Orrin Hatch - Follow The Money

"Follow the money, always follow the money," was the best kept secret in Washington until "Deep Throat," the inside informant for what ultimately became known as Watergate, told Woodward and Bernstein in the movie, "All The Presidents Men." Following this advise, they eventually exposed illegal campaign activities and motivated the resignation of President Nixon.

On another note, I learned from a friend years ago, that the State Department has a policy that US dipolmats can only live in the country they are working for 3 years. At that time, the only options are re-assignment or retirement. It seems that after this time, their loyalties become clouded because of the depth of immersion they have experienced as part of their employment.

How do those 2 pieces of information correlate?

Point #1

Those who know me realize that I have felt Orrin Hatch, (R-UT) has been in Washington too long and needs to retire. He appears to have lost touch with the attitudes of his constituents here in Utah. He has also become so immersed in the culture of the Capital City, that all his closest friends seem to be Democrats, rather than Republicans. He claims this is so he can better influence the Senate and be more effective in working for us. I am afraid that he has scratched too many backs and owes too many favors, that it influences his choices more than him influencing the other members of the Upper House.

Point #2

After a little research, my son, Aaron, sent me a couple of interesting articles regarding Orrin Hatch and his money trail. This is an excerpt from his email.

Just browsing around today and came across this. It is pretty telling, 78% of Orrin Hatch’s campaign contributions are from out of state.

http://influenceexplorer.com/politician/orrin-g-hatch/e5aa63ec4a0746fbb9961b325ddb3627

He also is the only republican in the top 10 recipients from MPAA.

http://influenceexplorer.com/organization/motion-picture-assn-of-america/90b570b10c2b4483a1af69149521324a

So, Orrin Hatch receives 78% of his political contributions from people and companies that are outside the State of Utah. That leaves only 22% of his funding coming from his constituents. This begs 2 questions.

1. If he is that much more popular outside Utah than in, maybe he should leave Utah and represent them?

2. If he is receiving over 3/4 of his salary from people and companies outside Utah, where does his loyalties and allegiance lie, that is if he wants to keep his job? At least he says he wants to keep his job.

Regarding the MPAA or Motion Picture Association of America, these statistics are very interesting. Here is the list of the top 10 Congress people who have received contributions over the time the records were kept.

1. Max Baucus (D-NT) - $27,151

2. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) - $25,466

3. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) - $23,800

4. Howard Berman (D-CA) - $22,300

5. Harry Reid (D-NV) - $22,300

6. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) -$22,140

7. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) - $21,900

8. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) - 20,900

9. Jane Harman (D-CA) - $20,788

10. Gray Davis (D-CA) - $20,500

Now, if your remove those from California, which the MPAA should be giving money to, and consider those outside of California, Orrin is the 4th largest recipient of MPAA funds, ever. That is 4th place out of 485 Representatives and Senators in the entire Congress.

Normally I would consider 4th out of nearly 500 to be a commendable showing, but when it is being influenced to sponsor and support such bills as SOPA and PIPA, this puts Orrin Hatch on my naughty list. I already expounded my apprehension, no, it's not apprehension, it is simply fear of this legislation.

I have called his office and voiced my opinion about him as well as these bills. I was assured by a kind staffer, that he is not supporting PIPA in its present form and asked that it not be debated or voted on yet. Unfortunately, he was one of the original sponsors and didn't change his position until popular opinion overwhelmed his switchboard.

Too bad he didn't think to stop it before it was written, I might have supported him then.

Photo courtesy of Reddogreport.com