Harry Reid Making T. Boone Pickens Even Richer

In return for Pickens keeping his money out of Republican coffers.

Pickens remains influential on Capitol Hill even though he has largely shied away from making contributions to either political party since 2008.

In 2010, Roll Call wrote that Pickens said he had made a pledge to stay out of the elections game. "Once a prominent Republican donor, Pickens told reporters last week that he has pledged not to make federal campaign contributions and to work with Members of both parties. Pickens also said Reid will be able to move an alternative fuels subsidy bill during the lame-duck session, in part because of the promise. Pickens declined through a spokeswoman to be interviewed for this article," Roll Call reported. 

A similar story emerged out of a fundraiser last month for a Republican Senate candidate from Nebraska. According to a GOP source who was in attendance, the candidate told some of those gathered that Pickens told him he couldn't financially back his bid. The reason given was that the majority leader was backing the natural gas bill, and Pickens had promised he would not target races that might cost Reid the Senate majority.

If this seems at all far-fetched, just remember that Democrats threatens lobbyists with higher tax bills if they dared give to Republican campaigns.