I have asked several people to help me dig into what we’re really getting for representation in Congress- Jeffrey over at Daytonology has an amazing look into Mike Turners war chest and its connection to Defense contractors:
Daytonology: The Defense Community & Mike Turner [1]
Since one of the other Dayton bloggers (Esrati) is running for Congress for the OH 3 I thought I’d do a little digging using the internet to see what’s out there on his opponent, Mike Turner. Sort of noblesse oblige to a fellow urban affairs blogger…
The facts speak for themselves. Turner depends on donations from Defense Contractors to keep his job. What he’s offering in return, well, we’ll uncover that too- in time.
Thank you Jeffrey.
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I should note that the defense community is not Turners largest donor base, but I picked it due to it being a local special interest (and being more manageable).
The thing to take home from that Daytonology post is that Turner, in one vote, voted against penalizing Contractors who overcharged the government, and in aother vote Turner voted against increased competition and transparency in government contracts.
These are true public policy questions, not “pork” questions, and Turner chose to put the interest of a part of his donor base ahead of sound public policy.
What most people do not understand is the power of “influence” that can be rained down by politicians that are known by their friends. Contracting officers know it, small business advocates know it, officers know it and of course contractors buy it. In addition there are less transparent discussions that occur at levels that are not monitored as General Lester Lyles is on the board of Directors of MTC and DPL. Ernie Green is/was (quit after the Forester trial debacle) on Board of Directors of DPL. Ernie is a minority subcontractor with Sam Morgon (Turner Contributor), part of Mills Morgan (Multiple Turner Contributors), benefactor of Hobson (see Porker on DaytonOS) operation and land owner with Ernie south of town. I can go on with links to other contractors all the way to Austin Road.