THE BUSINESS OF CONGRESS

Since the passage of the l996 Telecommunications Act deregulating the industry, cable rates are up 24%, in-state long distance rates are up 10%, and Consumers Union estimates that average consumers are paying an extra $3 to $4 billion a year in new local and long distance "line-item" charges. While telephone companies, Internet upstarts and media conglomerates rapidly engulf and devour each other, taking advantage of relaxed rules governing the concentration of media, cable and telephone ownership, most consumers have yet to see any of the improvements in prices or service promised by supporters of deregulation. And if Congress doesn't take action, under current law it's also possible the freewheeling Internet business will soon be controlled by a handful of cable-modem Internet giants. Those are the real issues raised by the letters written to federal regulators on behalf of several campaign contributors by presidential candidate John McCain in his capacity as chair of the Senate Commerce committee. Between 1993 and 1998, McCain's Senate campaign collected more than $565,000 in large individual contributions and PAC money from the communications and electronics sector. His colleague Conrad Burns (R-MT), who chairs Commerce's communications subcommittee, raked in nearly $514,000 over the same period. In just the last three years, Rep. Bill Tauzin, the chair of the House Commerce telecommunications subcommittee, has pulled in $222,000. Aides to Burns and Tauzin say their bosses, like McCain, have written frequently to the FCC to expedite decisions about issues like broadcast licenses. Overall, the communications and electronics industry has drastically stepped up its efforts to buy access and influence. After giving $28 million to candidates and parties in 1993-94, large individual contributions, PAC and soft money from this sector nearly doubled to $54.5 million in the 1997-98 cycle, split evenly between Republicans and Democrats. It's no coincidence that you aren't hearing much out of Congress these days about rising cable and phone rates. And most of this money is hard money--not the unregulated soft money contributions that Senator McCain would like to see banned. The only way to truly remove the "taint" that comes with all this money--the justified public suspicion that politicians are for sale--is to make it possible for candidates to run for office without having to raise any money from wealthy special interests.