A newer, lower contribution standard

Just when you think the Journal Sentinel has stretched things to the limit to try to link Jim Doyle's donations to state contracts -- like writing about donations that were given to someone else by another company -- the standard gets lower.

The latest: Employees of a firm with a state contract give money to Doyle's campaign a year later.

Employees of Equis gave a total of $27,250 to Doyle in June and October of 2005, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign...

"This is another in what is now a pretty long line of examples of companies that have ponied up around the time of getting state business," said Mike McCabe, the group's executive director. "It doesn't smell right."

The donations were made more than a year after the deal was reached. The contract was signed in April 2004, after Equis beat out two other firms - Deloitte Consulting and CB Richard Ellis - for the work...

Let's review. If you give before a contract is awarded, it's a bribe to get the contract. If you give afterward, it doesn't smell right.

What McCabe -- and, apparently, the Journal Sentinel, or at least reporter Patrick Marley -- seem to think would be appropriate would be a law that no one who does business with the government can ever contribute to the governor's campaign -- not a year before, not a year afterward, not ever.

So if you ever wanted to be able to bid on a state contract, you could never give, nor just to Doyle but to any Democratic group or candidate (that's the standard in the earlier story.)

And the Doyle administration could award all of the contracts to Republicans, because it would be barred from doing any business with friends, donors or Democrats.

Is it just me, or is there something wrong with that picture?