NationStates Jolt Archive


GW Bush contributers

Whittier-
24-07-2004, 23:10
Total Receipts: $193,088,650
Total Spent: $185,921,855
Cash on Hand: $7,201,734

Individual contributions of more than $200 $81,260,483 (42.1%)
from the 2000 campaign
Individual contributions of $200 or less $20,260,290 (10.5%)

Federal funds $67,560,000 (35.0%)

PAC contributions $2,229,056 (1.2%)

Candidate self-financing $0

Other $21,778,821 (11.3%)

Full Disclosure $75,743,774 (87.6%)
Incomplete $541,239 (.6%)
No Disclosure $10,207,759 (11.8%)


coporate connections of the Bush cabinet:

Attorney General John Ashcroft = AT&T, Microsoft, Enterprise Rent A Car
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfield= Pharmacia, Motorola, Sears
Homeland Security Tommy Ridge= none (that's right he's the only one not connected to a corporation)
Interior Secretary Gale Norton=Ford Motor company, and two I can't make out
Labor Secretary Elaine Chao = northwest airlines. clorox, bank of america
Secretary of State Colin Powell= America online, Gulfstream (who ever they are)
Treasury Secretary John Snow= CSX, BusinessRoundtable
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta= lockheed martin, United Airlines, Boeing
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson= amtrack, phillip morris, GE
Pharmacia, Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, Ford, have the most influence in the cabinet.

National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice = chevron, charles schwab, transamerica.

the only oil company I found was chevron.


Kraft is a subsidiary of Philip Morris, which contributed $35,000 to Bush
Cargill, the country’s No. 1 grain exporter, which made more than $28,000 in individual contributions to the Bush campaign in 1999-2000.

Charles Cawley, president of MBNA America Bank, a bank that is to credit cards what Coke is to soft drinks,
Cawley would personally raise at least $100,000 for the Bush campaign,
(ha ha those credit cards you are using are funding Bush)
MBNA’s slot as Bush’s single top contributor, with more than $240,000 in contributions from its employees during 1999-2000
Legislation championed for years by MBNA that would make it harder for consumers to wipe away their debts was passed by an overwhelming margin in both chambers of Congress.

energy industry= $2.9 million to Bush
he reversed a campaign pledge to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty aimed at combating global warming.

A wide range of industries support Bush’s trade initiatives, from big agribusiness (such as Archer Daniels Midland, which gave $7,000 to Bush and more than $400,000 in soft money to the GOP in 1999-2000) to big tobacco (such as Philip Morris, which gave $35,000 to Bush and more than $2 million in soft money to the GOP in 1999-2000). The National Association of Manufacturers, which represents 14,000 companies, has long been a proponent of the FTAA.
But despite its strong support of Bush during the presidential campaign, the business community is somewhat disgruntled over the president’s proposal to cut funding for the Export-Import Bank, which gives loans to companies doing business overseas.
(what no govt loans to support corporate outsourcing? Bush is an ahole.)

computer and Internet companies made almost $38.7 million in soft money, PAC and individual contributions (matched only by the energy industry)
The single top recipient of that money was George W. Bush, who took in more than $1.1 million from the high-tech sector—twice what opponent Al Gore did.
Bush hasn’t embraced the industry’s lobbying efforts to make permanent the ban on an Internet sales tax. High-tech’s push to make software a depreciable asset has gone nowhere, and tax credits the industry claims would help reinvigorate its struggling market haven’t gotten much of an audience.
Yet, the industry did score at least one major coup in Bush’s first 100 days. The president’s first budget proposes a permanent extension of the so-called Research and Experimentation tax credit, a corporate subsidy valued big time by the high-tech industry. The price of implementation is about $50 million over the next decade, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

Bush was the top single recipient of contributions from tobacco companies, taking in more than $90,000 from the industry
last January, US Tobacco wrote a $100,000 check to the Bush-Cheney Inaugural Fund.
Months later, the tobacco lawsuit appears to be on its last legs because Bush’s proposed budget doesn’t include enough funding to keep the lawsuit alive.

when it comes to nominating ambassadors for U.S. embassies across the globe, Bush closely resembles his predecessor of rewarding generous campaign contributors and fund-raisers with plum ambassadorships around the world, reserving the more challenging—and less desirable—diplomatic posts for career foreign service officers.
ush’s very first pick was Richard Egan, the chairman and CEO of data storage giant EMC Corp., as ambassador to Ireland. Egan gave a whopping $338,100 to Republican candidates and parties in the 1999-2000 election cycle, in addition to $5,000 to the Bush-Cheney recount effort and $100,000 to the Bush-Cheney Inaugural Fund. Other big donors nominated by Bush as ambassadors include investor Howard Leach to France ($225,559 to GOP candidates and party committees, $5,000 to the Bush-Cheney recount fund, and $100,000 to the inauguration); venture capitalist John Palmer to Portugal ($149,850 to GOP candidates and party committees and $5,000 to the Bush-Cheney recount fund); and investor Mercer Reynolds to Switzerland ($208,673 to GOP candidates and party committees, $5,000 to the Bush-Cheney recount fund, and $100,000 to the inauguration).


the defense industry thus far hasn’t benefited much from its connections
Thus, defense contractors have been left in limbo, wondering about the fate of dozens of once anticipated weapon and equipment purchases, including $300 billion worth of new fighter and cargo planes.

some of Bush’s most generous campaign supporters will benefit from several of his early environmental decisions. Bush received more than $1.8 million in individual and PAC contributions from the oil and gas industry in 1999-2000. He got another $1.3 million from the automotive industry, and nearly $300,000 from the timber industry.
bush will be opening up the gulf coast of Florida to oil exploration
(not the alaska wildlife refuge)

Bush was a top recipient of campaign contributions from the HMO industry during the 2000 elections, receiving more than $60,000 in individual and PAC donations.
he president was also a top recipient of donations from the pharmaceutical industry (nearly half a million dollars in 1999-2000), which has been lobbying against expanding Medicare to include a prescription drug benefit.
Bush has proposed $153 billion over the next ten years to address the problem of rising prescription drug costs, a move critics call a "stop gap" measure that falls far short of the $1.5 trillion the Congressional Budget Office estimated would be necessary to address the problem. The Senate responded by doubling Bush’s proposed spending plan to $300 billion.

What it is that the interests want? Oil companies, for one, want to reduce the royalties they pay to the government for drilling on federal land. Restaurants want a tax break for business meals—also called the "three martini lunch"—which Washington’s lobbyist community certainly supports. Insurance companies want to write off losses by affiliates against their profits, and beer makers want to dump what they call the "beer tax," a 1991 tax that adds about $18 to each keg of beer.

ush collected nearly $800,000 in 1999-2000 from the entertainment industry, which includes television and radio stations, television production, movie production and recorded music production.
Murdoch’s News Corp. made more than $630,000 in soft money contributions in 1999-2000, more than 80 percent of it to Republican party committees.

the president became an instant hero in the airline industry, which anted up more than $6.9 million in soft money, PAC and individual contributions during 1999-2000. Bush was the top single recipient of that money, with more than $180,000 in contributions—not surprising since one of the industry’s best known CEOs was one of his top fund-raisers.

Last January, Donald Carty, chairman of American Airlines, personally delivered a $100,000 check from the company to the Bush-Cheney Inaugural Fund. The Texas-based airline currently is the subject of an antitrust suit brought against it in 1999 by the Justice Department, a suit that is scheduled to head to court in May. American also is trying to finalize its merger with TWA, the subject of an anticipated strike by American’s mechanics this summer.


Now for the top contributers to the Bush Campaign: dollar amounts are contributions to Bush campaign

Alex. G. Spanos Chair, A. G. Spanos Companies Industry: Real Estate $877,450

Sam Fox CEO & Chair, Harbour Group Industry: Finance
$831,733

Kenneth Lay Chair & CEO, Enron Corp. Industry: Energy & Natural Resources $574,550

Tom & Nancy Loeffler Lobbyist, Arter & Hadden Industry: Lawyers & Lobbyists $495,424

Louis A. Beecherl, Jr. Owner, Beecherl Investments Industry: Energy & Natural Resources $446,350

Richard & Nancy Kinder Chair & CEO, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners Industry: Energy & Natural Resources $408,759

John N. Palmer, Sr. Chair, GulfSouth Capital, Inc. Industry: Finance
$368,300

Heinz C. Prechter Chair, Prechter Holdings Industry: Transportation
$337,337

John Price Chair & CEO, J P Realty Inc Industry: Real Estate
$335,792

Clifford Sobel President, Net2Phone Industry: Communications
$330,958

http://www.opensecrets.org/2000elect/other/bush/pioneers.asp
Knight Of The Round
24-07-2004, 23:14
This is all well and good. But Kerry gets his money the same damn way.
Whittier-
24-07-2004, 23:34
Bush became President on January 20, 2001 as the winner of one of the closest general elections in U.S. history, defeating Democratic Vice President Al Gore in 30 of 50 states for a narrow victory by five electoral votes. Gore won a plurality of the nationwide popular vote by approximately 540,000 votes out of 105 million, a margin of barely one-half of one percent.
It was the first presidential election since the 1888 election in which a candidate lost the popular vote while winning the electoral college vote.
Gore won a plurality of the nationwide popular vote by barely one-half of one percent

President Bush briefly enjoyed approval ratings of greater than 85 percent, the highest approval ratings of any president since such measurements began in 1938.


Bush is extremely unpopular in most of the world outside the U.S., with many holding a dislike of his person and policies - even amongst a significant part of the populations of U.S. allies such as the UK. He is quite often seen as the personification of all that people dislike about the US, cf. anti-American sentiment.

Bush's foreign policy is influenced by the goal to promote American global leadership as promoted by the right-wing think tank Project for the New American Century, many of whose members have prominent positions in the Bush administration. In addition, he promotes to spread democracy in many parts of the world.

During his campaign, Bush's foreign policy platform included support of a stronger economic and political relationship with Latin America, especially Mexico, and a reduction in involvement in "nation-building" and other small-scale military engagements.
(nothing was said about IRaq)

During his first presidential visit to Europe in June 2001, Bush came under criticism from European leaders for his rejection of the Kyoto treaty, which is aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming.
However, Former President Clinton recommended that his successor (Mr. Bush) not submit the treaty for ratification until the wording was altered to reflect U.S. concerns.

In July of 2002, Bush cut off US$34 million in funding for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), because money from those funds was being used to force women to have abortions against their will

Iraq policy:
Beginning with the Iraq Liberation Act signed into law by President Clinton in 1998, the U.S. government officially called for regime change in Iraq.
The Republican Party's campaign platform of 2000 called for "full implementation" of the act and removal of Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein
In November of 2001, Bush asked Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to begin developing a plan for war. By early 2002 Bush began publicly pressing for regime change, indicating that his government had reason to believe that the Iraqi government had ties to terrorist groups, was developing weapons of mass destruction and did not cooperate sufficiently with United Nations weapons inspectors. In January of 2003, Bush was convinced that diplomacy was not working and started notifying allies such as Saudi Arabia that war was imminent.
the war was ultimately launched in March 2003 Bush in a speech March 17 effectively had declared war on Iraq, and had declared his objectives as "assuring [the] national security" of the United States, and "no more poison factories, no more executions of dissidents, no more torture chambers and rape rooms."
Both in the U.S. and in the rest of the world there were numerous anti-war protests, particularly before the war's onset, who claimed Saddam had the right to torture his own people and threaten america with WMDs.

Bush has maintained a desire to resume the peace process in Israel, and openly proclaimed his desire for a Palestinian state to be created before 2005.

Bush has tended to be opposed to forms of affirmative action, but expressed appreciation for the Supreme Court's ruling upholding selecting college applicants for purposes of diversity, a ruling many conservatives balked at.

During Bush's presidency, the U.S. population has risen by about three million people per year.
The household survey, asking individuals whether they have a job, shows that the number of jobs has risen by 450,000.

Bush signed the Medicare Act of 2003, which added prescription drug coverage to Medicare and provided a financial boost to the companies that sell these drugs. Critics claim that health care plans still are not affordable for those in lower income brackets; Bush states his policies offered more choice and help with the high costs of health care.

The Bush administration's plan to allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was rejected twice by the U.S. Senate in 2002 for environmental concerns.
Bush supports the Clear Skies Act of 2003 which, according to the EPA, will provide reductions in emissions of pollutants "faster, with more certainty and at less cost to America's consumers than would current law
The EPA reports that air quality has declined in recent years.
Squornshelous
24-07-2004, 23:56
Bush became President on January 20, 2001 as the winner of one of the closest general elections in U.S. history, defeating Democratic Vice President Al Gore in 30 of 50 states for a narrow victory by five electoral votes.

Not true. Bush did not win Florida. Research shows that if a full recount had been conducted, it would have shown that Gore won the state. However, the governor of Florida was Bush's little brother, and the person in charge of recounts was about to be appointed to Bush's cabinet.
West Moon
25-07-2004, 00:05
Not true. Bush did not win Florida. Research shows that if a full recount had been conducted, it would have shown that Gore won the state. However, the governor of Florida was Bush's little brother, and the person in charge of recounts was about to be appointed to Bush's cabinet.
No. Cause the votes by criminals would have been included and the votes by the military would have been barred from being counted.
Purly Euclid
25-07-2004, 00:26
Whittier, you were perplexed about what Gulfstream was. Gulfstream makes their signature Gulfstream jets. They are extremely high-end executive jets at $40 million a pop.
Whittier-
25-07-2004, 01:29
Whittier, you were perplexed about what Gulfstream was. Gulfstream makes their signature Gulfstream jets. They are extremely high-end executive jets at $40 million a pop.
So basically the airline industry giving even more money to bush.