From March to June, executives of telecommunications giants AT&T and Verizon contributed $42,850 to Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., campaign finance reports show. The senator is chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. From 2002 through 2006, those companies contributed $4,050 to Sen. Rockefeller.

The New York Times points out that Sen. Rockefeller and executives of the telecoms insist the jump in donations has nothing to do with the senator's support for the companies receiving immunity from lawsuits stemming from their participation in National Security Agency eavesdropping.

It is business as usual in Washington. A politician receives funds from a special interest, but the politician insists there is no quid pro quo. And the group continues to donate — even if the funds have absolutely no impact on the lawmaker's decisions.

Right. (Wink, wink).

That is how the political process works from Washington to Montgomery. Politicians must raise huge sums to get elected. Special interests are more than happy to oblige.

There is one difference, however, between the way the system works in Washington and in Montgomery.

One can track federal campaign contributions to the source. In Alabama, where PAC-to-PAC transfers are legal, it is virtually impossible to determine the source of campaign contributions. State lawmakers promised to fix the loophole last year. Is anyone surprised they didn't?

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