max Baucus’ special interest ties to climate legislation — 12 of his former staffers, including four former chiefs of staff, now lobby for organizations with a vested interest in the policy.

The Montana senator recently voted no on the Boxer-Kerry climate bill from the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. As the chairman of the Senate’s Finance Committee, Baucus will have his own chance to mold the legislation [...]

The Associated Press reported that of the 11 Democrats present for the vote, Baucus was the only one who voted no, expressing dissatisfaction of the bill’s greenhouse gas emission goals, which are more stringent than those passed by the House in June.

He’s like a kindly old granny in a department store — quietly pilfering merchandise into her giant purse.

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  • -swift

    I tried searching for it, but couldn’t find the answer. So let me ask it here. How does a scumbag like Baucus get to be chair of this committee, which seems like it has a huge amount of power?And since he’s clearly going to go with private interests over even his own party, how does he get to keep the job?

  • roxsteady

    Exactly! I don’t understand why other Democratic senators of congressmen and women don’t call him out on this duplicity. If just one of them had the courage to call out their colleagues this would become a big story. The idiots in the media would be forced to talk about this and further investigate his former staff members. I get so sick of all the “my friend Senator Baucus” bullshit. I love to see lobbyists put out of business but, I don’t think it will happen in my lifetime.

  • -swift

    Well, we haven’t seen health care reform since it was born as a concept about a hundred years ago. Campaign finance reform would probably fix just about everything, so it’s got to be damn near impossible.

  • veralynn

    I don’t care if you are a republican or a democrat, it is outrageous how open they are about this.If you are corrupt, get out.And swift you are correct. Campaign Finance Reform will not happen unless all 535 members of Congress are indicted at the same time.