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Show Money, Politics and Campaign Reform by Kelly Burton are for sale. "Members are only human,"' former Congressman and one-time Ways and Means Committee Chairman, Sam Gibbon (D-FL) Has said. '"You can't entirely disassociate yourself from something like a campaign contribution. How much it impacts you and how far you're willing to move from your own principles is something each member has to decide for himself" (quoted in Froomkin 1997). The purchasing of access is not limited to members of Congress. As revealed by the Chicago Sun-Times during the summer of 1995, both parties, as part of their funding-raising strategies, provided "menus" offering certain levels of access to candidates or prominent politicians for "generous" donations (Sweet 1995, 1) As Charles Lewis put it in his book The Buying of the President, "the average American never gets to meet the president, much less sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom" (1996, 28). That is just one example of the level of access extended to large contributors to the 1996 presidential campaigns. Additionally, in order to solicit donations, each party outlined what donors would receive who gave at certain levels, making these lists available to potential contributors. The Democratic "menu" consisted of the following (Bedard 1995, 4): • A $100,000 contributor would get two meals wirh President Clinton, two meals with Vice President Al Gore, a slot on a foreign trade mission with DNC leaders, and other benefits, such as a daily fax report and an assigned DNC staff member to assist with contributors' "personal requests. • A $50,000 contributor would get invited to a reception with Mr. Clinton, one dinner with Mr. Gore, and two special high-level briefings, among other benefits. • A $10,000 contributor would get invited to a presidential reception and a dinner with Mr. Gore and would get "preferred" status at the 1996 Democratic National Convention. • A $1,000 contributor would get invited to events with first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton; Mr. Gore's wife, Tipper; and female political appointees. The Republicans had their own system of rewards for large contributors called the "Eagles" club. In order to join, donors had to meet the following requirements: "$20,000 per family or $7,500 for donors under age thirty-five ... [and] $15,000 for a single membership." The benefits of membership included (Bedard 1995, 4): • Special trade missions to places like China and Sweden. • Access to a personal "regional representative in Washington." • An invitation to former President Gerald Ford's annual "Eagle's Cup" tennis and golf tournament. • A lithograph of an American eagle signed by former President George Bush. • VIP accommodations and "preferential seating" at the convention. • An invitation to a private meeting with the "newly inaugurated president and vice president of the United States." (Republican of course.) Campaign Finance Abuses and Excesses Selling the Lincoln Bedroom In a report released on March 5, 1998, the Senate panel investigating 1996 campaign finance abuses concludes that during the presidential campaign, Democrats "reduced the White House, the administration and the presidency itself to fund-raising tools.'" The report by the Republican-controlled Senate Government Affairs Committee alleges that the Democratic Party, "in a frenzy to boost funds for President Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign, sold access to the White House that ultimately may have compromised national policy." The report, following an investigation that cost $3.5 million, related that '"among the favors merchandised were access to senior decision makers,'" and added that additional perks included presidential commissions and administrative jobs. The report concludes that '"political donations were exchanged for access to the White House, including overnights in the Lincoln Bedroom and coffees with the president'" (quoted in USA Today 1998).' Certainly these revelations of contributors buying access to the politicians, increase the public's concern over the influence of money in politics and the extent to which those contributors get access to policy creation. The frustration is evident in voter turnout. As Charles Lewis explained, "Apathy and disillusionment about politics have become so deep today that in 1992, 85 million eligible American adults did not vote in the presidential election, and in 1994, 114 million Americans did not participate in the political process" (1996, 7). As Senator Max Cleland (D-GA) explained: The election year of 1996 witnessed a record high in the amount of money spent, and the second worst voter turnout in American history (see chart), with 10 million fewer voters casting their ballots in that Presidential year than two years earlier (1997). This is a disturbing trend considering the fact that the United States is the world's most open democracy. The High Price oe Public Office The amount spent to get elected in this country is rising considerably with each election. In 1992, voters elected 435 Congressmen and 33 Senators. Candidates spent $677 million to get a job that pays just over $130,000 per year (Christian 1996, 22). During the 1994 election, the top spender was Californian Michael Huffington who spent $5.4 million of his won money is a losing effort to gain a Senate seat. According to the Federal Election Commission, the average cost of winning a Senate seat in 1996 was more than $3.7 million and in 1 The article {March 6) included a White House response to the report. James E. Kennedy, a spokesman for the White House counsel's office, said that the report "reads more like a campaign press release than an official government document.... Sen. Thompson and the committee Republicans squandered an historic opportunity to move the Congress and the country closer to the goal of reforming the way in which campaigns are run. And they squandered millions of taxpayer dollars in partisan pursuit of political points." 22 |