Hi Scumbria, here's some more ammunition.
Regards,
Amy J
nydailynews.com
New York Daily News:
Think Bill & Hil Got a Lot?
Hey, Look at What W Took
...Bush was quietly pocketing $100,000 checks from his buddies, and no one raised so much as a fish fork.
The occasion for this generosity was the Bush-Cheney inauguration, and the total collected was more than $40 million. In knickknack terms, that's enough for about 786,000 place settings, 32,000 love seats and a solid-gold doggie dish.
...
Whence came such philanthropy? Let's see. Philip Morris, Chevron and General Motors each gave $100,000. So did Exxon, Enron and good ol' Dow Chemical. Money poured in from energy companies, oil refineries
...
Because this money was paying for the inaugural, donors could argue that their motives were purely patriotic.
Believe that, and I've got a pair of coffee tables I'd like to resell you.
"There is virtually no regulation on contributions to inaugurals," explains Steve Weiss, communications director at The Center for Responsive Politics. This creates a White House-size loophole at the very dawn of a new administration.
It also creates at least the appearance of soft-money shenanigans. Consider that of the 474 individuals Bush appointed to his transition teams, more than half made contributions to the Republicans. |
