Party donations in U.S. raise public suspicions

Party donations in U.S. raise public suspicions

By Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuter): Bill Clinton's ties to an Indonesian businessman and Bob Dole's to a U.S. industrialist seem likely to reawaken public suspicions that influence and access are for sale in Washington.

The White House has been thrown on the defensive by stories about an Indonesian businessman named James Riady and suggestions that his friendship with President Clinton helped bring big corporate contributions into Democratic Party coffers with the aim of influencing U.S. foreign policy.

But just as Dole, the Republican presidential candidate, was seizing on the "Indonesian connection" and demanding answers from Clinton, the news broke that Archer Daniels Midland Company, a giant agriculture conglomerate, would pay a record $100 million federal fine for price-fixing.

That prompted reports highlighting the firm's generosity in making campaign contributions to many politicians including Dole, and noting his support of farm policies it favored.

Don Simon, executive vice president of Common Cause, a self- styled "citizens' lobby" and a watchdog on the flow of money in politics, said the current episodes underscore how corporations and the rich evade limits on political campaign donations by channeling vast sums through the party machinery rather than giving directly to the candidates.

That is called "soft money" because it is unregulated. Simon commented: "These are different case studies of the same underlying problem: that soft money in particular is a way for special interests, for wealthy individuals, and for companies to funnel unlimited sums of money to the national parties, and their candidates."

"And that inevitably creates the impression that money is being used to buy access and influence with federal officials, whether that is Bob Dole or Bill Clinton -- whether it comes from wealthy individuals with foreign ties or a wealthy industrialist with a company that has a direct stake in federal agricultural policy."

U.S. law prohibits corporations or labor unions from contributing money to federal campaigns, and limits individuals to giving no more than $1,000 to a candidate per election and $20,000 to a party per year.

But U.S. parties are raking in record amounts from individuals, corporations and unions who designate the money for purposes supposedly unrelated to individual campaigns.

Critics say that is just a ruse because most of the money goes for advertising, voter contacts or other things that influence elections or political causes.

Dole has asked Clinton to explain whether hundreds of thousands of dollars given to Democrats from individuals with links to an Indonesian financial giant, the Lippo Group, have influenced U.S. foreign policy in places like East Timor.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, integrated into Indonesia in 1976.

Dole said he would press Clinton in Wednesday's campaign debate about "taking money from a foreign nation." He added: "They gave it back when somebody caught them, but why did they do it? Why did he (Clinton) meet with these people?"

But with the huge price-fixing fine putting Archer Daniels Midland back in the news, the Washington Post ran an article focusing on the firms largesse to politicians of both parties -- and especially Dole.

The Post said ADM chairman Dwayne Andreas, his family and other ADM executives had funneled more than $200,000 in funds to Dole's campaigns over the years.

It said Dole had vacationed with Andreas, staying at a Florida apartment that the industrialist sold to Dole's wife and her brother in the 1980s. It said that as a senator Dole had championed tax breaks for the corn-based ethanol fuel industry that ADM controls.

But analysts say Clinton and the Democrats have also benefited from ADM's generosity.

"Archer Daniels Midland is an equal opportunity donator to political campaigns," said Dean Stansel, a fiscal policy analyst at the conservative CATO Institute in Washington.

He cited a report in the "National Journal" that said ADM had contributed over $300,000 in soft money to Democratic groups in the first 18 months of the Clinton administration.

Both Clinton and Dole say they favor campaign finance reform -- or, at least, appointing a commission to study it.