An editorial from the
Scripps Howard News ServiceSen. Dave Durenberger's funneling of speaking fees through a publishing company is taking on the smell of the book deal that helped bring down former House Speaker Jim Wright.
Democrat Wright, of Texas, would make speeches before organizations that would then make bulk purchases of his book rather than pay him speaking fees. Wright made big royalties on the book sales.
The House ethics committee accused Wright of using this arrangement as a subterfuge to get around a House limit on outside income from speaking fees.
The arrangement by Durenberger, R-Minn., was somewhat different. Many of the fees paid by special interest groups for his appearances went to the senator's book publisher. The publisher in turn paid Durenberger quarterly "stipends" for promoting two books he had written.
According to The Washington Post, the publisher, Piranha Press, received $200,000 in 1985-86 for scores of Durenberger speeches. Out of that money, Piranha paid Durenberger $100,000 in quarterly installments. None of this was counted against a Senate rule that limits income from honoraria to 40 percent of salary.
The result of the arrangement was that Durenberger could take up to the maximum allowed in direct speaking fees and then collect further income from speeches by running the fees through his book publisher and labeling the return payments to him as book "stipends."
Durenberger said he obtained an advisory opinion from the Federal Election Commission agreeing that the payments were "stipends." But he later terminated the deal when it was publicly called into question.
But there's a larger dimension to the issue than Durenberger's personal problem. His deal is further evidence of the unhealthy influence on Congress of accepting speaking fees from special interest groups. Unfortunately, the Senate voted during the recent brouhaha over congressional salaries to continue taking them.