The NY Times Essentially Accuses the White House of Taking Bribes, at Least of Selling Access

In my view this is huge news. The New York Times, in a front-page story on its web site, documents the strong correlation between (i) large gifts to the Obama campaign or Democratic Party and (ii) access to the White House. The author strongly suggests that the correlation between (i) and (ii) is also causal - that campaign donations are buying access to the White House, maybe even influencing public policies.

I'm usually skeptical when people try to claim such causal relationships from campaign donations. A more innocent explanation is often possible. That is, for instance, the donors likely have the same political views as the politicians to whom they are giving. The correlation could be the result of such like-mindedness, not necessarily a quid pro quo.

But this article gives further evidence - evidence that there really are some quid pro quos going on. Such evidence includes: ARTICLE CONTINUES>>>