Oil, drug firms fund Bush's inauguration
GNS
(Washington, January 18)
THE GLAMOUR and glitz of Saturday's presidential inauguration is largely being funded by the industries which paid nearly $200 million to help get George W. Bush elected -- finance, pharmaceuticals and oil.
The Bush inaugural committee has so far raised more than $17 million for the confetti, champagne and hors d'oeuvres that will be lavished on the party faithful at a constellation of grand balls in Washington.
The committee originally hoped to raise $30 million, and there is still time for donations from aspiring movers-and-shakers in the new court, but so far the total has not matched President Clinton's haul of $33 million for his first inauguration in 1993.
The profile of the donors, however, is not quite the same. Whereas both presidents received a great deal of money from investment houses and banks, who habitually back both horses in presidential races, the Bush inauguration has received disproportionate backing from drug and oil companies.
According to the inauguration website, pharmaceutical and other healthcare corporations have put up a total of $1.7 million -- an impressive amount given that the maximum single payment is supposed to be $100,000, although that rule is frequently broken.
The drugs industry has a lot to celebrate. It backed Mr Bush to the tune of about $4 million in direct contributions during the campaign. And the return on its investment is likely to be a halt to moves to regulate the costs of patented prescription drugs, and a more vigorous campaign against the production of generic substitutes abroad.
Oil companies gave a further $1 million, a reflection of the Bush family's close personal ties to the industry and of the oil companies' excitement at the prospect of opening up the Alaskan wildlife refuge to exploration and drilling, as President-elect Bush has promised.
Sport has also proved a big giver. The New Orleans Saints and the Washington Redskins football teams each gave $100,000, as did the Murdoch-owned Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team and the Major League Baseball Association.
A spokeswoman for the Watchdog Centre for Responsive Politics said that opposition to legislation to stop public money being earmarked for big stadiums could be involved.
The presidential transition continued on Capitol Hill on Wednesday with a series of confirmation hearings for Mr Bush's cabinet nominees.
Among them, John Ashcroft defended his record before sceptical Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, who have argued he is too extreme a right-winger to hold the post of attorney general.
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