From: harelb@math.cornell.edu (misc.activism.progressive co-moderator)
Subject: PROFILE: Who Are Ralph Nader's "PUBLIC CITIZEN"?
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: daemon@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: ?
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 06:09:34 GMT

"Last winter, members of Congress and other top government officials
were salivating over a proposal that would hand them a fat, 51 percent
pay hike, bringing the pay of a member of Congress from $89,500 --
already higher than 99 percent of the American people -- to $135,000,
plus many benefits and perks! TOGETHER, WE STOPPED THAT "SALARY GRAB"
COLD [...] After we beat them, Congress got sly [...] just before
Congress adjourned for the holidays in November, they proposed,
debated, and voted in a massive pay hike of almost 40%, -- all of this
in only 22 hours. They have disguised this pay raise with several
ethics reforms, however corruption in Congress is still out-of-
control [...] We have to pool our energies together and force Congress
to stop the corrupting influence of money in our governmental process.
Here's what that means:

     BAN ALL HONORARIA FROM SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS. Members of the
   / Senate can legally accept $2,000 from a corporation or special
  /  interest lobby by simply giving a short speech at a breakfast
\/   meeting. This "payola" is no more than legalized bribery -- YET
     MANY MEMBERS POCKET AT LEAST $25,000 A YEAR IN "OUTSIDE INCOME"
     THAT WAY.

     BAN SPECIAL INTEREST FINANCED TRAVEL. Did you know that members
     of Congress can legally accept a free vacation -- 1st Class
   / airfare, a resort hotel suite, restaurant and bar charges, and
  /  more -- from a lobbyist? "Come speak to our meeting,"  he says to
\/   the Congressional member. "We'll pay your expenses." (And, a
     Senator can accept the $2,000 speaking fee on top of the free
     vacation)

     END CAMPAIGN FINANCING ABUSES. For the 1988 campaign, political
   / action committees (PACS) contributed over $150 million to
  /  candidates. More than $7 million went to members that were
\/   running UNOPPOSED. Let's be blunt: that is influence buying,
     period. We MUST get private money out of public campaigns.

     LIMIT CAMPAIGN SPENDING. When it costs as much as $10 million to
     run a Senate campaign, and a million dollars or more to run for
   / the House, members of Congress must spend one or two days a week
  /  year after year, doing nothing but fundraising -- and that means
\/   schmoozing with the big money people. By limiting campaign
     spending, Congressional members will not have to rely on the big
     money lobbies, and will have more time to do their job.

[...] While people were outraged that Congress thought it deserved a
salary and benefits of well over $135,000 a year, they began to think
about the issues before Congress:

** MINIMUM WAGE. Congress failed to raise the $3.35 minimum wage for
eight years, while increasing its own pay from $60,662 to $89,500 in
the same period.

** CHILD CARE. Congress agreed to cuts of $5 billion from the school
breakfast and lunch programs and child care food programs during the
1980's

** FEDERAL HOUSING PROGRAM. Congress has also gone along with the
crumbling of federal housing programs, cutting low income housing
assistance more than $21 billion and raising rents for the poor --
many of whom are homeless.

** TAXBREAKS FOR THE RICH. Through changes in the tax code in the
early 1980's, Congress has overseen the greatest transfer of wealth in
the history of the United States from low and moderate income families
to the wealthy. [Piles of statistical evidence available in AML files]

To support Public Citizen's _Clean Up Congress Campaign_, and to join
Public Citizen, send $20 and receive a complementary one year
subscription to *Public Citizen* magazine (bi-monthly), or send a $35
donation and receive as well a year's subscription to Public Citizen's
*Health Letter* (monthly).



Public Citizen
2000 P Street, N.W., Suite 605
Washington, D.C. 20036
Founded by Ralph Nader in 1971

(Possible) email:

pcctw@igc.org 
  Lori Wallach 
  Washington DC USA 20003 
  (Public Citizen /Citizen Trade Watch) 
  Keys: trade, harmonization 

Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive