#680: MONEY RULES

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>=======================Electronic Edition========================

>. .

>. RACHEL'S ENVIRONMENT & HEALTH WEEKLY #680 .

>. ---December 16, 1999--- .

>. HEADLINES: .

>. MONEY RULES .

>. ========== .

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>['s will publish again January 5.]

>

>

>MAKING THE MOVEMENT VISIBLE

>

>The grass-roots environmental movement is largely invisible.

>Thousands of groups are working at the local level but they have

>no way to learn about each other's existence, and therefore no

>easy way to communicate. A journalist looking for a grass-roots

>perspective on environmental problems or job safety may not know

>who to call. Someone concerned about policy at the state or

>federal level may not be able to find anyone who can provide a

>community-based perspective on environment-and-health problems.

>

>The RACHEL'S staff has begun a project to identify local groups

>working on any aspect of " environment and health, " including, of

>course, occupational safety and health. We call it, Making the

>Movement Visible.

>

>Groups that are working on any aspect of " environment and health "

>at the community level are invited to add themselves to our

>public database of grass-roots environmental groups on the

>world-wide web (www.rachel.org). Naturally, organizations that

>service the needs of grass-roots community groups or job-safety

>groups are also welcome. To list your group (or some other group

>that you admire), just go to the " organizations " section of our

>web site (www.rachel.org) and add your group to the list. (Note:

>Your listing will not become public immediately, so you may not

>see it for a few days. We review all entries, to prevent fake

>groups from being added to the list.) No matter where you are

>working -- in Iowa, Ixtapa, or Istanbul -- if you have a

>community or workplace perspective on health and environment,

>please add your group to the database. Let's all do ourselves a

>big favor and Make the Movement Visible! Check yourself in at

>www.rachel.org.

>

>

>MONEY RULES

>

>Here we begin our traditional year-end review of significant

>events and trends.

>

>One of the most important trends of the last half of the

>twentieth century was the spread of democracy into many countries

>that had never enjoyed it before. At the same time, democracy

>within the U.S. continued to shrivel as a wealthy elite gained

>increasing control. All three branches of government actively

>encouraged this shift of power from " the rest of us " to the

>wealthy.

>

>In April, the U.S. Supreme Court made it easier for the wealthy

>to curry favor with government officials. The court ruled that

>substantial gifts to a government official are legal unless the

>official performs a " specific official act " in return for the

>gift. The matter came before the court because Sun-Diamond

>Growers of California gave gifts worth $5900 to Mike Espy when he

>was Secretary of Agriculture. Since Espy did not perform any

>specific official act on behalf of Sun-Diamond in return for the

>gifts, the gifts were legal, the court ruled. The American League

>of Lobbyists, expressed relief at the court's ruling. Lobbyists

>now know they can shower Congress with gifts without running

>afoul of the law.[1] One favorite tactic is to give money to

>Congressional staffers, rather than directly to members of

>Congress. Another favorite is to pay for lavish vacations for

>members of Congress, disguised as " fact-finding trips. "

>

>By November, it was clear that the Supreme Court's April ruling

>would deepen the level of corruption in Congress. Federal

>prosecutors dropped almost all charges against Ann Eppard, former

>legislative chief of staff for Congressman Bud Shuster, a

>Republican from Pennsylvania. Between 1989 and 1993, while she

>was Schuster's chief of staff, Ms. Eppard accepted $230,000 in

>gifts from a lobbyist. She was subsequently indicted on seven

>counts. In November she pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge

>of taking illegal compensation and agreed to pay a fine of $5000.

>The other six charges were dropped. Federal prosecutors defended

>their plea bargain saying the Supreme Court ruling made it

>impossible to expect a conviction. Ms. Eppard now runs her own

>lobbying firm, Ann Eppard Associates.[2]

>

>The NEW YORK TIMES reported December 5 that state governor's

>offices are now thoroughly soaked in money, just as federal

>offices have been for more than a decade. " The 'permanent

>campaign' that has become a fixture of races for the presidency

>and the Senate has now descended upon the 50 state capitals, " the

>TIMES reported.[3]

>

>It now routinely costs $10 million or more to run for the office

>of governor, so incumbent governors must raise at least $50,000

>per week while they are in office. The TIMES commented, " Mr.

>Celucci [Governor of Massachusetts] and other incumbents are

>following one of the oldest political axioms, the golden rule: he

>who has the most gold, rules. "

>

>All of this private money in our elections has had a corrosive

>effect on our democracy, according to the NEW YORK TIMES. The

>distinction between Republicans and Democrats has been erased by

>money. " In fact, " says the TIMES, " the public sector has

>increasingly become the champion of private enterprise.... The

>degree to which left and right have unified to become the

>champion of corporate priorities was on full display in the

>Congressional session that just ended. ...Look at the legislation

>business got killed, " the TIMES says: there was no increase in

>the minimum wage, no new limits on " soft money " in elections, no

>ban on agricultural mergers. But Congress exempted corporations

>from any liability for Y2K computer failures, and legalized the

>merging of banks, insurance companies and stock brokerages.[4] No

>doubt about it, money talks.

>

>With the wealthy legally empowered to pour money into government,

>one might expect the government to return the favor. Late in 1999

>the NEW YORK TIMES reported that " ...the Internal Revenue Service

>[the nation's tax collection agency] is reducing its efforts to

>find cheating by businesses and high-income individuals, and

>stepping up investigations into two forms of cheating that are

>more likely to involve the working poor than the affluent. " [5]

>

> " For wealthy individuals with gross income of $100,000 or more,

>fewer than an estimated one in 150 returns will be audited this

>year compared to one in 33 in 1992, " the TIMES reported. " Please

>don't call us tax collectors in the newspaper, " one longtime

>revenue officer in New York told the TIMES. " We don't collect

>taxes anymore. We aren't allowed to. "

>

>Instead of collecting taxes, I.R.S. auditors are answering

>phones, according to the TIMES: " Highly trained I.R.S. auditors

>who are paid up to $77,000 annually to examine corporate tax

>returns have been detailed to answer telephones and greet people

>at I.R.S. offices, even though their years of specialized work

>have left them ill equipped to handle mundane questions from the

>public. " [5]

>

>Because of Congressional budget reductions, the I.R.S. has had to

>prune 82,000 staff positions (a 14% cut) in the last 4 years.

>However, the agency's workload has increased during the same

>period as Congress has made the tax laws more complex. Because of

>1260 changes in the tax laws that Congress approved in 1997 and

>1998, the I.R.S. has effectively had its total resources reduced

>by 29% during the past 4 years, the NEW YORK TIMES reported.

>

>Despite these resource cuts, the I.R.S. is now conducting an

>aggressive campaign to ferret out abuses of the Earned Income Tax

>Credit, which allows the working poor to collect up to $323 for a

>single person and $3,556 for a family of four.

>

>In 1999, a study by the liberal Center for Budget and Policy

>Priorities (CBPP) found that the " welfare reform " law passed by

>Congress three years ago has had the effect of making the poor

>poorer. The Congressional Committee that wrote the " welfare

>reform " law said the conclusions of the CBPP study were valid.[6]

>

>Since 1995 the poorest 20% of families have seen their annual

>incomes reduced by $577, falling to $8,047 annually. The

>situation was worse for the poorest 10% who lost $814 per year.

>Children were hardest hit. In 1995, 88% of poor children were

>helped by food stamps. By 1998, only 70% of poor children were

>being helped. " There are people at the bottom who are worse off, "

>said Ron Haskins, staff director of the Congressional

>subcommittee that wrote the " welfare reform " law. " We need to do

>something about that, " he said in August,[6] but by December,

>nothing had been done.

>

>Meanwhile 20% of American households have more debt than assets

>-- which is to say, they have a negative net worth. When real

>estate is factored out, 40% of American families have more debt

>than assets, according to the NEW YORK TIMES. A survey in early

>1999 found that half of Americans had life savings of $3000 or

>less and another 40% said it would be " a big problem " if they had

>to deal with an unexpected bill for $1000,[7] the TIMES reported.

>In early 1999, 35 million Americans (13.3%) were living in

>poverty.

>

>The number of poor people would be considerably larger if

>prisoners were counted. The prison population of the U.S. will

>officially reach 2 million about six weeks from now, on February

>15th.[8] Two-thirds of prisoners are serving sentences for

>non-violent offenses. America's federal " drug czar, " General

>Barry McCaffrey refers to the U.S. prison system as " America's

>internal gulag. " [9]

>

>The prison industry in the U.S. has now taken on a life of its

>own. We build 50,000 new prison cells each year. Congress has

>taken steps to privatize the prison industry. The stock price of

>the Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest

>private jailer, has increased 10-fold since 1994, making prisons

>a killer investment. Nearly 60% of all federal prisoners are

>guilty of drug-related crimes. Americans do not use more drugs,

>on average, than citizens of other countries, and drug use has

>not declined for the past 10 years despite the ballooning prison

>population.

>

>Worldwide, there are 8 million people in prison, so the U.S.,

>with 4% of world population, holds 25% of all the world's

>prisoners.[8] For an American born this year, the chance of

>spending some part of their life in prison is one in 20; for

>black Americans, it is one in 4.[9]

>

>Prisoners are not counted in unemployment statistics, poverty

>statistics, or welfare statistics -- so all these measures of

>national well-being are improved each time another person goes to

>prison. Furthermore, prisoners do not attend " Million Man

>Marches " or other political demonstrations. Most importantly,

>prisoners cannot vote; persons convicted of felonies lose their

>right to vote permanently.

>

>A poll taken in February, 1999, revealed that 47% of Americans

>believe that the courts do not treat racial or ethnic minorities

>fairly. And a stunning 90% of respondents said they believe

>affluent individuals and corporations have an unfair advantage in

>court.[10] The fix is in, 90% believe.

>

>Where will these trends lead us in the new millennium? In any

>case, We wish our readers a happy New Year.

>

>==========

>[1] Greenhouse, " High Court Voids Theory Used to Press

>Independent Counsel's Case Over Gifts to Espy, " NEW YORK TIMES

>April 28, 1999, pg. unknown. And: " Corrupt Gift-Giving Made

>Easier [editorial], " NEW YORK TIMES May 3, 1999, pg. 28.

>

>[2] Larry Wheeler and Carl Weiser, " Ethics experts say it's hard

>to nail corruption in Congress, " USA TODAY November 22, 1999,

>pg. 22A.

>

>[3] M. Broder, " Governors Join Ranks of Full-Time Campaign

>Money-Raisers, " NEW YORK TIMES December 5, 1999, pg. 22.

>

>[4] E. Sanger, " Meet Your Government, Inc., " NEW YORK

>TIMES November 28, 1999, pgs. D1, D6.

>

>[5] Cay ston, " Reducing Audits on the Wealthy, I.R.S.

>Turns Eye on Working Poor, " NEW YORK TIMES December 15, 1999,

>pg. A1.

>

>[6] Associated Press, " Study Says Welfare Changes Made the

>Poorest Worse Off, " NEW YORK TIMES August 23, 1999, pg. A12.

>

>[7] Applebome, " Where Money's a Mantra Greed's a New

>Creed, " NEW YORK TIMES February 28, 1999, Week in Review

>Section, pg. 5.

>

>[8] , " Punishing the Country, " NEW YORK TIMES

>December 21, 1999, pg. A31.

>

>[9] Egan, " Less Crime, More Criminals, " NEW YORK TIMES

>March 7, 1999, pgs. D1, D16.

>

>[10] Greenhouse, " 47% in Poll View Legal System as

>Unfair to Poor and Minorities, " NEW YORK TIMES February 24,

>1999, pg. A12.

>

>Descriptor terms: money in politics; corruption; Congress; racism;

>judiciary;

>

>################################################################

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>Environmental Research Foundation provides this electronic

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