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Doug Bandow was a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. He resigned on December 15, 2005 after admitting to accepting payments from lobbyist Jack Abramoff in return for publishing articles favorable to Abramoff's clients over a period of approximately ten years. He is notable for his strong opposition to the Law of the Sea Treaty and is the author of The Politics of Plunder. He "holds a B.S. in economics from Florida State University and a J.D. from Stanford, worked in the Reagan administration as special assistant to the president and has also served as editor of the political magazine Inquiry." [1] The Cato Institute is an influential libertarian non-profit public policy research foundation (think tank) headquartered in Washington, D.C. The Institutes stated mission is to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets, and... See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ... This article is about the institution. ... December 15 is the 349th day of the year (350th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jack A. Abramoff (born February 28, 1958) is an American attorney and lobbyist. ... Admiralty law (usually referred to as simply admiralty and also referred to as maritime law) is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses. ... U.S. Economic Calendar Economics at the Open Directory Project Economics textbooks on Wikibooks The Economists Economics A-Z Daily analysis of economics in the news (UK focus) Institutions and organizations Bureau of Labor Statistics - from the American Labor Department Center for Economic and Policy Research (USA) National Bureau... Florida State University State University System of Florida FAMU FAU FGCU FIU FSU NCF UCF UF UNF USF UWF Florida State University, also commonly referred to as FSU or Florida State, is a comprehensive, graduate-national research university founded and located in Tallahassee, Florida in 1851. ... J.D. redirects here; for alternate uses, see J.D. (disambiguation) J.D. is an abbreviation for the Latin Juris Doctor, also called a Doctor of Law or Doctorate of Jurisprudence, and is the law degree typically awarded by an accredited U.S. law school after successfully completing three years... Stanford may refer: Stanford University Places: Stanford, Kentucky Stanford, California, home of Stanford University Stanford Shopping Center Stanford, New York, town in Dutchess County. ... Famous people with the family name Reagan include: Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States Nancy Reagan, the wife of Ronald Reagan and influential First Lady Ron Reagan, President Reagans son and liberal journalist Michael Reagan, President Reagans son and conservative talk show host John Henninger...

He has referred to his activities for Abramoff as "a lapse of judgement" and said that he accepted payments for "between 12 and 24 articles" over a period of years. He resigned only after BusinessWeek Online contacted the Cato Institute to probe news of possible payments. He typically received on the order of $2000 per article.[2]

Copley News Service, a carrier of Doug Bandow's column, suspended his column immediately after the payola news became public. National Society of Newspaper Columnists President Suzette Martinez Standring is quoted as saying his action "isn't a lapse in judgment, it’s soul-selling. With so much practice at tweaking copy for others, I’m sure the advertising industry will welcome him." [3] Copley Press is a privately held newspaper business, originally founded in Illinois, but now based in La Jolla, California. ... In the music industry, the illegal practice of record companies paying money for the broadcast of records on music radio is called payola, if the song is presented as being part of the normal days broadcast. ...

Steve Clemons, publisher of the blog The Washington Note, has referred to Doug Bandow as his friend and stated that he would be happy to have him guest blog again, as he has in the past. He considers his resignation sufficient penalty for his transgressions and corruption.[4]

Peter Ferrara, a senior policy adviser at the conservative Institute for Policy Innovation, also took money from Abramoff to write favorable op-ed pieces. He remains unrepentant and intends to pursue the practice in the future: "I do that all the time. I've done that in the past, and I'll do it in the future." [5] Peter Ferrara, a senior policy adviser at the conservative Institute for Policy Innovation, one one of an unknown number of conservative collumists who took money from Jack Abramoff to write favorable op-ed pieces. ...

External links

• "Op-Eds for Sale" by Eamon Javers, Business Week, December 16, 2005