THIS IS JIM HIGHTOWER SAYING . . .
The Business of the Conventions
Asked why Lockheed Martin, the giant military contractor, was putting $100,000 into both the Republican and the Democratic national conventions, a company spokesman deadpanned: "We support the democratic process."
Yeah . . . and a fox enters the henhouse to support the egg-laying process.
The big television networks say they are only giving scant coverage to this summer's presidential-nominating conventions because nothing really is happening there. But if they would turn their cameras away from the pre-programmed fluff on the podium and focus on who's inside the corporate skyboxes, who is golfing with whom at the nearby private clubs, which corporate jets are sitting on the airport tarmac, and who's having private tête a têtes with the nominees, then they'd have a real story worthy of national network coverage-the buying of the democratic process by a handful of corporate elites.
The insurance and financial conglomerate AIG has put $500,000 into the GOP's event, and two million into the Democrats' gathering. All of these companies have favors they need from the next president and the Congress. Not only does their convention sponsorship money buy good will from the party bigwigs, but it also buys schmoozing time with the nominees and key congressional leaders.
In fact, since the nominees, platforms, and other party matters have already been decided before the delegates even arrive, the only reason the conventions exist is to give the money powers an excuse to hang out with the political powers. The business of these conventions is business.
To add insult to injury, the corporations get a tax deduction for the millions of dollars they spend on these conventions, meaning we the public subsidize them to buy our democratic process out from under us. Now, isn't that a story the media should be covering?
Buying the Political Conventions
THey came pouring into Philadelphia, and now they're pouring into Los Angeles, coming for the two biggest political galas of the year--the Republican and Democratic nominating conventions.
Only, it's not the flood of delegates, politicians, or media I'm talking about, but the tidal wave of corporate dollars that have poured into the two conventions. Instead of these quadrennial events being proud exercises in democracy, they've become what the Center for Public Integrity calls the "Super Bowls of the influence of money on politics." AT&T, General Motors, Microsoft, and others poured a million bucks each into the GOP's Philadelphia dance, and AT&T, General Motors, Microsoft, and others are also pouring a million bucks each into the Democrats' show in Los Angeles.
Dozens of other brand-name corporations are investing half-a-million or a quarter-million dollars each in these conventions, which the New York Times refers to as "orgies of cash, providing yet another route for corporations to buy political access." Philip Morris, for example, gave $250,000 to the Republican event, for which it got listed as an official "sponsor" of the convention, was allowed to fly in its lobbyists and executives to schmooze at private events with the nominees and congressional leaders, and even got a downtown street renamed "Philip Morris" for the convention week. The company spokeswoman said, "It is important to our shareholders and employees that we try to build relationships in venues that are important to us."
If you translate her corporate-speak into English, she's saying: "We brought bales of cash to Philadelphia so we could buy our way into the back rooms and play kissy-face with the politicians so they'll like us and do what we want back in Washington."
Taxpayers give $13 million to both the Republicans and Democrats to put on their conventions--isn't that enough? After all, the conventions have become nothing but four-day infomercials for them, with no real purpose. I say we should ban the corrupt corporate money.
Team Bush: The Pioneers
Let's go to the sports desk for Hightower's "Wide, Wide, Wide, WILD World of Sports." Today's feature: Baseball trading cards. If you're a collector, I've got a brand new set of extra-special trading cards that you're sure to want! Instead of Sammy Sosa, Mark Maguire, Barry Bonds, and other home-run hitting baseball stars, these are the sultans of political clout who are the key money players in George W. Bush's "Big Green Machine." The watchdog group, Texans for Public Justice, has packaged this neat set of trading cards featuring the Bush "Pioneers,"--a team of corporate lobbyists and CEOs, each of whom has raised $100,000 or more to help their team win the presidential World Series this fall.
Among the heavy-hitting Pioneers is Kenneth Lay, CEO of the global energy conglomerate Enron. Ken's player card lists him as Bush's MVP--Most Valuable Patron--having put a league-leading $500,000-plus into his gubernatorial campaigns. In turn, Lay has collected many rewards for his company from the governor, and he's anticipating an even bigger season next year.
Also on the team is All-American utility infielder Tom Kuhn, chief Washington lobbyist for the electric utility industry. Playing far right field is Hank Greenberg--not the hall-of-fame baseball player, but the CEO of the financial giant AIG. Greenberg is a major underwriter of the right wing Heritage Foundation and has been a longtime Bush Leaguer, going back to Daddy Bush's ownership of the franchise. And you can't have a ball game without junk food, so Tim Hammonds, lobbyist for the big supermarket chains, is putting his vendor's tray to work as a Pioneer. Among other career goals, Hammonds wants to stop the government's strict testing of the meat supply for E. coli contamination.
Collect the whole set of cards for the Bush Pioneers. They're free! Call (512) 472-9770.
A Totally Corporate Vice President
In 1992, Ross Perot chose Admiral John Stockdale, a complete unknown to the American public, as his Reform Party vice presidential nominee. Stockdale's single moment of fame came in the V.P. debate that year, when his opening remark was: "Who am I, and why am I here?"
It was a good question, and one that also could be asked of Dick Cheney, George W. Bush's V.P. selection. The establishment media has alternated between fawning over Cheney as a responsible and experienced leader, and picking at the scab of his atrocious right wing record as a member of Congress two decades ago. But both of these analyses miss the real Cheney, which is that he's been a consistent servant of corporate power his entire professional life.
The key period for understanding this guy is not 20 years ago, but the last five years in which he moved from serving corporate power to being corporate power. Having held the job of Defense Secretary under Daddy Bush, where he shoved billions of bucks into the pockets of Pentagon contractors, Cheney became CEO of Halliburton, Inc., a giant global construction conglomerate that itself is dependent on government contracts, subsidies, and handouts. He didn't actually run the company--he was the "rain maker," the guy who used his political connections to cause government contracts to magically rain down on Halliburton. While he was CEO, the company doubled its federal business, bringing in $2.3 billion in deals, plus $1.5 billion in loan subsidies.
But Dick Cheney's corporate connection is not restricted to Halliburton. He also comes to the Bush ticket as a board member of Procter & Gamble, EDS, and Union Pacific. In all, he pulled down $26 million last year from Halliburton, and $280,000 more as a member of these corporate boards.
Cheney eliminates the middleman--instead of corporations buying a vice president . . . they can put one of their own in the office.
Congress' Code of Silence
In 1999, Republican Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House of Representatives, suddenly rose on his hind legs in Congress to make an appeal for passage of legislation to help a group of American citizens: "These people have families," he implored. "They have kids to put through college. They have the right to a decent life."
Was Dennis having an attack of compassionate conservatism for the working poor? Not quite. His plea was for passage of a pay hike for members of Congress! The members were so touched that they said, "OK," and gave themselves a raise. Now, Dennis the Compassionate has risen again, teaming up with Dick Gephardt, the Democratic leader, to ram through another congressional pay raise.
Oh, they say, it's no big deal, it's just a little cost-of-living adjustment of $3,800 per member. Really? How about you--did you vote yourself a $3,800 pay raise this year? By the way, this is their third increase in the last four years. Their latest "adjustment" raises their pay to $145,500 a year, plus golden health care and pension benefits, special housing deductions, and other perks.
These are the same lawmakers who can't get around to raising our country's minimum wage to a paltry $6.15 an hour, which even if it passes still would leave full-time workers with a below-poverty income of barely $12,000 a year. As Ralph Nader put it, "No wonder the public is dismayed by politicians."
Even more dismaying than the pay raise itself is the underhanded way it was approved. There were no public hearings and only a few minutes of perfunctory debate on the floor. Slam, bam, thank you ma'am. Worse, both parties have agreed to a code of political silence--neither party will use the pay raise as an issue against the other in this fall's elections. It's best not to discuss it, one member said, "because it's unpopular with the public."
This is Jim Hightower saying . . . great, not only are they self-serving greed heads, but they're also cowards.
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