Pac Money

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.

Peace and Quiet in Pasadenaancestors had lived. I graciously accepted additional transportation costs and lack of city conveniences, for after retirement peace and quiet become very desirable. My automobile experience has been very uneventful.I realize that Mary Pat Clarke and others live by the law of "get elected no matter what." If third parties get stuck with the bill so that their electorate can have a subsidized ride, so be it.A somewhat similar situation exists with "red-lining," which is where areas that are high in real estate loan losses are avoided or charged a high rate by lenders.

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.

THERE HE WAS, caught by a candid camera, reaching across a table to accept a handful of $100 bills, then stuffing the $2,000 into a back pants pocket. It was all his, thanks to his willingness to vote in favor of a bill legalizing pari-mutuel betting.That scene, repeated again and again on FBI videotape, has rocked the South Carolina legislature. Ten lawmakers so far have been indicted; five have pleaded guilty. Many others seem certain to be ensnared as the probe continues.This is ''Bubbagate,'' a state house scandal in Columbia, S.C., with implications that could easily be felt in Annapolis.

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.

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."

New financial reports show that the campaigns of Harford County's two top elected officials, County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann and the incoming County Council president, Joanne S. Parrott, were heavily financed by developers, landowners and builders who have an interest in the comprehensive rezoning due in 1996.Mrs. Parrott, a Republican who edged out Democratic challenger and growth-control advocate Theresa M. Pierno by 1,402 votes, spent about $74,000 to Mrs. Pierno's $54,000, according to the reports filed last week.

Walt Handelsman's Jan. 11 cartoon captured the irony of President Barack Obama's embracing the use of Super PACs while simultaneously crusading against them. To some readers, the image of President Obama cheerfully utilizing Super PACs may reinforce an unfair criticism that his decision to accept Super PAC money is hypocritical. In fact, for the president to do otherwise would have been foolhardy. President Obama has often spoken for the average American in denouncing Super PACs as a mechanism for allowing corporations and wealthy individuals to purchase undue and unlimited electoral influence.

EASTON -- Voters searching for big differences between 1st District congressional candidates Wayne T. Gilchrest and Tom McMillen need look only as far as their election finance reports.Representative McMillen, a Democrat, has spent more on his campaign in the last three months than Republican Representative Gilchrest has raised in the past year. And while it's clear that Mr. McMillen has the edge when it comes to raising money, the Gilchrest campaign is attempting to turn many of the Democrat's benefactors -- political action committees and other out-of-state contributors -- into an election liability.

WASHINGTON -- In the winter of 1990, Rep. Tom McMillen suddenly began picking up lucrative support from some new-found friends.The New York State Electric & Gas Corp. PAC gave $1,000 to the Anne Arundel County congressman's re-election campaign. Pacific Gas and Electric's PAC donated $2,500 and Southwestern Bell's PAC kicked in $2,000.Mr. McMillen, elected to Congress in 1986, had never before received support from these or 22 other utility and telecommunications PACs (political action committees)