In his opening statement at the hearings of the Thompson committee on Tuesday, Oklahoma senator Don Nickles raised the point that it is illegal -- according to Section 441c(a)2 of the Federal Election Code -- to solicit contributions from federal contractors.
Where will Nickles go with this line of argument in the week ahead? For an indication, we can look at an interesting work of French-style micro- sociology called Federal Pork and White House Coffees, written by Kenneth R. Weinstein and August Stofferahn of the Heritage Foundation, for release on Monday, July 14.
There were 1,528 attendees at the coffees, according to lists released by the White House. Of these, 799 were either DNC officials or Clinton White House people or state and local Democrats. The remaining 729 attendees represented businesses, labor unions, interest groups, and nonprofits. Of those non-governmental attendees, 199 (or 27 percent) represented groups that received federal grants or contracts. The coffees raised $ 27 million, of which an astonishing $ 14.4 million was contributed by federal contractors or grant recipients.
They're getting their money's worth: In 1995, these same organizations received $ 825 million in grants and loans from federal agencies. They also received $ 30.4 billion in federal contracts in 1995, and $ 29.2 billion in 1996.