Category: Spring 2004
Senator Dodd Attacks Bush’s Health Tax Cuts and Prescription Drug Act
WASHINGTON –Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) attacked President Bush’s proposal to lower health care costs with tax credits and health savings accounts and criticized the controversial new prescription drug law during a Senate committee hearing Wednesday morning.
The vast majority of uninsured Americans are poor, working-class people who do not have extra money to set aside in savings accounts for health care costs, Dodd said.
“You’re talking about people who don’t have disposable income,” he said.
Tax-free savings accounts would be of little help to people more concerned with putting food on the table than paying insurance premiums, he said.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held the hearing to assess the reasons for the rising costs of health care and the increase in the ranks of the uninsured.
National health costs rose 9.3 percent in 2002, the latest year for which numbers are available, while the number of uninsured people increased from 39.8 million in 2002 to 43.6 million in 2003, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that provides grants to improve health care practice and policy.
Dodd said 18,000 people die prematurely each year because they are uninsured.
He said 80 percent of the uninsured hold jobs, but many of their employers do not offer insurance plans. He added that 21 percent of children lack health insurance.
Dodd also said the Medicare prescription drug law Bush signed last month would increase health-care costs for senior citizens. The law, he said, “banned people from preventing the rising costs of prescription drugs” because it effectively prohibits them from ordering less expensive drugs from Canada .
Under the new law, the only way Americans can buy drugs from Canada is if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration can vouch for an imported drug’s safety, which it so far has declined to do. Critics argue that drugs sold in Canada are often made in the United States and exported to Canada at discount prices, while Americans pay more in an unregulated U.S. drug market.
Dodd said that Americans also pay higher prices for drugs because the government does not use its enormous purchasing power to regulate costs. That won’t change under the new law.
“What is this administration thinking about?” he asked.
Brian Schubert, the press secretary to Rep. Nancy Johnson (D-5), who helped write the Medicare prescription drug bill, said, “The same provision that Democrats are criticizing now in the Medicare law, many of them voted for when it passed in the Senate in June. I find that difficult to understand.”
Democrats, including Dodd, overwhelmingly opposed final passage of the bill in November, after Republicans from the House and Senate changed several provisions.
Campus Activists Urge Youths to Vote
WASHINGTON—As Democratic presidential hopefuls court Connecticut college students before the state’s primary March 2, campus activists are fighting to round up elusive youth voters.
It won’t be an easy task. Young people historically vote in small numbers, and Connecticut college students have shown little interest in a race that could be wrapped up when voters in their state and nine others weigh in on Super Tuesday, less than three weeks from now.
Nirupam Sinha, president of the College Democrats at Yale University, said that his organization has not yet endorsed a candidate. However, individual coalitions have been lining up student support for Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina.
Sinha is one of a number of students at Connecticut universities working to educate students on campaign issues and encouraging them to vote. Despite their efforts, politicians frequently ignore the concerns of college-age kids because statistically, 18- to 24-year-olds are the least likely age group to turn up at the polls.
Curtis Gans, director of the nonpartisan Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, said young people’s interest in politics has declined significantly since the tumultuous 1960s. But, he added, it has grown slightly in the last year.
Gans noted that a recent poll conducted by the University of California at Los Angeles found that, in the 1960s, fully 60 percent of young people “expressed political interest.” This year, he said, 34 percent of freshmen were interested in politics, as opposed to 29 percent three years ago.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, voter turnout among 18- to 24-year-olds dropped from 50 percent in 1972, which was the first year 18-year-olds could vote, to 32 percent in both 1996 and 2000.
Initially led by Dean, who appealed to young people through a strong Internet campaign, this year’s Democratic contenders have made a special effort to reach out to youth.
Gans said he expects some increase in young voters in November. But, he added, “I don’t think it will be a tidal wave.”
Sinha said he expected more young people to vote in 2004 than four years ago, in part because of the less than 500,000 votes that separated George W. Bush from Al Gore. Although Gore, then the vice president, won the popular vote, the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled that Bush won in the Electoral College.
“I think people oftentimes think they can’t make an impact,” Sinha said. “But I think especially right now, for students who remember 2000, they are very dissatisfied with the current administration. People are motivated,” Sinha continued. “They’ve realized that every vote is important and does matter.”
Sinha said the Yale College Democrats helped the presidential campaignsin New Hampshire and attended fundraisers before that state’s Jan. 27 primary. Kristina Riordan, president of the College Democrats at Fairfield University, spent five days in New Hampshire campaigning for Kerry.
“Politicians are never going to start catering to students’ interests until we show that we’re a group to be listened to,” Riordan said.
Because students don’t vote in large numbers, politicians neglect their top concerns, such as financial aid funding, Riordan said. “If students voted, that would be an issue politicians would talk about instead of health care,” she said.
Young people’s interest in politics has been siphoned off by presidential scandals, from Richard Nixon’s Watergate to Bill Clinton’s womanizing, Riordan said. “Every politician seems to lie to us,” she said.
But Riordan said that former President Ronald Reagan’s administration also played a hand in forming her generation’s view of the political process. Reagan’s preference for small government helped shape the way she looks at politics, Riordan said.
“Anti-government, anti-politics – that’s the era we were raised in,” Riordan said.
Riordan, who was born in Washington, D.C., said she has always been surrounded by politics. But for some students, she said, political participation was “really not in their consciousness.”
Riordan’s housemate and fellow Fairfield student, Emily McAdam, is the vice-chairwoman of the Connecticut Union of College Republicans, which presides over the 10 schools in Connecticut that have College Republican chapters.
McAdam said Fairfield’s College Republicans have organized membership drives to get students involved. The drives, which usually last three days, sometimes attract up to 100 new members each day, McAdam said. Social events, meetings and guest speakers have been used to entice young Republicans to get active during the election year.
by Michelle Knueppel
The drives work because “a lot of the time students aren’t going to take the initiative on their own. They need someone to get in their face,” McAdam said.
McAdam also said that young people need a special candidate to peak their interest. “If they’re like the typical rich old white guy running for office, students won’t be really receptive. They can’t relate to that,” McAdam said. “We need someone to excite us.”
She didn’t mention who that might be. Both Bush and Democratic frontrunner Kerry are wealthy and white.
On the flip side, McAdam said, college students forfeit their say in elections by failing to vote.
“It’s a vicious cycle. College students don’t vote, so politicians don’t pay any attention to them,” McAdam said. “We’re not in a position to demand that politicians listen to us.”
Though Riordan and McAdam are at opposite ends of the political spectrum, McAdam said they are best friends. “We both want to be active because we care about our country,” she said. “In that way, we have a lot in common.”
Jerold Duquette, a political scientist at Central Connecticut State University, said more Connecticut students were interested in the presidential campaign when one of the state’s senators, Joseph Lieberman, was a candidate. Lieberman dropped out of the Democratic race last week after losing all the early primaries.
“Before Joe Lieberman got out of the race, there was some energy there,” he said.
Art Paulson, a political scientist at Southern Connecticut University, said students’ top election concerns are the war in Iraq and jobs.
Paulson, who advises the College Democrats, said students were “less apathetic now than in previous years because of the war.
“I don’t think it comes close to the involvement of the student population during the Vietnam War,” he added.
Before any voters went to the polls, Paulson said, his students “were ready to formally endorse Howard Dean because his Internet campaign and anti-war position were highly popular.” But, he said, as Dean began to fall further and further behind Kerry, “Democrats of all kinds are beginning to circle the wagon around Kerry.”
Connecticut Delegation Reacts to the State of the Union
WASHINGTON --The Connecticut congressional delegation reacted along partisan lines to President Bush's State of the Union speech last night.
Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-5) commended Bush's commitments to the war on terror and health care while Democratic Sens. Joseph Lieberman Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), and Rep. John Larson (D-1) blasted Bush's stance on spending, taxes and the economy.
In his speech, Bush said that "weapons of mass destruction-related program activities" were still being identified in Iraq and that "the world without Saddam Hussein's regime is a better and safer place." Johnson praised Bush's efforts in a written statement. "We have vigorously pursued the war on terror, and with our allies we have rid the world of a murderous and dangerous tyrant. Saddam Hussein will never again threaten the freedoms of the Iraqi people, deny them the economic opportunity they deserve or threaten the peace and stability of the world," she said.
Dodd disagreed. "Though all of us were glad to see Saddam Hussein captured, the threat of terrorism continues to loom large and the President has failed to provide adequate resources to our homeland defenders and exert leadership in the world community to combat terrorism more effectively," he said in a written statement
Bush emphasized finding ways to reduce federal health care costs instead of pouring more money into government-sponsored programs.
Johnson, who helped write the Medicare Prescription Drug Act that Bush signed into law last month, said: "I'm glad the President has injected new thinking into addressing the crisis of the uninsured, moving this important issue to top priority status. Over 250,000 Connecticut residents live and work without health insurance, threatening their health and financial security."
But Lieberman blasted Bush's health care and Social Security announcements in a statement after the speech. "After his stealth efforts to privatize Medicare, he's deceptively trying to sell the privatization of Social Security as if he were just giving workers another 401(k)."
Bush pinpointed the tax breaks Congress enacted at his behest as the reason for the economy's turnaround. "This economy is strong, and growing stronger," Bush said.
While Bush maintained that manufacturing activity is increasing, Larson said in an interview, "We continue to shed jobs in this economy."
Lieberman lambasted Bush's tax cut and job-growth plans. "There's still no real plan to create lasting growth and good jobs, just more tax cuts for people who don't need them -- comforting the comfortable and once again leaving the middle class in the lurch," he said. "The fact is, we have a more realistic chance of finding aliens on Mars than making this fantastical, fiscally reckless plan work."
Larson agreed that the tax cuts were unfair. "They're calling to send more money to the wealthiest one percent."
Connecticut Delegation Reacts to Ricin Scare
WASHINGTON -- Members of the Connecticut congressional delegation and several senators responded on Tuesday to the discovery of ricin, a poison found in Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's mailroom Monday afternoon.
In a press conference at the Capitol, Frist, a Tennessee Republican, said that none of the workers who might have been exposed to the white powder had become ill, and that ricin is not contagious.
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), whose office received a letter containing anthrax in late 2001, said, "This is going to take some time to put the pieces together."
Capitol police said that all unopened mail would be removed from the Capitol complex within the next few days. Police said they have found no evidence that the ricin has spread through the Senate ventilation system as had the anthrax mailed to Daschle, then majority leader, and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D.-Vt.).
All three Senate office buildings were closed Tuesday and Senate hearings postponed.
But despite the closures, Congress remained in session and House meetings continued as scheduled.
Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-5), said she attended a Ways and Means Committee hearing on President Bush's proposed budget Tuesday afternoon and that her staff was in the office.
"It's an unfortunate reality of working in Washington that it has become the target of such cowardly attacks," Johnson said in a statement. "We're doing everything possible to keep the nation's Capitol open for business without jeopardizing people's lives."Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) said in a statement, "Anyone -- be they terrorists or criminals -- who would use these types of toxins as weapons needs to [be] dealt with in the harshest fashion and swiftly brought to justice."
Dr. Charles McKay, associate medical director of the Connecticut Poison Control Center , said that unlike anthrax, ricin cannot multiply and spread through the air.
He described ricin as a "protein structure" that prohibits cells in the body from creating proteins. While anthrax is an infectious agent that spreads bacteria through the body, ricin simply stops the cells from functioning, McKay said.
Ricin is most powerful when injected. McKay said that less than a milligram, which is smaller than a pencil point, would cause death in two to three days when injected directly into the body.
Symptoms of ricin exposure include weakness, diarrhea, low blood pressure and fever, McKay said. Victims injected with ricin "can end up with what looks like multiple organ failure," he said.
But because ricin cannot multiply, it is "not very effective" as a large-scale biological weapon, he said. "It would take so much that it would be completely impractical," to use in a terrorist attack, McKay said.
While there is no known antidote for ricin, McKay said that all previous known deaths have come from direct injection, not through inhalation or ingestion. It would take a much larger amount to kill someone through inhalation, McKay said. "If you ate an ounce it would probably kill you. But it would have to get into your system," he said.
McKay said that his center has not changed any procedures and everyone working there is staying calm. "Hopefully everybody else is too," McKay said.
A "powder-like" substance was also found Tuesday in a postal distribution center in Wallingford , Conn. , said William Gerrish, spokesman for the Connecticut Department of Public Health. The substance was still being tested at a facility in Hartford late Tuesday. Anthrax was found at the same Wallingford distribution center in 2001, and authorities suspect a 94-year-old woman died of anthrax after receiving mail processed at the center.
"Sadly our state previously had to deal with tragic consequences from anthrax attacks," Dodd said, "and it goes without saying that my thoughts and prayers are with the workers there as they deal with these anxious moments."
State Democrats Rise to Challenge Incumbent Simmons
WASHINGTON -Democrats in Connecticut 's second congressional district need to have a new favorite color this year - green.
Dollar-green.
To have a fighting chance against Republican incumbent Rob Simmons, the two men competing for the Democratic nomination need to have a lot of it.
According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Simmons, now in his second term, started the year with $518,392 in his war chest -- almost five times as much as Democratic challengers James Sullivan and Shaun McNally had between them.
Simmons raised $208,218 during the last three months of 2003, bringing his total receipts so far to $816,241, the FEC reported. That included contributions of $415,705 from individuals and $363,169 from political action committees, or PACs.
So far Sullivan has raised $70,948, all of it in the final three months of last year. Individual contributors gave him $52,570 and PACs donated $14,378. As of Dec. 31, he had $75,097 in cash on hand.
"I've been working since the day I entered the race . to get into a credible position," the former Norwich alderman said. "I just want to raise enough money to be competitive."
McNally raised $50,212 last year, with $46,863 of it coming from individuals. He had $34,732 cash on hand as the year began.
McNally said his big fundraising push didn't start until January. "I spend three to four hours a day on the phone asking people for money, and it will increase to four or five hours a day," he said.
The former state representative from Norwich said that because of his "strong ideological beliefs," he will refuse funds from business PACs, labor PACs and what he called "special-interest PACs."
As a result, he will have to raise all his money from individuals, who are limited to contributions of $2,000 for the primary and another $2,000 for the general election, or from the Democratic Party. PACs can contribute $5,000 for each election under a new campaign-finance law.
Simmons has raised 87 percent more than the average $436,177 collected by House members seeking reelection, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, an independent group that monitors campaign finances. His spokesman said that's simply the result of preparing to campaign for a third term.
"When you run every two years you have to work on fundraising on a regular basis," spokesman Eric Janney explained. But all 435 House members are up for reelection every two years.
Simmons does have to run in a district that, two years ago, hosted one of the 30 most expensive House races in the country, according to the FEC. Simmons and his Democratic challenger, Joseph Courtney, collectively spent nearly $3 million, with Simmons spending 50 percent more than Courtney, the Center for Responsive Politics reported.
Simmons performed the unusual feat of defeating a 20-year incumbent -- Democrat Sam Gejdenson -- in 2000, by a narrow margin of 51-49 percent.
Although he was targeted for defeat by House Democrats, Simmons easily won reelection in 2002, beating Courtney 54-46 percent after redistricting removed a number of Democrats from the voting rolls. State Democratic Party officials assert that Simmons won because of cold, hard cash.
"Rob Simmons himself had over $2 million," said state Democrat Party executive director Leslie O'Brien. "And as the incumbent, he had huge amounts of special-interest money coming into the district. It gave him a leg up in the race, and made it so that Joe Courtney had a significant challenge to overcome."
Courtney, she said, "had millions of dollars literally working against him."
But money might not entirely explain Simmons' popularity. He beat Gejdenson in an expensive race in 2000, but not only did the Democrat spend more, the district voted overwhelmingly for Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore.
Still, O'Brien said, this year's Democratic hopefuls need to focus on fundraising as a top priority.
Sullivan agreed. "In this sort of environment, it is very difficult to outpace any Republican incumbent, certainly from the amount of money that they are able to raise," he said. "It's a million-dollar ticket, that's clear."
The Simmons campaign says it is "getting geared up for another election."
"We're keeping our head down and working hard," Janney said. "Our fundraising is not dramatically different from what it was in the past. Obviously we can't speak for our opponents, but we think that we're on track hopefully to raise a similar amount [as in 2002].
"We are pleased with our progress, but when you are in a targeted race you have to work hard to raise funds."
Sullivan registered with the FEC as a candidate for the 2002 congressional race, but withdrew after raising $112,850. McNally also registered and raised just $400 in individual contributions before he, too, left the race.
NH Senators, Congressmen Get Low Scores on Wilderness “Report Card”
WASHINGTON – All four New Hampshire Congress members scored low on a “report card” issued this week by a national environmental organization.
In its second “wild card” report, the American Wilderness Coalition judged lawmakers on how they voted on certain bills, whether they co-sponsored others and whether they showed “leadership” in wilderness protection. Although environmental protection is a key issue in New Hampshire, none of the state’s Republican House and Senate members scored above a “D.”
The coalition gave Sen. Judd Gregg a “D-,” up from a 2002 rating of “F,” because he cast a single “pro-wilderness” vote to alter a bill that would allow logging in national forests.
Sen. John E. Sununu, who opposed the coalition on its three main votes, received an “F” for 2003, his first year in the Senate.
Reps. Charles Bass and Jeb Bradley both received a “D.” Bass’s grade is down from a “C” in 2002 because he voted “pro-wilderness” on only two of the eight bills before the House. Bass was one of 143 co-sponsors of a bill that would identify part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as “wilderness,” permanently protecting it in its natural condition. Bradley’s first year in Congress was 2003.
Senators were graded according to their positions on three issues environmentalists oppose: drilling for oil in Alaska’s Arctic, logging in Alaska’s rainforest and opening national forests to logging to prevent forest fires. The coalition also considered votes on measures environmentalists support that would identify areas in Alaska and the Rockies as “wilderness.”
House members were judged by their votes on all of those issues, plus a bill that environmentalists support to keep certain public lands “roadless.” Another vote concerned an amendment that would have increased taxes on Americans earning more than $1 million a year and used the money to purchase more land and water for parks and forests. A procedural vote prevented that amendment from reaching the floor.
The coalition gave extra weight to votes on Arctic drilling, saying it had “national significance.”
Of the 23 lawmakers who received an “A+” rating, only one—Rep. Chris Shays of Connecticut—is Republican. House Democrats Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut and Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut also received “A+” ratings.
Of the 252 lawmakers who received a failing grade, 240 are Republicans.
Bass Raises Less Money than Most Congressmen Heading Into Election Year
WASHINGTON -- As he prepares to run for his sixth term in Congress, Rep. Charles Bass (R.-N.H.) has raised less campaign money than most of his colleagues seeking reelection, Federal Election Commission records show.
Bass reported raising nearly $187,000 in 2003, which is almost $250,000 less than the average House member running for re-election received, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, an independent organization that monitors campaign finances. Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-N.H.) raised more than twice as much as Bass—about $480,000, according to the FEC.
Bass, who was first elected to Congress in 1994, has won reelection with less money than his opponent every time except 1998. That year, he outspent Democrat Mary Rauh, who did not take money from political action committees (PACs), by five to three.
In his last campaign in 2002, Bass beat back a challenge by Democrat Katrina Swett by 16 percentage points even though her campaign raised and outspent his three to two.
Even in his first successful congressional campaign, Bass unseated Rep. Dick Swett, the husband of Bass’s 2002 challenger, despite being outspent by more than two to one.
Republicans contend Bass doesn’t need as much money as other candidates because voters like his positions on issues and the constituent services his office provides. But Democrats counter that his low level of fundraising is deceptive because interest groups help advertise on his behalf.
“It’s not about money… Being outspent is not going to counteract having a great message like he’s had,” said Jayne Millerick, chairman of New Hampshire Republican State Committee.
Democrats said a number of outside groups, including the conservative Club for Growth, have helped Bass with ads.
“You can’t just look at what he spent, you have to look at what interest groups spent on his behalf in the last cycle,” said Pamela Walsh, spokeswoman for the New Hampshire Democratic Party.
So far this year, the only Democrat in the race is Roy Morrison, an environmental activist. New Hampshire Democratic Party spokeswoman Pamela Walsh said she expects to see other challengers as well. The congressional primary elections are on Sept. 14.
Three out of every five dollars Bass received since the beginning of 2003 were from PACs, according to reports filed with the FEC last month. More than 92 percent of that money came from business groups, with the remainder from labor, the National Rifle Association and political groups.
Bass is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which means he is one of the first people to vote on legislation on energy resources -- including oil, gas, electric and nuclear power -- consumer protection, health facilities and travel and tourism. Issues of Internet regulation also come before the committee.
Of the $111,000 Bass received from PACs in 2003, about 10 percent was from telephone utilities, telecom services and Internet companies. Another 15 percent came from electric, oil and gas companies. All of those companies are headquartered outside New England—some as far away as Florida, Mississippi, and California.
Insurance companies, tobacco companies and HMOs donated more than twice as much—$11,000—as labor groups, which gave only $5,000.
Last year, out-of-state donors provided 35 percent of Bass’s individual contributions above $200.
Big local donors in the last quarter of 2003 included Stephen Krause of Keene, an executive at D.D. Bean & Sons Inc. which makes paper match books, who gave $1,000; Joseph Sullivan, an executive at Hinsdale Racing Association, $1,000; and Wayne Cooper, a publishing executive at Kennedy Information Inc. in Jaffrey, $1,200.
In 2003, Bass’s campaign sent checks to the campaigns of fellow New Hampshire Republicans Bernie Streeter, who won re-election as Nashua’s mayor, and Carlos Gonzalez, who lost a race for mayor of Manchester.
The rest of Bass’s spending has been mostly on travel, fundraising, political events, office supplies -- and $280 worth of maple syrup from North Woodstock, N.H.
Incumbents Rule Money Roost
By Jenna Wolf
WASHINGTON- Rep. Mike Michaud (D-Me.), who will face off against Republican Brian Hamel in the second district this fall, has raked in more than $500,000 for his first reelection campaign, according to the Federal Election Commission.
Hamel announced his candidacy last month and is not required to report campaign contributions to the FEC until March. Incumbents usually raise more money than challengers and are difficult to defeat, but Hamel said he is "confident" he will be able to "raise enough money and win this campaign."
Michaud, former president of the state Senate, first was elected to Congress in 2002, when he narrowly defeated Republican Kevin Raye.
Hamel is the president and chief executive officer of the Loring Development Authority, which works to restore jobs lost when Loring Air Force Base closed in 1994. While Hamel has just begun to solicit funds from individuals and groups, Michaud finished 2003 with more than $300,000 in cash on hand, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit organization that examines campaign finances.
Michaud has received nearly two-thirds of his campaign money from political action committees, or PACs, primarily from labor unions. A former mill worker, Michaud received $123,750 from unions, more than one-third of the $341,509 he got from all PACs, according to the FEC.
Michaud's top contributor is AmeriPAC: The Fund for a Greater America, a Democratic leadership PAC sponsored by Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland , the second-highest ranking Democrat in the House. AmeriPAC has given Michaud $10,500, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
"I support Mike because he is one of the strongest voices in the House of Representatives for protecting American workers and jobs," Hoyer said in a statement. "Because of his job with the Great Northern Paper Mill, he has seen first-hand the struggles of his constituents and the harmful effects of Republican economic policies on his district."
Rep. Tom Allen, who will be running for a fourth term, is likely to face Republican Charlie Summers, who has not officially announced his candidacy, according to Maine political officials. Dottie Melanson, chairwoman of the Maine Democratic Party, said Summers had been circulating campaign papers in the district.
Summers is an aide to Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Me.) and was a member of the Maine state Senate for two terms, from 1992 to 1994. In 1994, he ran for Congress and placed second in the GOP primary. The winner, Jim Longley Jr., served one term in Congress before losing to Allen in the next election.
If Summers does contest Allen's seat, he is not required to submit financial reports to the FEC until the spring.
As of Dec. 31, Allen had raised $278,257 and had $172,132 cash on hand, the FEC reported. He has received nearly two-thirds of his money -- $183,134 -- from individuals, as opposed to PACs.
Like Michaud, Allen has received significant PAC contributions -- $38,500 -- from labor unions, according to a breakdown by the Center for Responsive Politics. His top contributor was the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which gave him $5,000. The business sector gave Allen $34,554, and lawyers and lobbyists gave him $18,500.
During the 2002 election, Allen outspent his Republican opponent Steven Joyce substantially. He spent more than $500,000, four times more than Joyce, and won 64 percent of the vote. In each of his four elections, he has outspent every Republican challenger and beaten each in a landslide.
NEA Awards Artists
WASHINGTON - In early December, Alexander Parsons had just finished teaching a fiction writing class at the University of Hampshire when his phone rang. It was the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), calling to tell him that he had won a $20,000 literature creative writing fellowship award.
The 34-year-old writer will use the money as he completes his third novel, so far untitled, about repossession of cars and ethnic and class strife in New Mexico . Believing that he would never win the grant, he felt "very lucky," he said, to succeed the first time he applied.
Parsons received one of about 2,200 annual NEA grants to individuals, state arts councils and nongovernmental art organizations, and if Congress approves President Bush's fiscal 2005 proposal of $139.4 million for the NEA, more grants will be given out next year.
Bush's recommendation to increase NEA funding by $18 million, the largest since 1984, would benefit local artists. Since 1991, funding for the independent federal agency rapidly decreased until 2001.
It is too soon to know whether Congress will accept Bush's proposal. "It is very early in the budget process," said NEA spokeswoman Felicia Knight. A House Appropriations subcommittee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the NEA appropriation April 1.
If Congress passes Bush's proposal, state arts organizations would receive $53 million, according to the NEA. Each state receives a base amount plus extra money allocated according to population and competitiveness, such as reaching underserved areas in the state, said Rebecca Lawrence, director of the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts, in Concord .
The Maine Arts Commission in Augusta was awarded about $850,000 this year, $20,000 more than last year, assistant director Bryan Knicely said. The New Hampshire State Council was awarded about $580,000 this year, approximately the same as last year, Lawrence said.
Most grants go to arts organizations, not individuals, Knight said. The NEA requires matching grants for most of the awards, a "fundraising tool" that "inspires more donations from the community," she said. In what Knight described as "a highly competitive, rigorous process," grant requests are reviewed by a panel, with its recommendations based on artistic merit. A national advisory board makes the final decision.
This year , the NEA awarded 788 creativity grants totaling $19.8 million, with grants of $99,000 to six arts organizations in Maine and $100,000 to four in New Hampshire .
The MacDowell Colony in Peterborough , N.H. , has received NEA funds off and on for the last 40 years, though not in 2002 and 2003. The colony, which houses and feeds 250 artists for two months in private studios, was awarded $30,000 for this year, enough to support 10 artists.
"Artists of all disciplines," executive director Cheryl Young said, "use the time to create new work." The residency program, which began in 1907, is intended to remove all obstacles for the artists so they can focus on work, Young said.
The Alice James Poetry Cooperative Inc, affiliated with the University of Maine at Farmington , was awarded NEA grants of $5,000 in 2001, $18,000 in 2002, $25,000 in 2003 and $24,000 this year. Every year, it publishes six books of poetry by authors across the country, selected through annual national and New England regional contests.
"The NEA grants are a godsend because you can apply them to all the expenses of publishing the books," said the cooperative's director, April Ossmann. Unlike other grants that must be used for a specific purpose, NEA grants can be applied for general purposes, she said.
VSA Arts of Maine, a Portland-based organization that helps more than 200,000 disabled people in the state, received $10,000 this year for a cultural access project. VSA Maine will use the money to expand the accessibility of cultural facilities in Maine and New Hampshire , executive director David C. Webster said.
Shays Raises Less As Incumbency Lengthens
By Brian Dolan
WASHINGTON— Rep. Christopher Shays, (R-4), one of the prime sponsors of a new law to limit campaign contributions, has raised nearly one-quarter less than other Congress members seeking reelection this year, financial tallies show.
The reason: he receives little from political action committees, the organizations whose influence Shays sought to restrict.
Through the end of last year, Shays had collected $334,042 to spend on his November election bid, compared to an average of $436,177 by all House members seeking reelection, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which monitors campaign finances.
Political action committees, or PACs, gave Shays a mere $47,500, or 14 percent of his contributions, the center reported. On average, PACs have given incumbent House members $183,016 for elections Nov. 2.
Still, Shays has $150,000 more in the bank for the race for his ninth term than he had at this point in 2002, according to the Federal Election Commission.
“We raise what is required to get our story out—nothing more, nothing less,” said Shays’ campaign manager, Michael Sohn.
Shays reported to the FEC that he has $195,730 cash on hand for his reelection bid. The average House member up for reelection has $480,923 cash on hand, the center reported.
But Shays, who first was elected with 57 percent of the vote in 1987, has never had a tough contest. In 2002, Shays beat Democrat Stephanie Sanchez with 64 percent of the vote. Shays raised $975,551 and spent $919,160; Sanchez raised $118,970 and spent $110,699.
This year, Democrats Diane Goss Farrell, first selectwoman of Westport, and John Peter Imre are vying for the seat. Neither has filed a financial disclosure report with the FEC.
Imre challenged Shays in the 2000 election with a shoestring budget of $769, mostly from his own pocket. Farrell has never run for Congress, but has served as Westport’s first selectwoman since 1997.
Republicans say Shays does not need to worry about the upcoming election, even though he has less money than other incumbents.
“Mr. Shays is tremendously popular in his district and won the last election with something like 64 percent of the vote,” said Carl Forti, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “He should have no problem in November.”
Shays has become known nationally as one of the prime sponsors of the Shays-Meehan bill, which President Bush signed in 2002. The controversial legislation, also known by its Senate name, McCain-Feingold, took aim at PACs’ unlimited spending privileges, which Shays said gave them unfair influence over members of Congress, influence most individual donors could not afford.
The new law, which took effect following the 2002 elections, bans unlimited “soft” money, which corporations, unions and PACs formerly gave political parties in increments of $100,000, $250,000, or more. Now, PACs can give only $5,000 to each candidate per election cycle. At the same time, individual donations were doubled to $2,000 per election.
While Shays has received little money from PACs, individual contributors gave him $286,205 this past year, accounting for nearly 86 percent of his funding. On average, individuals gave House members running for reelection $237,971, the Center for Responsive Politics reported.
Shays benefited greatly from his membership on the powerful Budget Committee, as well as the Financial Services Committee. Individuals and PACs associated with the finance, insurance and real estate industries contributed more than $50,000 to his campaign, according to the center. Shays also sits on the Homeland Security and Government Reform Committees.
