Flagrant Abuse and/or Quid Pro Quo?

Would this payback smell so bad for a profession other than lawyers? There can be little doubt that it would.

Background

Of the twenty top donors to President Obama during his 2008 election cycle, 4 organizations were law firms who funnelled money from the organizations' PACs, partners or employees and subsidiaries. Each of the four law firms contributed in excess of $490,000 according to OpenSecrets.org.

.

In addition, 4 universtiies with renowned law schools (Harvard, Columbia, Stanford and the University of California) contributed over $520,000 each. Finally, our US Government, not quite as rife with atttorneys at the time as today, funnelled about $500,000.

In summary, 8 of Obama's top 20 donors including the largest (the University of California with $1,591,395) are tied overtly to the legal profession.

Middle Class Quid Pro Quo?

The Department of Labor has more attorneys than any other department besides the Department of Justice, sources note. VP Biden says that this new ABA government program is part of his Middle Class Initiative.

In an unprecedented and controversial move, the White House has launched a new program at the Department of Labor which will refer workers who havecomplaints about their bosses to a toll free number at the American Bar Association, where they can get a lawyer to work on their case on a contingency fee basis. ...

The White House has also enlisted the ABA to launch a toll-free hotline number at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help homeowners with foreclosure issues, as well as a separate ABA toll free number to help veterans at the Department of Veterans Affairs, too.

Vice President Joe Biden noted that the lawyers will be working on a contingency fee basis, and not pro bono. Joy, middle class!