THE BLOWBACK FILES
The U.S. Government
and Special Interests
The Congress is the lawmaking body of the United
States of America. It is made up of two chambers: the House and the
Senate. Each state elects two senators, who represent the entire state
and a representative is elected by voters in a congressional district,
which is established based on the population of a given geographic
area, or at large (by voters throughout the state). Senators are elected
to six-year terms and representatives are elected to two-year terms
and can serve an unlimited number of terms. Thus, a new Congress comes
into existence every two years.
The Constitution
of the United States (To see the entire text of the Constitution,
go to: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/const/const.html
) gives Congress all the lawmaking powers of the federal government.
Expressed powers of Congress are listed in Article I, Section 8 of
the Constitution which outlines that Congress has the power to deal
with subjects such as declaring war, taxation, borrowing money, foreign
and domestic commerce, national defense, weights and measures, coinage,
and the courts.
Founders of the
Constitution established a form of government that establishes rights
and liberties of the American people. Political participation in this
process is critical for democracy to work effectively. In recent decades
however, Americans have lost interest in this. Voter turnout in national
elections was at a high point in the early 1960s. By 1990, the turnout
had declined by nearly a quarter.
The founders of
the United States envisioned that citizens would elect each member
of Congress and those members of Congress would serve and represent
the desires of his/her constituents, or, the voters he/she represents.
However, money from corporations and special interest groups have
also influenced the views and desires that a member of Congress works
for or against, ultimately affecting the way they vote on a piece
of legislation, which can become law.
But money also influences
the Executive Branch. Resident Bush, as a candidate, raised more than
$190 million for his presidential campaign. Major contributions came
from corporations and political action committees that seek to influence
the legislative agenda and influence policy in Washington. The oil
and gas industry donated nearly $2 million to Bush's campaign, the
automotive industry donated $1.6 million and the automotive industry
nearly $1.3 million. Such donations are incentives to return favors
when a candidate gets elected.
CORPORATIONS AND
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
You don't need to
follow politics closely to figure out how an individual or group influences
policy. Donate to political campaigns. Sit back. And wait for the
right opportunity to raise your issue with the candidate-turned-elected
official. The "gift" of a campaign donation will quickly
be reciprocated with access to the politician to discuss tax breaks,
award contracts and the reduction of regulations. George W. Bush's
presidential campaign serves as a useful illustration.
Bush took in a record
$190+ million dollars to finance his stealing of the Oval Office.
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, some of the top contributors
to the Bush campaign include MBNA Corp, Ernst & Young, Andersen
Worldwide, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Citigroup, and Enron. A close look
at policies and initiatives coming out of the White House in Bush's
first year in office helps one understand the pull that these large
contributors have in setting the White House's priorities. Within
his first 100 days in the White House, Bush was already making good
with his major campaign contributors.
Banks:
MBNA America Bank president, Charles Cawley, hosted an evening party
at his home in Kennebunkport, Maine with more than 200 guests attending
and guest of honor, George W. Bush. Guests wrote $1,000 checks to
underwrite Bush's stealing of the White House. Additionally, employees
of MBNA donated more than $240,000 to the campaign in 1999-2000 and
Cawley raised at least $100,00 for the campaign. Within weeks of Bush's
entry into the White House, MBNA championed legislation that would
make it more difficult for consumers to erase their debts. The bank
and other major credit cards could make tens of millions of dollars
from the legislation.
Environment:
Within his first 100 days in office, Bush made big strides to cut
environmental initiatives including a cutting funding for renewable
energy research, banning private lawsuits which force the government
to add to plants and species to the endangered species list, reducing
the amount of arsenic in water, and withdrawing the United States
from the international global warming treaty, the Kyoto Protocol.
The most controversial initiative that so far seems to have failed
is Bush's roughshod effort to drill for oil in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge, which arguably will only produce enough oil for six
months of gas-guzzling American consumption patterns in addition to
threatening calving grounds for the Porcupine Caribou herds. The caribou
are the Gwi'chin peoples source of survival; their diet is based on
the caribou and their native culture is based on their relationship
with these animals.
So, who stands to
benefit from these policies? In total, the oil and gas industry which
gave more than $1.8 million in individual and PAC contributions to
the Bush campaign. The automotive industry gave more than $1.3 million
and the timber industry gave almost $300,000, according to the Center
for Responsive Politics. Also, Vice Resident DICK Cheney made more
than $36 million in 2000 as CEO of the oil services company, Halliburton.
DICK Cheney's energy task force, whom the members were secret and
not revealed to the public or Congress, which has recommended, among
other environmentally dangerous initiatives, looking for more oil
in the Pacific West. However a lawsuit from the Government Accounting
Office (GAO) and private groups may force DICK Cheney to disclose
the information.
Health
Care:
The Bush administration has developed their own version of the Patients
Bill of Rights which allows patients to sue their HMO for up to $750,000
in damages, a huge cut from the originally established $5 million.
The HMO industry vehemently opposed the legislation outlining the
$5 million cap. Coincidentally, the HMO industry made Bush one of
their top recipients for campaign contributions in 2000. The pharmaceutical
industry has been lobbying against the expansion of Medicare to include
benefits for prescription drugs, which many inside the industry fear
could impose price controls on prescription drugs. The industry donated
nearly $500,000 to the Bush campaign. Consequently, the Bush administration
has sponsored a proposal worth $153 billion over the next ten years
that would seek to address problems of rising drug costs, which increasingly
limit access to needed prescription drugs for the poor and the elderly.
The pharmaceutical
industry has also used the September 11, 2001, attacks as an opportunity
to further push Congress to waive the Food and Drug Administration's
(FDA) oversight of the industry should a public health emergency break
out. While the FDA currently sets the quality standards and requires
manufacturers to test and label drugs and vaccines. The drug industry
is also required to notify the government of any adverse side effects
that the drugs cause, which the industry claims would slow its ability
to respond to a crisis situation.
Agriculture:
While America's farmers took a blow to the wallet when Bush came into
office, many corporations in the international agriculture sector
would benefit greatly from Bush's proposals. Bush's budget proposal
suggests cutting spending for the US Department of Agriculture by
seven percent over the next year in addition to cutting spending for
conservation programs and rural development initiatives. Bush's proposal
however, suggests a six- percent increase in funding for the Foreign
Agricultural Service, which assists in facilitating international
trade. Kraft Foods, a subsidiary of Philip Morris, would potentially
benefit from this increase as they export their foods to 140 countries.
Philip Morris donated $35,000 to the Bush campaign and more than $2
million in soft money to the GOP in the 1999-2000-election cycle.
Conclusion:
Upon reviewing the facts, it is easy to conclude that big money controls
politics. Certainly, looking at Bush's record so far, it is evident
that big contributions yield big favors as a payback. While donations
from individuals and corporations help get someone into office, there
is another force on Capitol Hill: Lobbyists. Lobbyists try to influence
the way lawmakers vote. While the Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act
of 1946 requires individuals and groups trying to influence legislation
to register and submit quarterly reports (outlining their receipts,
expenditures and the bills they are interested in), lobbying also
takes another form in terms of campaign contributions to candidates
and congressional committees. The Center for Responsive Politics estimated
that companies, labor unions, and other organizations spent $1.45
billion on lobbying government officials in 1999. Leading industries
leading the lobbying efforts in Washington include energy and natural
resources, communications, health (including the pharmaceutical industry),
transportation, finance/insurance, and real estate.
When one fourth
of the American population votes, it leaves a lot of room for other
institutions and organizations to have influence. Truly, the big money
of corporations and special interest has contributed to the demise
of the notion of voting as a civic duty. But if we no longer view
voting as a civic duty, what rallies the American people to action?
Look around you. Shopping. Consuming. Driving. Watching TV. Vanity.
Anything but getting involved in issues and events that directly impact
your life. Watch television and you will be sold ideas of what you
should look life, act like, dress like, and be like. Look up from
the television and see ads on bathroom doors, subway stops, bus stops,
magazines, and the internet selling you the same images and ideas
that the commercials do.
But if you try to
watch the news, corporatization is there too. Disney owns ABC. Time
Warner owns CNN. General Electric owns NBC. The information presented
in the news represents the boundaries set by the "respectable
debate" so that you don't have too much information to make decisions
for yourself about what your government is doing, what corporations
are really doing, and what individual citizens are doing to protest
the sale of democracy to corporate America. This is how Cokie Roberts
could say that there was no opposition to the war "that mattered"
(and why she sucks ass). This is why Dan Rather soon after 9/11/2001
said that Bush was his President (and why he sucks ass).
