Critics fasten a leash on McCollum

By Tamara Lytle Washington Bureau

Published in The Orlando Sentinel, March 11, 1998

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Bill McCollum won a big award Tuesday, but not the type a lawmaker covets.

His trophy was a gold dog leash that kicks off a new campaign spotlighting the worst examples of lawmakers' being influenced by big-money special interests.

The first Golden Leash Award, given by a nonpartisan group that wants campaign finance reform, is the successor to the Golden Fleece Awards for government waste made famous by former Sen. William Proxmire in the 1970s and 1980s.

Ellen Miller, head of Public Campaign, said the new award was ``created to recognize those legislators who have fallen so deeply into the swamp of special interests that they stand out even in the normal muck of money and influence on Capitol Hill.''

She said the group picked McCollum as its first and worst offender because he took $374,000 in campaign donations from banks and credit-card companies between 1991 and last summer. Meanwhile, he has spearheaded that industry's legislation to reform bankruptcy laws.

McCollum's bill makes it harder for consumers to have their debts wiped clean under bankruptcy, which could mean banks and credit-card companies would be left with fewer bad debts. The lawmaker is the second-ranking Republican on the House Banking Committee, and he ranks third on the House Judiciary Committee, which is now considering the bill.

McCollum called the idea he had been influenced by big-money donors ``nonsense.''

``I've never been influenced by anyone to offer legislation in the time I've been here,'' said McCollum, R-Longwood. ``I offered this because I thought this was long overdue and needed to be done.''

McCollum said the bill is good for consumers because it will make it harder to have all debts erased and will require some people to pay back more money. Bad debts are passed along to other consumers in the form of higher credit-card interest rates and fees, he said.

But critics say the bill turns the federal government into a debt collector for banks and credit-card companies that have been too loose in extending credit.

Miller said McCollum ranks among the top 2 percent of lawmakers in contributions from the bank and credit industries during the past seven years. Miller said McCollum was chosen because of the amount given to him, the ``eye-popping'' link between donations and legislation and the potential harm to average people from his bankruptcy bill.

Public Campaign will hand out the Golden Leash award once every month or two, Miller said.

Public Campaign's advisory board includes Republicans and Democrats. The organization favors limiting the influence of special-interest campaign contributors and using public funds to pay for political campaigns.

The leash awarded to McCollum was the sort with a stiff rope that makes it look like an imaginary dog is being walked. He also received a certificate bearing a Latin motto, Cave Felem Obesam.

In English, that's ``Fat Cats Beware.''

McCollum said he wasn't taking the award personally.

``If they want to pick on me, I can take it,'' McCollum said. ``My constituents know Bill McCollum is above the pettiness and political shenanigans they are implying.''

[Posted 03/10/98 8:28 PM EST]