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Hightower Lowdown
"The difference between fact and fiction is that fiction must be believable."--Mark Twain
In This Issue
Roberts jumps to serve his favorite constituency, on the quiet
Supreme Court considers vast increase in the political power of corporations
Also in this issue:
- Corporate personhood
- STARBUCKS DISOWNS ITSELF
- GUN ADVOCATES IN CONGRESS
- MAX BAUCUS'S CORPORATE SPONSORS
Do Something!
July's Lowdown
Big biz wants to own the information superhighway while We the People bump along the backroads
In the 1970s, Lily Tomlin developed an iconic comic character she named Ernestine--a telephone clerk who took perverse pleasure from hectoring customers. Her character was a perfect portrayal of the arrogance of AT&T, the monopolistic telephone giant of that day. In one skit on on the TV show, Laugh-In, Tomlin had Ernestine delivering a TV pitch for the corporation:
"A gracious hello," she cheerfully began, speaking directly into the camera. "Here at the Phone Company, we handle 84 billion calls a year. So, we realize that every so often, you can't get an operator, or for no apparent reason your phone goes out of order, or perhaps you get charged for a call you didn't make. We don't care!"
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MAX BAUCUS'S CORPORATE SPONSORS
Max Baucus chairs the Senate Finance Committee that is presently grinding out its version of a health-care reform bill. This has made the Montana Democrat a very popular guy--not with consumer advocates, but with lobbyists for the insurance, hospital, drug, and other corporate powers fighting furiously against any real reform.
These special interests are throwing money at Max, and to make it easy for them, the chairman has events at which he accepts love offerings. In February, as he began the bill-writing process, he invited corporate check-writers to a $10,000-per-table celebration of himself at a ritzy Washington hotel.
Then, in May, Baucus had an intimate dinner in a San Francisco mansion with about 20 keenly attentive corporate executives. They had ponied up at least $10,000 each to share chicken cordon bleu with the chairman and coo softly about the sexier side of co-pays and cost containment. Next came Max's annual "fly-fishing and golfing weekend" in Big Sky, Montana, attracting guests who donated a minimum of $2,500. You probably weren't invited, but every health industry lobbyist was.
Baucus knows about conflict of interest--he drew a sharp ethical line on June 1, declaring that he would refuse donations from health-care PACs until after the reform legislation is passed. Does this ban include contributions from health-industry lobbyists and executives? Don't be silly--no need for ethical extremism.
Max is cashing in because--well, because he can. As an amiably- corrupt Texas state senator once said of the sacks of money he received: "I seen my chances, and I took 'em."