Union Lobbyist: ‘I Broke The Law All The Time’

October 3, 2008 | Filed Under Congress, Crime, Democrats/Leftists, Economy/Finances, Elections, Media Bias, News, Publius Contributor, Society/Culture, Taxes, Warner Todd Huston |

-By Warner Todd Huston

Confessions of a criminal… well, that is what this new memoir should be titled, but it isn’t. The Bellingham Herald (Washington State) is reporting on the publication of a new memoir by Joe Miller who was once a lobbyist for various unions and Democratic Party candidates. In it he admits that he broke the law “all the time” in pursuit of legislative/financial wins for the left.

In “The Wicked Wine of Democracy,” Miller records his 40 years as a lobbyist, starting as a political operative for Henry “Scoop” Jackson in the 1960s, and the tales he gives us shows how corrupt the whole system has gotten to be.

Miller writes that he passed envelopes of cash to lawmakers, converted campaign checks into hard-to-trace cash, illegally shifted campaign expenses onto the books of labor unions, and did campaign work while on a union payroll.

“I broke the law all the time,” he said in an interview. “Everybody was doing it, and you couldn’t survive unless you did it.”

While the article seems to assure us that Joe “Smiling Joe” Miller is a nice sort, we still come away realizing that despite his backslapping personality, he is as low as the worst of them. After all, even as he reveals his own criminal behavior, he stands proud of his nefarious work.

He says he’s not remorseful for what he did because everyone else was doing the same, and then some. He also says grand schemes to reduce the role of money in politics would likely be ineffective or, if too strong, would hinder democracy in action.

Now, it seems to me I remember getting a whoopin’ from my Mom when she caught me smoking in 1972, but my excuse of “but everyone’s doin’ it” didn’t elicit much sympathy, I have to say. Nor should it have. Wrong doing excused by everyone else doing it essentially eliminates anything even being wrong at all.

Anyway, what we have here is just another example of the corruption endemic in lobbying, unions and the Democratic Party.

What’s the solution? The solution isn’t “getting money out of government” like campaign finance laws keep claiming. The solution is getting government OUT of our lives. If government didn’t have the power it has to affect our lives, the lobbyists wouldn’t find that they have to get involved with government officials as much as they do. Get rid of government influence and we get rid of corruption in government.

It’s really that simple. Smaller government is the cure, not more regulation.

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Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, townhall.com, New Media Journal, Men’s News Daily and the New Media Alliance among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston