Business As Usual in DC

Monday March 19 2:08 PM ET
Donors Help Set Agenda at Congress, White House

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even as the Senate began debate on Monday on legislation to curb the influence of money in politics, major donors seemed to enjoy a bigger hand than ever in helping set the agenda in Congress and the White House.

With six- and seven-figure contributions, they got access to the halls of power where they can make their case on a variety of fronts and even help draft legislation.

Just months into the new 107th Congress and George W. Bush's presidency, these contributors, largely from big business, already have three key victories under their belt.

They include: a Bush reversal on industrial emissions; a rollback on a costly new workplace safety rule, and a bill to make it tougher for consumers to wipe out debt.

Each could mean untold billions of dollars in profit for corporate America, easily covering the cost of their donations in last year's White House and congressional races.

This comes as no surprise to people like Larry Makinson of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP), which tracks campaign contributions.

``The past congressional and presidential election was the most costly ever by far -- (estimated by CRP at more than $3 billion) -- and produced a super population of major investors in politics,'' Makinson said.

``These investors didn't write their checks out of a sense of patriotism,'' Makinson said. ``They are looking for something in return -- and they are getting it.''

Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican and leading proponent of campaign finance reform, has branded the current system ``legalized bribery and legalized extortion.''

Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi favors some changes, but rejects McCain's suggestion votes are essentially bought and sold.

``The idea that a senator or senators would be inappropriately influenced by ... the fact that a $100,000 contribution went to the Republican National Committe or a state party ... I think is inaccurate,'' Lott said.

In 1999-2000, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, one of the nation's leading business groups, raised and gave $2.1 million to congressional candidates, the vast majority Republicans, and spent another $15 million on political issue ads.

``If you believe in the two-party system, you give to the party that you believe in,'' said Bruce Josten, the chamber's executive vice president.

``Sure there are abuses, but there are abuses in any system and there is more than one side of the story,'' Josten said. ''What we are doing is representing our members.''

Last week, Bush, under pressure from industry groups that helped him amass record campaign finances, backed off a campaign promise and said he would not seek to regulate power plant emissions of carbon dioxide.

While critics accused Bush of placating special interests, the president's aides said the nation could not afford to curb such emissions, particularly when it is in an energy crunch.

Also last week, banks and credit card companies, which gave millions of dollars in donations last year to both Democrats and Republicans, saw the Senate approve legislation that would overhaul the U.S. bankruptcy code to make it harder for individuals to erase their debts.

``This has been a classic campaign by special interests on Capitol Hill,'' said Travis Plunkett of the Consumer Federation of America, which opposed the bill as unfair.

``They helped write the legislation, threw money around like it was going out of style, hired the best lobbyists money can buy, donated to Republicans and Democrats and, to no one's surprise, was able to build bipartisan support,'' he said.

Earlier this month, Congress approved and sent to Bush for his promised signature a measure to repeal the workplace rule adopted in the last days of the Clinton administration to reduce repetitive stress injuries.

Republicans charged Clinton approved the rule as a farewell gift to organized labor, a longtime backer of Democrats.

Democrats, in turn, accused Republicans of moving to kill the rule at the behest of the traditionally Republican business community, which helped them win the White House and Congress.

Now the business community and labor are lined up against the campaign finance reform bill, which came before the Senate on Monday for upward of two weeks of consideration.

The measure would ban unregulated and unlimited soft money donations from corporations, labor unions and individuals that go to political parties rather than individual candidates. The measure would also put limits on issue ads.

The outcome of the Senate vote on the bill was very much in doubt and it face a slew of potentially killing amendments.

In the meantime, McCain noted the first two major pieces of legislation to reach the Senate floor this year were both top priorities of business.

``We just haven't had time yet for the education bill,'' McCain said pointedly of the Bush administration measure that lacks any big-money backers. ``I guess later.''

And round and round it goes...

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"I swallowed a lot of agression...along with a lot of pizzas."