Dispatches from the Culture Wars

Dispatches from the Culture Wars:

"Everyone who has ever formed a non-profit organization knows that the first secret is to get a legislator or two involved on the board or in some manner. You have to have the legislator's name on the letterhead somewhere and you have to have their full support. It may be a pet cause they really believe in and you have to seek out the one who might get involved, and preferably it will be someone who chairs a powerful committee. Why? Because there are limits on what a lobbyist or a corporation can donate to that legislator directly, to their PAC, or to the party. Once that is maxed out, the lobbyist has to find other ways of influencing the legislator and the primary alternative is to give money - without limit, I might add, and tax-deductible on top of that - to a non-profit organization that the legislator supports. That's how politics works in the real world, folks, and it's true of both parties. Always follow the money."