-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Companies Spending Big Bucks During Conventions
Date: Sun, 16 Jul 2000 16:07:40 -0400
From: Nurev Ind Research <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Organization: Nurev Independent Research
Companies Spending Big Bucks During Conventions
to Protect Their Interests
Sunday, July 16, 2000
By JONATHAN D. SALANT, Associated Press
From AT&T to General Motors, big companies hoping to protect
their federal subsidies from budget cuts are helping pay for
cocktail receptions, posh dinners and other glitz at both
political parties' conventions.
Some of the donors have anted up as much as $1 million to
each the Republican and Democratic host committees that are
arranging the entertainment and transportation at the
quadrennial events.
The donations allow them to sow good will among the federal,
state and local officials who will attend the GOP event in
Philadelphia later this month and the Democrats' bash in Los
Angeles in August.
The companies' good deeds will not go unnoticed. Their names
will be proudly displayed as "primary partners," "platinum
and gold benefactors" and "trustees" in the convention
programs and on the literature and placards on display at the
events where executives can hobnob with Washington's elite.
The companies say their motive is simply to advance democracy
and help defray the cost of staging the massive events.
"We support the democratic process," Lockheed Martin
spokesman James Fetig said.
Others locked in the battle to cut what they see as wasteful
federal subsidies to wealthy companies - the critics call it
"corporate welfare" - suspect another motive.
"One has got to be a moron and extremely na�ve to believe
that the wealthy corporations are contributing hundreds of
millions of dollars just for the fun of it," said Rep.
Bernard Sanders, an independent from Vermont who has led the
battle against the subsidies.
The Democratic and Republican parties each get $13.5 million
in tax dollars to pay for their conventions.
But the government allows corporations, unions and
individuals to donate unlimited amounts - and get a tax
deduction - to convention host committees.
Eight of the 15 companies that have donated to both
conventions' host committees benefit from the federal
programs that some lawmakers are trying to kill. They also
have substantial other business pending with the government,
from contracts to regulatory issues.
GM and DaimlerChrysler have made sizable donations at a time
when they are fighting efforts to trim programs that fund
their research and development.
Last month, the House voted, 214-211, to cut $126.5 million,
or about half the budget, from the Partnership for a New
Generation of Vehicles, a joint venture between the
government and the automakers to develop a car that gets 80
miles per gallon. The Senate has not decided yet whether to
go along.
GM, which has received $8.7 million under the program,
contributed more than $1 million to each convention's host
committee. DaimlerChrysler, which has gotten $19.7 million,
is supporting each with $250,000 contributions.
Both car companies also have received millions of dollars
under the Commerce Department's Advanced Technology Program,
which uses federal and private dollars to develop new
products and is another target of the budget cutters.
GM donated 400 cars to each convention. "We consider that a
marketing opportunity, making our vehicles available to an
important group of people," spokesman William Noack said.
Several other beneficiaries of the Commerce program also are
big givers to both conventions, including communications
giants AT&T, which has given $1 million to both conventions,
and Verizon, the former Bell Atlantic, which has contributed
$1 million for Philadelphia and $100,000 for Los Angeles.
Another target of the corporate subsidy cutters is the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation, which provides loans
and insurance for companies doing business in developing
countries. One OPIC customer is McDonald's, which has
contributed $50,000 to the Philadelphia convention and
$25,000 for Los Angeles. Another is the insurance giant
American International Group, a $1 million donor for Los
Angeles and a $500,000 donor for Philadelphia.
Keith Ashdown, a spokesman for Taxpayers for Common Sense, an
advocacy group that supports cutting corporate subsidies,
worries about the effect of such donations.
"It is no secret that money that goes to grease the wheels of
these political conventions makes it difficult to stop the
corporate welfare machine," Ashdown said.
But another opponent of the subsidies disagrees, saying
constituent concerns often drive lawmakers' interests more
than political money.
"Members don't look past the fact that a corporation might
have employees in their district, might have subcontractors
in their district," said Rep. Joseph Hoeffel, D-Pa. "One
man's corporate welfare is another man's desperately needed
government program."
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