-Caveat Lector-
First You Give Money, Then You Give Advice
Sunday, December 31, 2000
By GENARO C. ARMAS
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - After giving their money, some donors
to President-elect Bush's campaign now get the chance to
advise him on how to restructure the federal government.
Campaign finance watchdogs say naming donors who helped
Bush build his record $100 million campaign war chest to the
"transition advisory teams" amounts to political payback,
and sends a message the public has to pay up to be heard.
Bush aides counter the 474 advisory team members will not
be paid, include many non-donors from diverse
backgrounds, and will have no access to government
agencies or non-public documents.
Either way, the practice is not unusual during a presidential
transition, said Charles Lewis, executive director of the
Center for Public Integrity, a government watchdog group.
"Having given money to the campaign and party helps
assure that they will be at the table to be heard," Lewis said
Saturday. "That's how the process works in Washington ...
the Bush team isn't different in that regard."
An Associated Press review of campaign finance records
found that donor names on Bush advisory teams included:
Kenneth L. Lay, chief executive officer of the Houston-based
energy giant Enron Corp. once in the running to be Bush's
treasury secretary; California venture capitalist E. Floyd
Kvamme; and Michael Carvin, the lawyer who represented
Bush during the recount case in the Florida Supreme Court.
-Enron and its employees have given more money to Bush's
various campaigns than anyone else, according to the
Center for Public Integrity. Lay is on the energy advisory
committee.
-Kvamme gave $1,000 to Bush's campaign, Federal Election
Commission records show. He and his wife donated $50,000
each this year to the Republican National Committee's state
elections committee.
-Carvin, a former deputy attorney general in the Justice
Department during the Reagan administration, gave $1,000.
He and two other attorneys from Carvin's
Washington-based law firm, Cooper, Carvin & Rosenthal,
PLLC, were named to the Justice advisory team.
"This is the candidate who raised the most money ... so of
course, you'll have those powerful forces coming around,"
Lewis said. "(Donors) were making an investment in the
future for their interest groups. This is payback time."
Former Rep. Bill Paxon, R-N.Y., who will chair the overall
advisory committee, said: "The goal here is to try to provide
the incoming administration with a variety of viewpoints,
ideas and suggestions."
Other notable names on the lists include: Minnesota Gov.
Jesse Ventura, who will serve on the advisory committee on
trade relations; Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, a leading
spokesman during the Florida recount battle who will sit on
the Interior advisory committee; and former Tennessee Gov.
Lamar Alexander, who will advise on the education
committee.
Also included: the Rev. Floyd Flake, a former Democratic
congressman once considered a candidate to be Bush's
education secretary; and National Urban League President
Hugh B. Price, who gave $1,000 to Democrat Al Gore's
presidential campaign. Flake and Price will serve on the
education committee.
"It's a diverse group. There are Democrats who opposed us
on the committee," Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said
Saturday. "It's hard to pay back people who opposed you."
In today's political environment, "All of this is prelude of the
promise of a new administration, and these are people who
clearly want to establish friendly relations," said Larry
Makinson, executive director of the Center for Responsive
Politics, a nonpartisan research group that studies campaign
finance.
Bush also did not forget South Carolina supporters who
helped save his campaign during a bitter primary battle there
against Arizona Sen. John McCain. Attorney General Charlie
Condon and state House Speaker David Wilkins will serve on
the Justice transition committee.
The size of Bush's transition apparatus pales in comparison
to past presidents. For example, President Reagan was
reported to have the largest transition operation ever -
1,000 people on teams that established parallel
governments at each department.
Before President Clinton took office in 1993, aides said they
expected his entire transition staff to total 600 or more.
---
On the Net:
Bush transition site: http://www.bushcheneytransition.com
Center for Public Integrity: http://www.publicintegrity.org/
Center for Responsive Politics:
http://www.opensecrets.org/index.asp
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