The Reek of Republican Rick Renzi

Rick Renzi is a Republican multi-term incumbent in the U.S. House of Representatives who represents Arizona's first district. Over the years, Renzi has become well known for his willingness to to give favors to big corporate donors for the sake of electoral success. Recent revelations, however, indicate that Renzi's habit of selling out at the drop of a hat has hit a new low.

The Federal Elections Commission has announced that Rick Renzi committed several violations of elections law during his 2002 re-election campaign. These violations include the following:

• Renzi accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal contributions from corporations
• Renzi kept 39 thousand dollars of campaign donations secret
• Renzi failed to report over one hundred thousand dollars in campaign expenditures
• Renzi withheld required information about hundreds of campaign donors from public inspection

Renzi's heavy reliance on illegal, secret donations gives off a strong aroma of corruption. Renzi has years of experience running congressional campaigns, and so it is unlikely that his violations of election laws were the result of mere mistakes. The confluence of illegal donations with the withholding of information about donors from public inspection creates the impression that the violations were part of a purposeful plan to break the law. The appearance of corruption is distinct.

Put plainly, Rick Renzi Reeks. When Renzi's record as a Republican congressman is examined, Renzi's acceptance of illegal corporate and secret donations creates an even more clinging stench.

In Renzi's time as a United States Representative in Congress, he has earned a reputation as a rubber stamp for big giveaways of taxpayer money to corporations. Consider Renzi's voting record on subsidies in the following areas:

• Number of subsidies to agribusiness corporations Renzi has voted against: Zero
• Number of subsidies to the coal industry that Renzi has voted against: Zero
• Number of subsidies to gun manufacturers that Renzi has voted against: Zero
• Number of subsidies to insurance companies that Renzi has voted against: Zero
• Number of subsidies to drug companies that Renzi has voted against: Zero

The record is clear: When it comes to giving taxpayer money to private corporations, Rick Renzi is always ready with a big blank check, eager to give whatever amount of government money big business asks for, without any thought of the consequences to the federal budget or to American taxpayers.

The question naturally arises: Is there a connection between Rick Renzi's votes for big government giveaways to corporations and his history of using illegal corporate donations to fund his political campaigns? Well, Rick Renzi has never been caught on camera accepting a bribe, but his history of close financial ties to big corporations is very suspicious.

In spite of Renzi's mysterious motivations for giving public money to the corporations that come to call upon him around election time, the practical consequences of his allegiance to the elites of big business is sickeningly simple.

• Renzi has voted against domestic and international human infrastructure projects over 90 percent of the time
• Renzi has voted against programs for education and the arts 93 percent of the time
• Renzi has voted against fair taxation 97 percent of the time
• Renzi has voted against governmental checks on corporate power 92 percent of the time
• Renzi has voted against the rights of ordinary working Americans 93 percent of the time
• Renzi has voted in favor of human rights ZERO percent of the time

On almost every vote, Rick Renzi has remained deep in the pockets of America's corporate powerbrokers. In his seat in Congress as well as on the campaign trail, Renzi reeks.

While Rick Renzi's friends in the executive suites of big corporations get rich from the big government checks that Renzi authorizes, ordinary Americans suffer. Rick Renzi not only has highly suspicious dealings with corporations, he also has demonstrated a lack of compassion, foresight, and fiscal responsibility in his stewardship of the federal budget.

Renzi's continued roughshod run over the needs of his own constituents creates an image of a man who believes that he can operate as an elite, untouchable by the people he serves. In 2006, Rick Renzi will be campaigning for re-election again, calling upon all the corporate executives who have supported him in the past. In 2006, the people of Arizona's 1st congressional district ought to know about all of Renzi's dealings with his corporate sponsors, and run Renzi out of office if he refuses to come clean.