Now that the Democratic Party convention is on, read this excelent report on campaign finance from Corporate Watch:





Financing the Election. Soft Money Out, Bundling In Corporate Backers Spend More, Get More

by Bill Mesler, Special to CorpWatch

Selected excerpts:

Nowhere will the pervasive power of Washington's army of 24,000 registered lobbyists-and the influence of the corporate interests they represent-be on display more than at the two parties' upcoming national conventions. The RNC has set a goal of $64 million. And the Democrats, not to be outdone, are expected to spend $95 million on their convention in Boston, which would dwarf the record $36 million the party spent in Los Angeles in 2000, making it the most expensive convention in history. And those figures only include expenditures by the parties themselves, not the lavish events hosted directly by corporate interests. The 2000 Democratic convention featured 130 invitation-only parties and receptions, while the Republican convention in Philadelphia featured golf tournaments, rock concerts, and yacht cruises.

Kerry may denounce the corrupting influence of special interests and big business and he may praise the Federal Election Campaign Act banning "soft money," the unchecked expenditures of special-interest money that distorted past elections and subverted federal limits on campaign contributions. But he may be a little more bashful about the $1.25 million dollar donation by Fleet Boston Financial to the Democratic convention host

The revolving door between lobbying and government has become all-too-typical in Washington. In 2002, when congress barred the newly created Homeland Security Department from granting contracts to offshore-based firms, potential contractors went on a hiring spree of former government official in an effort to overturn the regulations. Among them were such heavyweights as former Reagan chief of staff Kenneth Duberstein and Bob Livingston, the former Republican congressman from Lousiana (whose bid to become Speaker of the House was ruined by Larry Flynt's revelations of Livingston's own affair during the Monica Lewinsky impeachment debacle). Soon, White House and congressional Republicans issued a new bill without the offshore restrictions; and Duberstein and Livingston were named the top lobbyists of 2002 by the Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill.