Hightower Lowdown

The problem with cleaning up Corporate America is that those doing the cleaning keep getting filthy with Corporate America’s money.

In July, for example, Democratic House leader Dick Gephardt—who is publicly outraged by the corrupt practices of WorldCom, Enron, and all the rest—privately charged $5,000 per ticket to corporate lobbyists for a fundraising reception.

Likewise, a half-dozen Republican Senators who are part of George W.’s born-again crusade against corporate evildoers played courtesans to corporate lobbyists, who paid $15,000 each to spend time with the senators at a posh resort.

It’s business as usual and hypocrisy on steroids. Both parties rationalize their money-grubbing by claiming that they’re only milking the “white hat” corporations—not the bad guys.

Forget the color of the CEO’s hat; it’s corporate power itself that’s out of whack, encouraging CEOs to be self-serving and corrupt. Practically every corporation coming to these fundraisers is guilty of con-taminating our air and water, mugging workers, dodging their fair share of taxes, stiffing farmers and small business, lying to consumers, and generally running roughshod over all of us.