(Note: This column appears in Community Newspapers.)

By Charles Sykes

Campaign finance reformers often claim that money corrupts politics. Last week we saw that in action.

In a bid to pick off Republican votes to pass his latest version of the state budget, Governor Doyle tried to buy off individual representatives with tax dollars. For the most part, it was chicken-feed, at least by the modern standards of vote buying.

Doyle tried to buy a “yes” vote from State Rep. Brett Davis (R-Oregon) by adding $4 million for a soybean crusher in his district. State Rep. Mary William (R-Medfield) was a bit more expensive. Her vote drew of bid a $7 million for a reopened paper Mill in Park Falls .

Doyle gambled that more cash for biofuels seemed to be the ticket to buy Chippewa Representative Jeff Woods; and tossed in $3 Million for a boardwalk in Green Bay , to buy Representative Karl Van Roy’s vote for the governor’s budget.

Since the Republicans hold only a 52-47 margin in the Assembly, Doyle would only have to buy – or rent – a handful of votes to win passage of a budget that would raise taxes by roughly $1 billion.

State Rep. Sheryl Albers, R-Reedsburg told Wispolitics.com that Joint Finance Co-Chairman Russ Decker (D-Weston ) called her an asked what it would take to get her vote for the budget, specifically mentioning state aid for a bridge in Loganville on Wisconsin 154 that was closed by flooding. Reported Wispolitics: “She said she declined the offer, preferring to seek federal funds for the project.”

The practice of trading support for specific legislation is technically known as “log-rolling,” and it is illegal. The practice of promising cash in return for votes is called “bribery” – except, apparently, when it is done with tax money. Then it’s just called “pork.”

Try to buy votes with free cigarettes and someone will call the cops. Try to buy votes with millions – or even billions – of dollars of tax money and you won’t even wake up the editorial writers.

So last week, Hillary Clinton, promised to give (almost) every American $1,000 for their 401K plans. The week before, she promised to give every baby $5,000.

The money, of course, is not hers. She plans to take it from other people and the catch, of course, is that you have to elect her. And once the giveaway is in place, every election would become a bidding war among politicians promising to raise the amount of the freebies.

“Reformers” worry voters and “interest groups” might corrupt politicians with our dollars. They don’t seem to notice that it usually works the other way around