This is from the blog of Erik Magnuson at FUSE

Illinois-style campaign corruption in Washington?

by ErikJamesMagnuson

So its not as bad as Blago-gate, but it could have been.

The Governor of Illinois' appalling attempts to auction a Senate seat sets a new low for campaign fundraising corruption. Could it happen in Washington State? The sad truth is that it already is. Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's justified the crime with a simple conclusion: "This Senate seat is worth a lot of money."

At the heart of the crime was his simple decision: "Screw the law." Not to mention a few other choice things he had to say about the president elect.

The Building Industry Association of Washington, with help from Republican Dino Rossi, made the same decision in disregarding campaign finance laws to raise and spend $7 million in their failed efforts to defeat the progressive candidate, Governor Christine Gregoire.

And according to a complaint filed last week by the staff of Washington's Public Disclosure Commission, the Association of Realtors failed to disclose almost $1 million worth of mailings supporting Attorney General Rob McKenna and Dino Rossi, and illegally coordinated with McKenna and Rossi in their fundraising for the mailings.

It's time to demand that our State's leaders get serious about cleaning up Washington's campaigns and close the loopholes that invite special interests and candidates to flaunt our campaign finance laws. Click on the link to help us send a strong message that we want cleaner campaigns in Washington.

http://www.fusewashington.org/page/s/pdcrealtors

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