Dem hopefuls won tax breaks for contributors
Both Obama, Clinton helped contributors secure special tax breaks.
WASHINGTON -- Both Democratic presidential candidates, who promise to curb the influence of corporate lobbyists in Washington, helped enact narrowly tailored tax breaks sought by major campaign contributors.
Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign has accepted $54,350 from members of a law firm that in 2006 lobbied him to introduce a tax provision for a Japanese drug company with operations in Illinois, according to public records and interviews. The government estimates the provision, which became law in December 2006, will cost the treasury $800,000.
In 2002, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton introduced legislation at the request of Rienzi & Sons, a Queens, N.Y., food importer, according to company president Michael Rienzi. The provision, which became law in December 2004, required the government to refund tens of thousands of dollars in duty charged on imported tomato products, Rienzi told USA TODAY.
Rienzi gave $110,000 to committees set up to support Clinton's 2000 Senate race, records show. Rienzi family members contributed an additional $52,800 to her campaigns since 2000. Michael Rienzi also said he donated to Bill Clinton's presidential foundation, but he declined to say how much.
At issue is a little-known congressional practice of suspending import taxes on specific products at the request of companies. Typically, Congress passes a tariff bill every two years that includes a variety of such measures.
Steve Ellis, vice president of the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, says the provisions are part of a corporate favor factory that rewards lobbyists and fuels fundraising. "It's a make-work money-making cycle for all involved," Ellis said.
It's legal and common for members of Congress to accept campaign money from people who have benefited from their actions. Nonetheless, both Democrats have promised to reduce the influence of corporate interests in Washington, even as they have each raised more than $130 million.
Clinton accepts money from lobbyists, but she recently has stepped up her criticism of what she called, in a Feb. 14 speech, "a government of, by, and for the special interests."
