House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) have set up a joint fundraising committee to collect political contributions they are receiving from lobbyists hoping to win the lawmakers’ favor.
The lawmakers filed a fundraising report for the committee with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) Friday.
Rangel is one of several House Democratic chairmen who have been flooded with contributions from lobbyists and political action committees. Rangel has said that corporate entities seeking his attention should support policies that would help his mostly African-American and Hispanic constituency in Harlem and other inner-city residents.
Whether the business community will buy Rangel’s vision for a better America remains to be seen, but its representatives certainly are spending money to spend time with him. Rangel’s fundraising has soared since he became chairman of Ways and Means, which has jurisdiction over tax, healthcare and trade policy, at the beginning of the year. Rangel raised $761,000, according to a new report he filed with the FEC, by far the most the 76-year-old chairman has ever raised in a three-month period.
Baucus has raised $1 million during the first quarter of 2007, a figure in line with quarterly totals he raised in past election cycles. He has $2.9 million in cash on hand, a Montana record. But Baucus long has been known as a friend to the business community. While some businessmen seem less sure of Rangel, they appear eager to become fast friends with the New Yorker.
Rangel’s biggest benefactor this year has been Citigroup Inc. His campaign account received $7,500 from Citigroup’s PAC and $41,300 from Citigroup employees.
Rangel’s three-month receipts total is more than half of what he raised during the previous two years, according to campaign-finance records. Rangel’s biggest fundraising quarter in 2006 was from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, when he raised $421,000, by which time it had become clear Democrats likely would win control of the House. In 2005, the last non-election year, the most Rangel raised during a three-month FEC reporting period was $315,000.
Rangel collected $144,000 through the Baucus-Rangel Leadership Fund, signaling a new era of cooperation between the top Senate and House tax-writing panels. It would be hard to imagine a similar joint political venture between Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and former Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.), who had to navigate a rocky personal relationship as well as address differences that emerged in the Senate and House versions of legislation.
Rangel and Baucus have held two fundraisers in New York City for their joint account and they are planning more events.
“It’s an account for them to raise money for their reelections,” Baucus Chief of Staff Jim Messina said. “They thought it would be fun, they’re friends and both national leaders on finance issues. They both enjoy each other’s company.”
Baucus is even trying to convince Rangel to fly out to visit Harlem, Mont., a town on the Canadian border, Messina said.
The senior lawmakers will need good will to overcome some major policy differences between the House and Senate. For example, the Senate version of the 2007 emergency supplemental spending bill includes $12.6 billion in tax breaks over the next 10 years, while the House version has tax breaks amounting to only $1.3 billion over the next decade.
Lawmakers inserted the tax cuts into the supplemental spending bill in a package that also increases the federal minimum wage. The pairing is controversial because House Democratic leaders have insisted that Congress enact a wage increase without slashing business taxes.
Rangel and Baucus will represent their respective chambers in House-Senate negotiations over the issue, just as they are expected to hash out other high-profile policy differences between House and Senate Democrats.
Knowing this, a procession of lobbyists have already paid their respects. They include Linda Daschle, chair of the public policy group at Baker Donelson and wife of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), who gave Rangel $2,000; Steve Elmendorf, former chief of staff to then-House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.); and Frederick Graefe, a partner at the Frederick Graefe law office.
In his memoir, And I Haven’t Had a Bad Day Since, Rangel said he expected members of the business community to request tax breaks and other legislative goodies, and that he would in turn ask them to reinvest corporate profits and build the American workforce.
“So I ask you private sector entrepreneurs, as you begin lining up to get my attention with visions of tax breaks dancing in your eyes: Have you ever thought, ‘If I can go to India and Singapore and train people for the global economy, couldn’t I train Americans, too, if they were drug-free and had a greater government investment in their health and fitness for work behind them?’” Rangel wrote in a post-election preface to his book.
Rangel writes that he is willing to do business with chief executives if they help him to acheive his legislative goals, such as strengthening the federal government’s responsibility for providing good education and affordable health insurance.
Rangel predicted corporate leaders “will leave my office thinking: ‘This is a guy we can do business with.’ But believe me, so far this new corporate courtship is not an engagement. It’s a good first date, with a promise to go steady. Passing the legislation, with their strong support — that will be the marriage.” |
