Pac Money

If the nature of the mismatch in the 6th District congressional race can be captured in a single image, it's a dollar sign.Six-term incumbent Beverly B. Byron has a mountain of money, compared with the molehill collected by Republican challenger Christopher P. Fiotes Jr., according to campaign expenditure reports filed by the candidates last week with the Federal Election Commission in Washington.The required reports cover Aug. 23 to Sept. 30. During that period, Byron gathered $16,783 and doled out $28,632.

I've been a Republican for 30 years. I was reared a Democrat but felt the party abandoned me in the 1970s. I am a Ronald Reagan conservative and would be a "Dixiecrat" if I were a Democrat today. Problem is, now the GOP has abandoned me. I had a preacher friend once say, "The two parties are divided between `sinners' and `Pharisees.' Which group did Jesus get along with?" I served as a Republican state senator in Maryland, but I am no fan of George Bush, Dick Cheney or Karl Rove. They talk like Reagan Republicans, but they don't govern like Reagan.

CRIME AND health-care reform are the two issues that voters most care about. But in Washington, it's the money of special interests that seems to matter most to members of Congress.Will it be the same old, same old deadlock?Or, as the government watchdog group Public Citizen calls it, "greedlock"?Public Citizen coined the term "greedlock" in a recent press release urging Congress to act on campaign-finance reform. They got that right.The fact that campaign-finance reform bills approved by both houses several months ago have been placed on hold by the Democratic leadership in the House explains why other major issues -- such as health-care reform -- have stalled, too.Follow the special-interest money, and it may just lead you to an incumbent's vote for something that a political action committee would like done -- or not done.

Republican Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's campaign for U.S. Senate began airing a television commercial yes terday that contrasted Democratic U.S. Rep. Benja min L. Cardin's declarations of independence from special interests with the amounts of money he has received from drug, oil and insurance companies. What the ad says: After the obligatory claim of re sponsibility -- "I'm Michael Steele, and I approved this message" -- it's all Cardin: His is the only face seen and the only voice heard for the rest of the 30-second spot.

THE LATEST campaign finance report from the Federal Election Commission simply reaffirms the steady and deeply disturbing trend toward electoral domination by political action committees.According to the FEC, congressional candidates have received a total of $93.7 million from PACs during the first 18 months of the 1989-90 election cycle. That represents a 320 percent increase over the same 18-month period just four years ago.As disturbing as the amount of money -- and its accompanying political influence -- is the fact that 12 times as much PAC money went to incumbents as to challengers.

WASHINGTON -- Maryland's congressmen buried their opponents in a blizzard of special interest money, according to federal records, which show donations from political action committees (PACs) far outpacing individual contributions.In the hottest contest, Rep. Tom McMillen, the Crofton Democrat running against Eastern Shore Republican Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest for the 1st District seat, is beating his opponent nearly 4-to-1 in fund raising, according to Federal Election Commission records.Mr.

I've been a Republican for 30 years. I was reared a Democrat but felt the party abandoned me in the 1970s. I am a Ronald Reagan conservative and would be a "Dixiecrat" if I were a Democrat today. Problem is, now the GOP has abandoned me. I had a preacher friend once say, "The two parties are divided between `sinners' and `Pharisees.' Which group did Jesus get along with?" I served as a Republican state senator in Maryland, but I am no fan of George Bush, Dick Cheney or Karl Rove. They talk like Reagan Republicans, but they don't govern like Reagan.

Republican Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele's campaign for U.S. Senate began airing a television commercial yes terday that contrasted Democratic U.S. Rep. Benja min L. Cardin's declarations of independence from special interests with the amounts of money he has received from drug, oil and insurance companies. What the ad says: After the obligatory claim of re sponsibility -- "I'm Michael Steele, and I approved this message" -- it's all Cardin: His is the only face seen and the only voice heard for the rest of the 30-second spot.

WASHINGTON -- Maryland's congressmen buried their opponents in a blizzard of special interest money, according to federal records, which show donations from political action committees (PACs) far outpacing individual contributions.In the hottest contest, Rep. Tom McMillen, the Crofton Democrat running against Eastern Shore Republican Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest for the 1st District seat, is beating his opponent nearly 4-to-1 in fund raising, according to Federal Election Commission records.Mr.

The first debate between Rep. Roy P. Dyson, D-1st, and Republican Wayne T. Gilchrest escalated like a bloody Civil War battle until both sides were so badly wounded victory seemed irrelevant.For 30 minutes last night, Maryland Public Television viewers saw Dyson and Gilchrest interrupt, mock and attack each other on issues ranging from Social Security to Dyson's conscientious objector status in the Vietnam War.If the debate had gone on any longer, MPT might have had to caution parents against permitting children to watch.

Eleventh-hour contributions from developers and Realtors helped make successful incumbent Donald I. Dell the top fund-raiser in the commissioners' race this fall, according to the Carroll County Board of Supervisors of Elections.Having the most money did not translate into winning the most votes. Dell, who began his third term last week, finished in third place behind fellow RepublicansJulia Walsh Gouge and Robin Bartlett Frazier. Frazier received 149 votes more than Dell.On Oct. 30, Dell received $2,000 from the Carroll County Homebuilders PAC and $1,500 from the Maryland Realtors PAC.Dell also received $1,000 from Hampstead contractor C.J. Miller Inc. Dell raised a total of $26,195.

WASHINGTON -- Western Maryland Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett's social schedule last Thursday evening read like an exercise regimen: five congressional fund-raisers in 2 1/2 hours."

THEY'RE BACK. Quadrennially these scolds of the political landscape descend upon us. Not the presidential candidates the academics who would reform, rationalize and reduce the process of electing a president.They have two favorite notions: Shorten the campaign season, and eliminate political-action committees. As Sam Rayburn said of John Kennedy, I'd feel better if one of them had ever run for sheriff.First, the shorter campaign. Ninety days, they say, is enough. No, it's not. A year or more is just right.

CRIME AND health-care reform are the two issues that voters most care about. But in Washington, it's the money of special interests that seems to matter most to members of Congress.Will it be the same old, same old deadlock?Or, as the government watchdog group Public Citizen calls it, "greedlock"?Public Citizen coined the term "greedlock" in a recent press release urging Congress to act on campaign-finance reform. They got that right.The fact that campaign-finance reform bills approved by both houses several months ago have been placed on hold by the Democratic leadership in the House explains why other major issues -- such as health-care reform -- have stalled, too.Follow the special-interest money, and it may just lead you to an incumbent's vote for something that a political action committee would like done -- or not done.

NO MATTER what anyone tells you, the name of the game in this presidential campaign is money. You just cannot elect a leader of the free world without lots and lots of dollars.Political Action Committees (PACS) are one of the main sources of money. They raise funds from their members to ensure fair treatment from Washington for their particular businesses.There is a saying in the nation's capital that if you want to know how the current elections are going, follow the PACs.That's the reason I went out to the warehouse where the Thumb Tack PAC is located.

WASHINGTON -- Maryland's congressmen buried their opponents in a blizzard of special interest money, according to federal records, which show donations from political action committees (PACs) far outpacing individual contributions.In the hottest contest, Rep. Tom McMillen, the Crofton Democrat running against Eastern Shore Republican Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest for the 1st District seat, is beating his opponent nearly 4-to-1 in fund raising, according to Federal Election Commission records.Mr.

If the nature of the mismatch in the 6th District congressional race can be captured in a single image, it's a dollar sign.Six-term incumbent Beverly B. Byron, has a mountain of money, compared with the molehill collected by Republican challenger Christopher P. Fiotes Jr., according to campaign expenditure reports filed by the candidates last week with the Federal Election Commission in Washington.The required reports cover Aug. 23 to Sept. 30. During that period, Byron gathered $16,783 and doled out $28,632.

NO MATTER what anyone tells you, the name of the game in this presidential campaign is money. You just cannot elect a leader of the free world without lots and lots of dollars.Political Action Committees (PACS) are one of the main sources of money. They raise funds from their members to ensure fair treatment from Washington for their particular businesses.There is a saying in the nation's capital that if you want to know how the current elections are going, follow the PACs.That's the reason I went out to the warehouse where the Thumb Tack PAC is located.

WASHINGTON -- Maryland's congressmen buried their opponents in a blizzard of special interest money, according to federal records, which show donations from political action committees (PACs) far outpacing individual contributions.In the hottest contest, Rep. Tom McMillen, the Crofton Democrat running against Eastern Shore Republican Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest for the 1st District seat, is beating his opponent nearly 4-to-1 in fund raising, according to Federal Election Commission records.Mr.

Among the six Democrats vying for the party's presidential nomination who debated last Sunday, the issue that created the most contention was not health care, economics, foreign relations or even trade. It was campaign contributions.Jerry Brown, the former governor of California, created a stir when he implied that his opponents were bought and paid for by special interest groups. Mr. Brown focused his comments on contributions made by Political Action Committees, better known PACs, pointing out that General Electric, the parent company NBC Television which was broadcasting the debate, gave $350,000 in PAC contributions to federal elected officials.