THIS IS 'DEMOCRACY'?
Big business fills Bush, Gore election coffers
By
Monica Moorehead
What has been the single biggest issue dominating
discussions about the 2000 elections in the capitalist media
?
The skyrocketing costs of health care for the poor and the
elderly? The alarming rise of police brutality? Or maybe the
racist use of the death penalty against people of color?
Surprise, surprise. It is none of these or other important
social issues affecting the masses of people in this
country.
The most talked-about issue so far has been the exorbitant
amount of private money being raised by the big-business
politicians--especially Republican presidential front runner
Gov. George W. Bush of Texas.
To date, Bush has raised close to $37 million for his
campaign--a record amount.
Where did all of this money come from? Two hundred
sources.
But not just any 200 sources. These sources just happen to
belong to the most exclusive club--the top echelon of the
Fortune 500 corporations.
The Bush campaign enriched its coffers by $5 million from
the richest state: California. Close to a million dollars in
contributions came from some of the most influential computer
executives in the Silicon Valley area. That region is the home
to the world's most technologically advanced Internet software
and semiconductor transnational corporations.
Some of these Bush financial supporters include Gordon E.
Moore, co-founder of Intel Corp.; Robert J. Herbold, executive
vice president of Microsoft Corp.; Ray Lane, president of
Oracle Corp.; and John T. Chambers, chief executive officer of
Cisco Systems, Inc.
While a handful of computer engineers and technicians are
paid handsomely for their skills in this strategic region,
these same corporations pay millions of workers in the
developing countries--especially young women of color--slave
wages to make vital computer chips and semiconductors. The
surplus value stolen from these workers is a source of great
profits for these billionaire executives.
The Republicans have been the most favored capitalist party
of the U.S. ruling class since the demise of Reconstruction in
the last century. Bush, the son of the former president, comes
from a Big Oil ruling-class family.
Democratic candidate Al Gore, who also comes from a rich
family, has raised almost $19 million for his campaign--no
small change by any stretch of the imagination. The Republican
and Democratic presidential nominees will receive $67.3 million
in public money after their respective conventions next year.
This money comes from the taxpayers.
This election campaign is shaping up to be similar to
previous ones. The real issues were overshadowed by which
candidate, like a Steve Forbes or a Ross Perot, can buy an
election using their deep, deep pockets.
The last elections, which cost an estimated $400 million,
were diverted into which politician could personally slander
the other instead of raising the real issues. This $400 million
price tag amounts to the sum total of a number of developing
countries' gross national product.
Bush is reportedly going to refuse matching federal funds.
This means that he can spend as much money as he wants during
the primaries and caucuses, while other candidates with less
money will have to adhere to state-to-state spending
restrictions under the federal election law.
Besides any private money raised, each candidate is expected
to receive millions of dollars more in financial contributions
termed "soft money." These are funds raised outside the
confines of the federal election law limits. The funds mostly
come from not-for-profit organizations like the AFL-CIO.
Where does all of this campaign spending leave the masses?
In the cold.
The capitalist government claims that it plans to bring
campaign spending under control, but the current reform
legislation is stalled. It is no wonder when you consider that
the capitalist politicians exist to administer the capitalist
state on behalf of big business.
Millions of people, those enfranchised and disenfranchised,
are duped into believing that voting in the presidential
elections every four years is the most precious freedom under a
bourgeois democracy. In reality, the elections are shameful
displays, attempting to portray pro-capitalist politicians as
real, compassionate choices for the masses.
How can anyone think that Bush cares about the masses when
he is the governor of the state with the most prisoners on
death row? Gore is also an advocate of the death penalty. And
he has been the target of AIDS activists around the country.
This is due to his pivotal role on behalf of the giant
pharmaceutical monopolies to keep the price of AIDS drugs high,
especially in countries like South Africa where about one-third
of the population is either HIV-positive or has AIDS.
Both Bush and Gore supported the 78-day genocidal U.S./NATO
bombing campaign against Yugoslavia and the current imperialist
occupation of Kosovo. In the end, is there any fundamental
difference between these two candidates? Not at all.
Moorehead ran as the 1996 presidential candidate on the
Workers World Party ticket. Gloria LaRiva was her
vice-presidential running mate.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
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