LeDoux puts Alaskans second to PAC and power

Watching politics is a hoot, not unlike settling in with popcorn to watch a rerun of "Dallas." The world's second-oldest profession has everything: ego, corruption, silliness, stupidity and, far too often, enough avarice to make a bank robber blush.

Early on, it came to me that government is simply a vast trough filled with somebody else's cash, and politics is a nifty, even legal, way to divvy it up. Some for my friend, none for you, bucko. Other than the news media, politics mostly benefits insiders and pals of insiders. You will notice few politicians retire broke.

Given the public's abject view of politicians, you might think lawmakers would avoid even the vaguest appearance of impropriety, eschewing behavior that might spook the public into catching on that the game is rigged. In most cases, you would be right. Then, there is Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux.

Last July, LeDoux, a Republican representing District 15, cobbled together and registered with the Alaska Public Offices Commission her very own conventional political action committee — Gabby's Tuesday PAC. Its purpose? To "raise money for common sense conservative candidates," she said in state documents. In short, she set up a political action committee to take money from lobbyists who do not live in her district, when, by law, she cannot accept such money in her campaign.

[Anchorage state Rep. LeDoux creates PAC to help allies in Alaska Legislature]

She quickly socked away thousands of dollars in her PAC — more than $26,000 from lobbyists, lawyers, unions and others — tapping a "Who's Who" list of fat wallets, and she passed on some of the money to political candidates.

The Alaska Democratic Party cried foul, as it should have, but APOC commissioners sided with LeDoux, saying they were concerned by what appears to be a " 'loophole' to circumvent the campaign contribution limits in existing law." They suggested the Legislature take a peek.

Anchorage Sen. Kevin Meyer did just that; he offered Senate Bill 5, "An Act prohibiting groups controlled by a legislator from soliciting and accepting contributions or from making certain contributions and expenditures during a regular or special legislative session; and prohibiting some lobbyists from making campaign contributions to certain groups."

Meyer's measure, which would pull the plug on LeDoux's very, very bad idea, sailed through the Senate 20-0 — and this bunch never votes 20-0 on anything. The measure was hustled over to the House on April 10, where it was referred first to the Community and Regional Affairs Committee, where its future is dim.

[APOC says Anchorage GOP Rep. LeDoux can keep her PAC and raise lobbyist money]

The kicker? LeDoux heads the House Rules Committee. She was handed that powerful post when she and Republican Reps. Paul Seaton, of Homer, and Louise Stutes, of Kodiak, in November joined the Democrat-led coalition in taking over the then-GOP-led House. House Rules controls which measures reach the floor for a vote.

So, LeDoux not only controls a PAC that can take lobbyists' dough and farm it out to friends and favored candidates, as a bonus, she gets to control the movement of House legislation. What possibly could go wrong? It does not take a genius or cynic to see the possible conflicts.

Since LeDoux joined the Democrats, their shameful silence about Gabby's Tuesday PAC is deafening. Too bad. They had it right.

Lobbyists, after all, define the term "political insiders." They too often are much too close to politicians in Juneau, schmoozing, working to protect special interests or advance their agenda, often to the detriment of everyday Alaskans. They try, as Ayn Rand put it, "to influence legislation by influencing the legislators."

In Alaska, as elsewhere, they are deeply embedded in the process, writing legislation, creating bills with this exemption or that to favor or protect their clients. Their influence is magnified here by the Legislature's size and the remote location of the state Capitol, putting them at a distinct advantage over a populace that cannot spend months stalking the hallways in Juneau.

It is important and only fair to note lobbyists, kept at arm's length, can be invaluable, providing lawmakers and others with an education on issues and helping put them into perspective. They can provide information, answer questions, ease the load.

All that said, there is ample reason to tightly control them; ample reason to bar their contributions to lawmakers in certain circumstances to avoid government by special interests.

That LeDoux seeks to benefit from a loophole in a law aimed at protecting Alaskans so she can take and hand out money from lobbyists — giving them another back door into the political process — is mind-boggling. That she would exploit the loophole, rather than try to close it, is outrageous. That she would do all that while heading up a powerful House committee that controls the flow of legislation should give everybody pause. Worse, now that she has pulled it off, others surely will line up to do the same.

Welcome to the trough.

Paul Jenkins is editor of the AnchorageDailyPlanet.com, a division of Porcaro Communications.

The views expressed here are the writer's and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary@alaskadispatch.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@alaskadispatch.com.