I was really bugged by Monday’s Times article reporting on corporate contributions to legislators’ favorite charities. Here’s the chart. Today’s Times editorial makes the link between – in particular – Comcast and legislators.
The Elijah Cummings Youth Program in Israel sounds like a lovely idea: a charitable foundation that sends inner-city high school students from Baltimore to Israel to learn about the country and develop leadership skills. The program has undoubtedly been of benefit to many teenagers, but deeper pockets have benefited as well. Comcast, the cable company, has given generously to the foundation, prompting Representative Elijah Cummings, a Democrat from Baltimore, to urge the Federal Communications Commission to approve Comcast’s proposed merger with NBC. His charity even wrote its own letter to the F.C.C., saying it supports the merger in part because Comcast gives it money.
I can’t stand the appearance of a quid pro quo. There’s nothing illegal about this activity, according to the people quoted in the Times piece on Monday. But it fits with an overall culture of comfort with the representatives of these enormous companies that should be a problem. The culture is seamless, friendly, easy, even kind. Genial. Giving. A warm bath of civic engagement and familiarity, all well-known faces meeting and saying hello in contexts that are meaningful to them – plus, once in a while, a discussion of policy that has implications for the rest of America.