Prometheus 6

From the Center for American Progress

CONVENTION
Boon for Special Interests

As the Democratic Party this week uses its national convention to trumpet its working class roots, and the need for a government that represents the middle class, a whole other convention is occurring out of sight of television cameras. In scores of parties throughout Boston, the New York Times reports, "corporate big spenders...finally can cut loose." While anti-war protestors expressing their constitutional rights are "under lockdown" and cordoned off from the convention, lobbyists have flooded the area, underwriting the convention with cash from some of the biggest companies with the biggest business before the federal government. The brazen display of corporate largesse runs counter to Sen. John Kerry's consistent support of campaign finance reform. As one lobbyist at the convention said, "Corporate dollars are flowing rather freely" at the convention, with "a lot of folks saying, 'Let the good times roll.'" Similarly, former DNC Chairman Don Fowler said, "Some of the best lobbying in the world is done at these conventions. It is a tremendous boon for special interests."

$39.5 MILLION FROM CORPORATE SPECIAL INTERESTS: The NYT reports the Raytheon Company, IBM and Fidelity Investments each gave at least $1 million to the host committee for the Democratic National Convention in Boston, according to a donor list. AT&T, Amgen and Nextel Communications each gave at least $500,000. In all, more than 150 donors have contributed more than $39.5 million - money they could not legally give to a political party or a candidate under the new law but are permitted to donate to a convention. All told, "private sources are on track to contribute about $110 million to this year's Democratic and Republican conventions combined, some 13 times what they gave for the 1992 conventions."

REVERSING A TOBACCO MONEY BAN, WITH NO COMMENT: Just eight years after then Vice President Al Gore gave an impassioned convention speech about the ills of tobacco, the Dallas Morning News reports this year's Democratic Convention is being partly financed by a $100,000 donation from Philip Morris' parent company – a move that quietly reverses a Democratic ban on tobacco sponsorship of its conventions. The company is also among those sponsoring a party with an "Indiana Jones" feel at an Egyptian exhibit at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts. When the party was asked to respond to criticism from the Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids, one DNC press secretary "referred questions to the party's convention spokeswoman, who did not return a half-dozen messages." Meanwhile, a spokesman for Sen. John Kerry (who does have a solid anti-tobacco record) claimed the senator had no knowledge of the tobacco contributions and actually claimed "he has no control over anything [the convention committees] do."

POCKETING DRUG INDUSTRY CASH: Even after Democrats were steamrolled by the drug industry during the controversial passage of a new Medicare law, the party's convention will play host to various events sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry. As the Indianapolis Star reports, "seven drug companies -- including Pfizer Inc., Novartis Corp., Merck & Co. and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. -- are among the top 36 contributors to the convention, giving $2.5 million to $5 million combined. Another three gave up to $99,999 each." One of the parties will be for retiring Sen. John Breaux (D-LA), a "vocal opponent" of allowing seniors to purchase lower-priced FDA-approved medicines from Canada. One of his parties tonight is called the "Breaux's Beer Beachballs Bikini Bingo Bistro Bash on the Beach in Boston"; when asked who was financing it, the senator simply said, "I'm going to have one hell of a great party." Ironically, the fete will be occurring in the heart of Boston, a city that has launched a pilot program to allow city workers and retirees to buy drugs from Canada.

TARGETING THE LARGESSE TO THOSE WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE: The corporate largesse is, by no means, random. USA Today reports, "Mickey Kantor, a former Commerce secretary and U.S. trade representative in the Clinton administration, hosts a lunch today for Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT) and Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), the top Democrats on the tax-writing committees of the Senate and House of Representatives. They'll report on the upcoming agendas for their committees on issues important to the lobbying practice of Kantor's law firm." Similarly, The San Francisco Chronicle reports Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) "is being featured at a brunch Wednesday sponsored by Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and SAIC." Harman is the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, which has influence over various intelligence/defense contracts.   

MAKE NO MISTAKE – THE GOP CONVENTION IS WORSE: As troubling as some of the behavior at the Democratic convention is, it appears the Republican Party is trying to go even further. Earlier this year, CBS News reported House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) was planning to use the guise of a children's charity to allow corporate donors to slather him and other Republicans with cash. Specifically, DeLay created a group called "Celebrations for Children" that he said was a charity, but planned to use to solicit corporate donations at the Republican National Convention. "For $50,000, a donor will get luxury box seats at the 2004 Republican convention, tickets to Broadway shows and spots in an upscale golf tournament," from the "charity," while "A half-million dollars will buy all of that, plus a New York cruise and two dinners" with DeLay himself. In 2000, DeLay had major corporate donors sponsor a luxury train car for him and other top Republicans to party in during their convention.