| By Liberaltarian - Jul 25th, 2008 at 5:49 pm EDT |
The DNC is coming 'round, and with it comes all sorts of lucrative opportunities for large corporations to throw influence around!
Everything is for sale, and this summer's Democratic National Convention in Denver is no exception.
More than four dozen national corporations have signed up as sponsors of the convention - everyone from Allstate to Xerox. And almost all of them have the same thing in common: They either have business with the federal government or they lobby on pending issues.
[...]
They include companies like 3M, Allstate, AstraZeneca, AT&T, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Co., Ford, Merck, Qwest, the Service Employees International Union, US Bank, Visa and Xcel Energy.
"Welcome to the American political system," Barnes-Gelt said of the companies ponying up money on both sides of the aisle.
Chris Lopez of the Democratic National Convention Host Committee acknowledged that sponsors get "opportunities" that depend on the level of their support. Those opportunities can include tickets to events surrounding the convention and even access to the Pepsi Center itself, where the convention will be held.
The host committee does not have to file documents outlining the level of sponsorships until after the convention. But Lopez said the access goes up as the contributions do.
Further evidence that if progressive activists want to seriously challenge corporate hegemony, they'll have to look outside party politics.And of course the right is doing the same, with groups like the creepily-named Youth for Western Civilization.
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