Subject: "It's the American Way,".......
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 062212 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Roy L. Beavers" <rbeavers@llion.org>
To: emfguru@hotmail.com
--------------------------------------------------
"It's the American way," said Senator Trent Lott (the Republican's
"titular" leader...)......That was in some earlier messages I sent....
But, after reading below, I'm sure you will have a better idea about
what he meant.....In part!!!!!.............
You may want to forward this to your congressman/senator and tell 'em:
"Come off it!!! This amounts to nothing more nor less than legalized
bribery"........Then -- vote 'em out of office in the next election if
they don't pay any attention to you.............
There is nothing so corrective/cleansing of our political processes
as an election that votes a lot of people out of office.......Judging
by the last time we did that, though, the effect does wear off too
quickly! It is my 'professional judgment' that the average congressman
has a memory span of about 6 months -- that is, from the day after he is
elected ... until he forgets........guru.......
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 06:05:10 -0500 (CDT)
_________________________________________________________________
07:38 PM ET 07/20/98
U.S. tobacco firms offered Republicans flights - study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican congressional leaders and
their committees took dozens of flights last year on U.S.
tobacco company jets, according to a report released by
congressional Democrats Monday.
The tobacco industry provided far more subsidized travel to
Republicans than other industries did, the report said, with
much of it occurring as tobacco firms sought legislation to
protect them from mounting lawsuits.
``No other industry has provided nearly as much subsidized
campaign travel as the tobacco industry,'' said the report by
Democrats on the House Government Reform and Oversight
Committee.
The planes carried Republican lawmakers to destinations from
New York City to San Diego, the report found. The investigation
was headed by Rep. Henry Waxman of California, the senior
Democrat on the panel.
Investigators said they found no reports of Democrats
traveling on tobacco company jets between January 1997 and the
end of May 1998, the period covered by the study.
Lawmakers and campaign committees must pay companies the
equivalent of first-class airfare to the same destinations, but
private jet travel offers added convenience and luxury, the
report said.
The actual cost of chartering the jet can be much higher
than the first-class airfare, constituting a ``de facto
corporate contribution and a tremendous benefit to the member or
political party,'' it said.
If the destination was not served by a commercial airline,
the lawmakers paid a charter rate and the companies picked up
the extra costs, the report said.
The Republican-led Senate last month killed a comprehensive
anti-smoking bill that would have raised cigarette prices by
$1.10 a pack.
Rep. Tom Barrett, a Wisconsin Democrat and member of the
Government Reform and Oversight Committee, called Monday for
legislation to close the corporate jet loophole in campaign
finance laws.
``Corporations and unions give their planes, their pilots,
their jet fuel and other perks to politicians in exchange for
unlimited access and a fraction of operating costs,'' Barrett
said.
Barrett's amendment to campaign finance legislation -- that
would have required candidates and politicians to reimburse
corporations for flights at the charter rate instead of the
first-class rate -- died earlier this year.
According to the report, Republican-controlled entities made
236 payments for travel to corporations during the 17 months of
Federal Election Commission disclosures studied, 84 of which
went to the tobacco industry.
The second biggest provider of subsidized travel to
congressional leaders and parties during the 1998 election cycle
was the health care industry, which is also involved in a major
battle over legislation on Capitol Hill and received 36
disbursements for travel.
According to FEC disclosure reports, the Republican National
Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the
National Republican Congressional Committee, and the Republican
congressional leadership and their political action committees
were responsible for all 84 disbursements to tobacco firms.
Republicans criticized the report and said there was no
problem with the travel. Lawmakers often use the private jets to
arrange campaign travel that would be difficult on commercial
flights.
^REUTERS@
Archive provided courtesy of WaveGuide, http://www.wave-guide.org
Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.feb.se/EMF-L/EMF-L.html