I’m glad to see this is finally starting to get some circulation in the lamestream media.  Hurricane has hammered Rep. John Yarmuth (D - Bitter Kentucky) several times over his ridiculuous assertion that he is as pure as the wind-driven snow, and, incidentally, the Messiah Barack Obama, because he doesn’t allow his campaign to accept donations from corporate PACs.  Yarmuth has been battered both here at BGRS and at his personal email address. 

When Yarmuth’s staff didn’t answer the question, John Yarmuth told Hurricane to send the questions to his personal email address and that he would get back with him.  We’re still waiting on an answer to this question that was sent to Yarmuth’s personal email address:

Second, will you agree that people who take money from trial lawyers and unions are just as susceptible to influence from them as candidates who take corporate PAC money? Will you start telling people about the union money you received as much as you tell them about the corporate PAC money you don’t?

Today, the Washington Post raises the same issue regarding the same ridiculous Congressman.  Jeffrey Birnbaum, in a column about K Street, writes the following:

Rep. John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) won election to the House in 2006 by promising that he would not be bought off by all those nasty “special interests” in Washington.

On July 30, he plans to prove his purity by holding a fundraiser in the heart of the land of temptation — at Charlie Palmer Steak at 101 Constitution Ave. NW, in the clear line of sight of the Capitol dome — and refusing to take money from corporate political action committees.

“Corporate PAC contributions are not accepted,” his e-mailed invitation reads proudly.

What the invitation does not say — but what the Yarmuth campaign acknowledges — is that donations from labor PACs are welcome, as is money from individuals, including corporate executives.

Does that mean — gasp! — that Yarmuth actually is cozying up to “special interests”? After all, aren’t labor unions interest groups, too? And aren’t corporate PACs really nothing more than pooled contributions from corporate executives?

Technically, yes. But Yarmuth’s campaign says he is making an important distinction. Corporate PACs exist to improve the profitability of a company or industry, it says — in other words, to promote a special interest. “But an individual’s interest is not limited to his or her profession,” said Yarmuth campaign spokesman Christopher Hartman. “So we’ve drawn the line between an individual and an individual’s place of work.”

Labor unions, he added, “often represent” working families, which Yarmuth says he supports.

Ah. That clears it up. Thanks.

I love how Birnbaum ends the piece sarcastically.  That’s just about the only response one can have to this insane psychobabble that Yarmuth uses to justify his assertion that corporate PACs exist to improve the profitability of a company or industry, while labor unions “often represent” working families.  For the sake of amusement, though, let’s quickly evaluate John Yarmuth’s non-sensical illogic. 

Do you wonder why Yarmuth picks and chooses which special-interests he listens to?  While he was elected to serve the entire community, he is only willing to listen to the bits and pieces of it.

He allows himself to be influenced by the clunky labor unions, the trial lawyers, the environmentalists who have given us $4/gallon gasoline and who are doing everything they can to keep it there or drive it higher, the abortionists, the people who put the needs of animals in front of the needs of people, the people who treat people like animals, and others, but John Yarmuth is proud to assert that he doesn’t accept corporate PAC donations because, unlike labor unions, they don’t “often represent” working families. 

So, here’s another question for John Yarmuth to ignore: “Where exactly do working families work?”  Where do Humana’s thousands of employees work?  Where do all of Papa John’s employees work?  Where do all of Yum!’s employees work?  These are all homegrown businesses that have had a lot of success in the global economy, yet John Yarmuth claims that a PAC that they may be involved in doesn’t represent working families.

I wonder if John Yarmuth has heard about Kentucky Fried Victory?  Somebody should really show him the video of Iraqis making a living at a new KFC in the formerly terrorist-owned Fallujah, Iraq. 

The bigger question may be, however, “What about all those millions of employees nationwide who are employees of small businesses?”  How can they raise their voice in a way that John Yarmuth will be willing to listen to and ask Congress to lower corporate tax rates and income tax rates so that their employers can have stable business for years to come, and that they may have stable jobs for years to come, and that the number of jobs available at each of those small businesses can increase, and that they may lead fruitful lives and build retirement funds and so on? 

Other than through business associations, often times they don’t.  However, it’s important to acknowledge that in many ways what is good for big business is good for small business.  Lower corporate tax rates, for example, would help not just the big businesses everyone’s heard of, but the millions of small businesses that not many people have heard of. 

If John Yarmuth refuses to listen to the messenger, how can he get the message?

This is all academic exercise, though.  The truth is that however Yarmuth justifies his self-righteous, wealth-guilt-driven messages on his DC fundraiser invitations, he is still getting plenty of messages from plenty of special-interest groups.  And he still represents people outside his district much better than the people who actually live in his district. 

UPDATE:  I got a copy of the evite Yarmuth sent out for this fundraiser at Charlie Palmer Steak.  You can see in bold his self-righteous, wealth-guilt-driven proclamation that corporate PAC contributions are not accepted.  What a sham.  Seriously, who believes this stuff?

• The Truth On Yarmuth PAC Money
• Yarmuth’s Numbers
• Update: Waiting On Yarmuth Answers
• Whose Economy Does John Yarmuth Want To Improve?
• Monday Night Showdown - 3rd Congressional