Upon renomination, Sen. Slade Gorton told reporters that he expects Maria Cantwell to dump $10 million of her own money into the race (“It’s Cantwell vs. Gorton: Late challenge dumps Senn,” news story, Sept. 20)
How much will special interests dump into Gorton’s campaign? The following is from “Inside Congress,” by Ronald Kessler in regard to the Republican controlled 104th Congress:
“If contributions do not buy elections and influence votes, why did individuals and PACs contribute $2.7 billion to federal candidates in the 1996 elections? Once in office, the winners did the bidding of their benefactors. Restaurants and pizza delivery companies contributed $2.5 million and got a new tax break buried in the minimum wage bill. Automakers and dealers contributed $4.2 million and got a phase-out of the automobile luxury tax. Pharmaceutical and computer companies contributed $9.8 million and got a reversal of a tax on corporations overseas earnings.”
The most outrageous is the restaurants’ exemption from the minimum wage. In Florida, wages for servers dropped to around $2 per hour.
Stanwood
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