http://www.worldpolicy.org/projects/arms
PARTY TIME AT THE DNC Michelle Ciarrocca, Senior Research Associate World Policy Institute August 4, 2004 So much for campaign finance reform, the 2004 presidential election is shaping up to be the most expensive one yet. Analysts predict spending will reach or surpass $1 billion. During the national conventions, politicians and delegates will have their pick of breakfasts, luncheons, dinners, cocktail hours, parties, concerts, golf outings and much, much more as lobbyists, corporations, labor unions and other special interest groups dole out large sums of money for access. Unlimited donations to the national party committees - also known as Soft Money contributions - were banned in 2002, but, as the Washington Post reported, "thanks to a loophole in campaign finance laws, a presidential convention is the one place where corporations and labor unions can still spend with abandon to influence holders of high office." And spending with abandon is just what they're doing. As Charles Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, noted, "Conventions are the Super Bowl of influence." During the Democratic National Convention more than 250 public and private events took place at a myriad of locations - from the usual hotel conference room to Fenway Park, museums, and ships docked in Boston Harbor. According to a study from the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute, while each party gets about $15 million in federal taxpayer money to hold its convention, this year corporate, union and individual private funds to the host committees will exceed $100 million, compared to the $56 million in 2000. Private funds for the Republican National Convention are estimated at $64 million, $39.5 million for the Democratic National Convention. Information on exactly who is giving and how much is somewhat hard to come by, the host committees are not required to disclose their contributors until 60 days after the conventions, though some of the information is available on their respective websites. Boston 2004 lists 162 donors, New York City host committee lists 85, the amount given by each donor is not listed. As The New York Times reported, "There are hosts -- particularly corporations and interest groups -- that do not want the public to hear about how much money they spent to get face time with politicians." Here's a sampling of some of the "key" donors and the events that took place during the Democratic National Convention: Textron Inc. sponsored a lunch for Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) Lockheed Martin sponsored breakfasts for both the North Dakota and New York delegations Rep. Jane Harmon (D-CA) was featured at a brunch sponsored by Boeing, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and SAIC In return for kicking in $100,000 each for a Symphony Hall gala, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Raytheon and the AFL-CIO among others, were promised "a private post-event reception with Senator Kennedy (D-MA)" Two dozen companies sponsored a party with an "Indiana Jones" theme at an Egyptian exhibit at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, including Altria Group (parent company of Philip Morris tobacco), BellSouth, Miller Brewing, Fannie Mae, Sallie Mae, FedEx and DynCorp International "Official Providers" for the DNC convention included IBM, Microsoft, Motorola, and Nextel among others $1+ million donors -- or platinum sponsors -- to the democratic host committee include Blue Cross and Blue Shield, the Boston Foundation, Fidelity Investments, Bank of America, John Hancock Financial Services and Raytheon Corporation Two lobbyists threw a "Caribbean Beach Bash" for Senator John Breaux (D-LA) who's retiring this year. The $300,000 event took place at the Aquarium with music by Ziggy Marley and Buckwheat Zydeco In a special report on the financing of the election for CorpWatch, Bill Mesler notes that "corporate influence has become so pervasive that the very concept of impartial governance has been turned on its head: lobbyists have become government officials; and government officials have become lobbyists." One part of the solution is to get special interest money out of politics by supporting full public financing of presidential and congressional races on the "clean money" model, where candidates can successfully run for office without taking any corporate contributions. Notes and Resources: Ever since the Republicans took control of Congress in January 1995, major weapons contractors have favored them over Democratic candidates by a 2 to 1 margin. And this year is no exception. The Center for Responsive Politics lists the nation's top three weapons contractors among the top 50 overall donors in this election cycle. Northrop Grumman is at #34, donating $1,097,683, 68% of which went to Republican candidates. To date, Lockheed Martin (#44), Boeing (#47) and General Dynamics (#49) have all donated just under $1 million each, with Republicans receiving between 57% and 63%. Check out The Center for Responsive Politics for all the details at http://www.opensecrets.org "The $100 Million Dollar Exemption: Soft Money and the National Party Conventions," from the Campaign Finance Institute, http://www.campaignfinanceinstitute.org/eguide/partyconventions/financing/cfistudy.html "Soft Money Out, Bundling In Corporate Backers Spend More, Get More," by Bill Mesler, Special to CorpWatch, July 22nd, 2004, http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=11460 "The Party's Party," Special Report By Meredith O'Brien, The Center for Public Integrity, http://www.public-i.org/report.aspx?aid=340&sid=200 The Arms Trade Resource Center was established in 1993 to engage in public education and policy advocacy aimed at promoting restraint in the international arms trade.
