[Dialogue] Special Favors for Special Interests

Tue Apr 18 12:33:38 EDT 2006

AlterNet

Special Favors for Special Interests

By Molly Ivins, AlterNet
Posted on April 11, 2006, Printed on April 18, 2006
http://www.alternet.org/story/34807/

We need to keep up with the daily drip, that endless succession of special
favors for special interests performed by Congress, or we'll never figure
out how we got so far behind the eight ball. While the top Bushies lunge
about test-driving new wars (great idea -- the one we're having is a bummer,
so let's start another!), Congress just keeps right on cranking out those
corporate goodies.

Earlier this month, the House effectively repealed more than 200 state food
safety and public health protections. Say, when was the last time you
enjoyed a little touch of food poisoning? Coming soon to a stomach near you.
What was really impressive about HR 4167, the "National Uniformity for Food
Act," is that it was passed without a public hearing.

"The House is trampling crucial health safeguards in every state without so
much as a single public hearing," said Erik Olson, attorney for the Natural
Resources Defense Council. "This just proves the old adage, 'Money talks.'
The food industry spared no expense to ensure passage."

Thirty-nine attorneys general, plus health, consumer and environmental
groups, are opposing the law. According to the Center for Responsive
Politics, the food industry has spent more than $81 million on campaign
contributions to members of Congress since 2000.

The bill would automatically override any state measure that is stronger
than federal law, the opposite of what a sensible law would do. The NRDC
says state laws protecting consumers from chemical additives, bacteria and
ingredients that can trigger allergic reactions would be barred, and that
includes alerts about chemical contamination in fish, health protection
standards for milk and eggs, and warnings about chemicals or toxins such as
arsenic, mercury and lead.

Happy eating, all.

Here's another little gem, one of those "it was after midnight and everyone
wanted to go home" deals. Just a no-cost sweetener to encourage oil and gas
companies to drill in the Gulf of Mexico -- and who needs more encouragement
these days than the oil companies? The poor things are making hardly any
money at all. Just have the federal government waive the royalty rights for
drilling in the publicly owned waters. Turns out this waiver will cost the
government at least $7 billion over the next five years.

I roared with laughter upon reading that Texas Rep. Joe Barton had assured
his colleagues the provision of the energy bill was "so non-controversial"
that senior House and Senate negotiators had not even discussed it. That's
one of the oldest ploys in the Texas handbook of sneaky tricks and has been
successfully used to pass many a sweet deal for the oil industry.

"The big lie about this whole program is that it doesn't cost anything,"
Massachusetts Rep. Edward Markey told The New York Times. "Taxpayers are
being asked to provide huge subsidies to oil companies to produce oil --
it's like subsidizing a fish to swim."

Then there are daily drips so strange it's hard to tell if members of
Congress are clear on what they're doing. You may have heard that more and
more corporations are backing out of their pension obligations and dumping
the responsibility on an under-funded federal agency.

So the push is on to get companies to pony up for the pension agency.
According to the Financial Times: "Employers will be able to slash their
contributions to under-funded pension schemes by tens of billions of dollars
over the next five years under proposed legislation before Congress that was
expected to have the opposite effect. The legislation was proposed by the
White House last year to lessen the risk of a taxpayer bailout of the
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., a federal safety net for pension schemes."

Brilliant. Anyone know how the White House went from protecting the Benefit
Guaranty Corp. to slashing corporate contributions by tens of billions? Did
they send Michael "Brownie" Brown to do the job?

Long ago, Abraham Lincoln wrote, "Corporations have been enthroned and an
era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money-power of the
country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of
the people until all wealth is aggregated in few hands and the republic is
destroyed." 

Molly Ivins writes about politics, Texas and other bizarre happenings. 

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