Biggert, Harper launch salvos on PAC donations
“You’ve got to set an ethical example if you’re going to call on others to do the same,” Harper said in a prepared statement. “I’ve been concerned about the influence of corporate contributions in politics for a long time, and it’s just the right thing to do.”
Members of Harper’s campaign staff especially took aim at the congresswoman’s support from banking colossus Goldman Sachs and oil industry giant British Petroleum.
“Biggert’s double standard on accepting funds from organizations that are under investigation is completely self-serving,” campaign manager Jonas Heineman said in a prepared statement.
While he acknowledged that Biggert has received more than $370,000 in campaign support from insurance companies over her career, campaign spokesman Brian Colgan said she has not accepted any money from BP since the April 20 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, nor has she taken donations from Goldman Sachs since the company went under federal scrutiny for its role in the subprime mortgage crisis.
Colgan also suggested her challenger’s refusal to take corporate PAC money is moot.
While he has received money from groups that operate on political agendas, they generally are affiliated with unions and other trade groups. PAC donations represent nearly 13 percent of the $301,401 Harper had raised when the last reporting period ended March 31, while half of Biggert’s $970,916 campaign war chest came from PAC support.
“Mr. Harper’s declaration against corporate contributions is like a non-smoker saying he’s going to quit smoking,” Colgan said in response to a request for comment. “FEC records indicate he has never received a corporate PAC contribution, no doubt because he has consistently advocated positions that would destroy jobs and raise taxes — like cap-and-trade, a government takeover of health care, and an automatic tax increase on income and investment.”