Hightower Lowdown
"Everybody does better when everybody does better." -- Jim's dad, W.F. "High" Hightower
In This Issue
Some random thoughts on the 2004 Presidential race
December's Lowdown
The many REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL after Election Day 2008
After casting her ballot for Barack Obama, Amanda Jones said simply, "I feel good about voting for him." Ms. Jones, of Cedar Creek, Texas (a town just south of Austin), is African-American, and what gives her vote some historic punch is that she's 109 years old. Her father was a slave. Her mother was born right after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. She's been through it all--Jim Crow segregation, women's suffrage, the Great Depression, the poll tax, FDR, the civil-rights movement, desegregation, 13 years of George W (five as guv, eight as prez), and now: Barack Obama. This last change fills her with joy, she says.
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Buying the public policy
Let's hear a word from our sponsors. Yes, the good folks who pay for the campaigns of George W. and most of the Democratic presidential contenders should be acknowledged before next year's vote.
Of course, the corporate big spenders and the politicos they purchase insist that nothing is being bought, that the corporations putting up $100,000 to a million bucks each only want "good government.? If you believe that, Pollyanna, you should check out something called "Internal Political Party Documents? at this website: www.campaignlegalcenter. org. Here you'll find the smoking quid pro quo between the corporate contributors and the political contributees of both parties.
Example: A letter from the Republican Party chairman to the drug giant Bristol- Myers Squibb requesting $250,000. Does the letter promise "good government?? Not exactly-it encloses the GOP's health-care proposal, asking Bristol-Myers for any changes they'd like to make! The politico says to the CEO, "We must keep the lines of communication open if we want to continue passing legislation that will benefit your industry.?
There's another letter from the Republican Party's finance chairman to the chairman of Global Crossing, the corrupt telecommunications giant that, at the time, was pushing for a federal O.K. of an upcoming merger. As an ante, Global Crossing had pledged $100,000 to the party, with a promise to hike it to $250,000 if the merger went through. Surprise-it did! So the finance chairman wrote back to the corporate guy: "I am taking the liberty of enclosing an invoice for the additional upgrade.?
This corporate money is not buying "good government,? and it's not buying "access?-it's buying corruption. To stop it, call Public Campaign: 202-293-0222.