November 8, 2000 UNITED STATES Money governs the White House and Congress BY SONIA SANCHEZ (Granma International staff writer) A bitterly fought U.S. election between two lackluster candidates, George W. Bush and Al Gore, has gone down in history as the most expensive ever. It also marked a continuation of the U.S. public's habitual abstention and disinterest in the country's electoral process. At times, the force of the attacks made in political advertising has been surprising, but it has never really captured the people 's imagination. The estimated $3 billion USD spent on election campaigning in the world's most powerful country has not surprised people around the world. Money has allowed Congressional legislation to be manipulated in order to step up the blockade against Cuba, as was the case with the agricultural budget bill which, while pretending to relax the U.S. economic war against Cuba, has in fact made it more severe. At the close of this edition, a recount was taking place in Florida (considered the key to the White House), according to CNN, after a sealed ballot box was discovered in a schoolyard. Uncertainty therefore continues as to who will be the White House's new occupant, after an election in which around 51% of the electorate cast their vote, according to reports from Italian news agency ANSA. GRANMA INTERNATIONAL/ ONLINE EDITION
