| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Arther Miller" |
| Date: |
10 Aug 2003 09:33:26 AM |
| Object: |
New Web Site Launched to Track Bush Presidential Campaign's Donors |
August 8, 2003
[What follows is a press release regarding the launch of a new Web
site
co-developed and managed by Public Citizen. The project is not one of
the Critical Mass division; however, the information contained on the
site will be very useful to energy activists. -Joe Malherek]
___________
*** P R E S S R E L E A S E ***
For Immediate Release: August 8, 2003
Contact: Shannon Little (202) 588-7742; Angela Bradbery (202)
588-7741; Booth Gunter (202) 588-7703
New Web Site Launched to Track Bush Presidential Campaign's Donors,
Fundraising Activities and Political Favors
WhiteHouseForSale.org [ http://www.whitehouseforsale.org/ ] Contains
Complete List of Rangers, Pioneers
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Public Citizen, in conjunction with Texans for
Public Justice, today launched a new Web site to track the
special-interest contributions to President Bush's 2004 re-election
campaign and analyze the record of favoritism, conflicts-of-interest
and
influence peddling related to those contributions.
The WhiteHouseForSale.org Web site, which is managed by Public
Citizen,
focuses on Bush's fundraising activities because he is the only major
candidate who has opted out of the public financing system during the
primaries. Bush has done so because he believes he can collect at
least
$200 million during the primary season - nearly five times the amount
a
candidate who remains in the public financing system can raise and
spend.
The interactive Web site is being launched the day before hundreds of
Bush's major fund raisers gather in Crawford, Texas, for a barbecue,
pat
on the back and pep talk. Public Citizen and Texans for Public Justice
are also holding a news conference on Saturday, August 9, at 11 a.m.
CDT
in Crawford, along the road that many of Bush's major fund raisers,
known as "Rangers" and "Pioneers," will travel to get to the barbecue.
The news conference will be held in front of a 12-foot-tall inflatable
replica of the White House with a "White House for Sale" sign hung on
it.
"President Bush seems to take great pleasure in his administration's
selling of access and doling out of favors to contributors," said
Frank
Clemente, director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch. "We hope this
Web
site will help the American public wake up to the auction that's
taking
place benefiting the wealthiest Americans and greediest special
interests, and demand that it be stopped."
Much of Bush's funding will come from wealthy donors and interest
groups that bundle $2,000 contributions from many individuals. Those
who
raise $200,000 this way are designated as "Rangers" by the Bush
campaign; those who raise $100,000 are designated as "Pioneers." There
were about 550 Pioneers in Bush's 2000 campaign. The Ranger category
is
new for 2004, now that individual donors can double their
contributions,
and the number of Rangers and Pioneers is expected to grow
considerably
in the 2004 campaign. Rangers and Pioneers and the interests they
represent have much at stake in Washington - legislation, regulations,
government contracts and executive branch appointments.
For the site, Texans for Public Justice provided a searchable database
of the Rangers and of Pioneers from both the 2004 and 2000 campaigns.
The database, available in the Contributors and Paybacks and the
Rangers
and Pioneers sections, contains each donor's name, home state,
occupation, employer and industry, as well as any federal offices the
donor has been appointed to. In the future, the Web site will provide
profiles of many of the donors and investigative studies of Bush
campaign donors and the favors they have won or sought from the
administration. WhiteHouseForSale.org, which will be updated daily,
also
has:
7 A Daily Weblog that summarizes the latest news stories and reports
about Bush campaign fundraising activities, donors and political
favors.
7 A "Dash for Cash" section that features a "contribution meter" with
a
running total of how much the Bush campaign has raised, and a
comprehensive list of all past and planned Bush fundraisers across the
country.
7 A "Get Involved" section that educates and mobilizes the public
about
significant reforms needed in the presidential public financing system
to limit the influence of wealthy donors and special interests.
Viewers
also may sign up for an e-mail listserv.
7 An "Understand this Issue" section that outlines the history and
philosophy of the public financing system, how public financing of
presidential campaigns operates and the significant problems with the
current campaign finance system, in part exemplified by Bush's
all-time-record campaign fundraising operations.
One of the top industries pouring money into Bush's re-election effort
is the finance industry. According to an analysis by Texans for Public
Justice, the finance industry accounts for a third of Bush's new
Pioneers and Rangers who were not part of the 2000 election effort. A
separate analysis by Public Citizen shows that six of the biggest
names
on Wall Street are among Bush's 68 Rangers and Pioneers in the 2004
campaign.
The Public Citizen analysis also estimates that the personal tax
savings from the Bush tax cut that will be reaped by just two Rangers
and one Pioneer, each of whom heads a Wall Street firm, total $1.9
million this year. Their firms will also reap a huge financial
windfall. The 2003 Bush tax cut, which significantly reduced the
dividend tax rate and the capital gains tax rate, was the No. 1
priority
of Wall Street firms this year.
Further, if Bush is re-elected, the finance industry has a shot at
another long-sought piece of legislation: Social Security
privatization.
Pushing people into private retirement plans and away from Social
Security would be a bonanza for the industry.
To read Public Citizen's analysis, go to
http://www.whitehouseforsale.org/ . To view the information from
Texans for Public Justice, go to www.tpj.org.
###
Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization
based in Washington, D.C., with an office in Austin. For more
information, please visit www.citizen.org. Texans for Public Justice
is
a nonpartisan, nonprofit policy and research organization that tracks
the influence of money in politics.
For more information, please visit www.tpj.org.
**********
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To learn more about this and other Public Citizen Critical Mass Energy
and Environment Program campaigns, visit our website at
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/
-Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program
.
|
|
| User: "DJ" |
|
| Title: Re: New Web Site Launched to Track Bush Presidential Campaign's Donors |
10 Aug 2003 11:57:15 AM |
|
|
WhiteHouseForSale.org [ http://www.whitehouseforsale.org/ ] Contains
Complete List of Rangers, Pioneers
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Public Citizen, in conjunction with Texans for
Public Justice, today launched a new Web site to track the
First, there is justice in Texas and Texas citizens actually care!
Texas citizens actually are alive and care! Okay, let me catch my
breath here...
Whoa!
No, looks like an interesting site. I also like these sites:
http://www.tompaine.com
http://www.failureisimpossible.com/needtoknow/campaignslogans.htm
http://www.motherjones.com/
http://www.thenation.com/
http://www.truthout.org/index.htm
http://www.mikehersh.com/
http://www.accuracy.org/
http://www.clearchannelsucks.org/
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/
http://www.oreilly-sucks.com/
http://www.jgestiot.com/articles/index.php?id=1
http://www.publicintegrity.org/dtaweb/home.asp
http://www.au.org/
http://www.symbolman.com/shames.html
http://www.whodieswhopayswhoprofits.com/
http://www.winwithoutwarus.org/html/action.html
http://www.mediawhoresonline.com/
http://www.fairtaxesforall.org/
http://www.bushwatch.com/
DJ
--
.
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