(anti-)wheeling

[Grant Barrett]

I've got an entry for this in which I have defined it together with
what I believe is a related meaning. It includes a slight antedating
of the political money sense.

http://dtww.org/index.php/dictionary/wheeling/

1. in the electricity industry, the transfer of power between utility
companies, especially through the networks of one company on behalf of
another. 2. the transfer of money between political organizations in
order to skirt campaign funding laws.

Grant Barrett
gbarrett at worldnewyork.org


On Sep 29, 2008, at 11:12, Benjamin Zimmer wrote:

> In New Jersey, Gov. Corzine is proposing "anti-wheeling" legislation:
>
> http://www.nj.gov/governor/news/news/2008/approved/20080924a.html
>
> "Wheeling" defined here (with a bonus usage as a transitive verb):
>
> ---
> http://www.politickernj.com/max/23842/codey-says-he-opposes-wheeling-needs-fine-tooth-rest
> State Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex) said he strongly agrees with the
> provision in Gov. Jon Corzine's executive order that would ban the
> practice of wheeling, but he wants to look at the fine print in
> basically every other aspect of the ethics package.
> "I would go further; I would make the anti-wheeling measure stronger,"
> said Codey, who said he did not attend today's press conference with
> the governor because of a scheduling conflict.
> Not only does Codey support a ban on wheeling across county lines -
> but across state lines.
> "I would say 'you can't wheel money in, and you can't wheel out," the
> former governor said of that practice by outside political action
> committees (PACs) of transferring monies to local political
> organizations to be distributed to local campaigns.
> ---
>
> Earliest I've found so far is from 2004:
>
> ---
> 2004 _New York Times_ 24 Mar. 7 (Factiva) Many people urge
> restrictions on the transfer of funds from one county to another, a
> practice known as "wheeling," which enables influential party leaders
> to manipulate elections outside their districts.
> ---
> 2004 _Star-Ledger_ (Newark, NJ) 4 Apr. 1 (Factiva) A 1993 law allows
> county political committees to collect much larger donations than any
> candidate can and to shift unlimited funds from one county to another
> in a practice known as "wheeling."
> ---
> 2004 _The Record_ (Bergen, NJ) 25 May A1 (Factiva) "Probably the most
> difficult issues surround the multifarious indirect paths through
> which economic actors purchase political good will," he wrote. "Among
> high-end sophisticates in the political marketplace, it may take the
> form of funneling contributions to a low-visibility political
> committee which then makes independent expenditures or transfers to
> another committee, known as 'wheeling.'"
> ---
>
>
> --Ben Zimmer
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org