http://www.care2.com/causes/politics/blog/whos-laundering-money-democrats-or-republicans/

Money laundering accusations used to be the stuff of mob movies.  But now, they've moved front and center into the political arena, thanks to Minnesota Representative Michele Bachmann.

Bachmann, perhaps the most popular woman in the GOP besides Sarah Palin, can always be counted on to provide a good television sound bite.  In 2008, she set the party on fire with her declaration that Obama had anti-American views, and that anti-American congresspeople should be exposed by the media.

Now, Bachmann has kicked her war against the "leftists" into high gear, declaring that federal aid to states is really just a "money laundering" scheme to get cash to unions, who will then give it back to Democratic candidates.

And it's not just Bachmann who is making the accusation, as more of her Tea Party compatriots are getting in on the action.  From Greg Sargent at The Plum Line:

Last week I noted here that Michele Bachmann and Sharron Angle had rolled out a new argument against the $26 billion state aid package passed by Dems: It's all a money-laundering scheme to funnel cash via public employee unions to Dem campaign coffers for use this fall.

Now GOP Rep. Steve King has joined this chorus. He told Radio Iowa:

"Much of those checks that will be distributed will have an automatic deduction in them that will transfer some of that money into the coffers of the unions and their political action money will go into the campaign accounts of 95 percent Democrats. This is a blatant money-laundering scheme that's cooked up by Nancy Pelosi."

Bachmann, too, used strikingly similar language last week, calling the state aid package, which was designed to help government save the jobs of thousands of teachers, police and firefighters, money that's being "laundered through the public employee unions" to reelect Democrats this fall. Angle agreed with her, describing the Dems' state aid package as a "way to solidify the base" with "our taxpayer dollars."

According to Sargent, the most interesting part of the meme is the insistance that everything Democrats do must some how be immoral or illegal.  And when you have Angle, Bachmann and King as the arbiters of what is moral or not, nearly everything will come down on the side of "not," especially if progressives are involved.

But it must be confessed, the idea of political money laundering is an intriguing one.  After all, if that is allegedly what the administration is doing, wouldn't the same be said when you take into account the recent announcement that Rupert Murdoch and his company News Corp is donating $1 million to the Republican Governors Association?   After all, as the owner of Fox News, the number one television megaphone of the GOP, is he not just providing a large amount of money, a chuck of which could then be applied back to his business in the form of buying political ads for Republican candidates?

I wonder if Rep. Bachmann and her allies have any desire to condemn that?