Tobacco.org

Links: government

Send a Letter to Tobacco Companies about the "Action Against Access" Program
Outpost Network usually sells Valentine's, Birthday cards, etc. (I used them last year.). Here they've assembled a list of tobacco and vending machine companies you can send a card to for $2.95 each printed/stamped/sent letter. Last June, the Philip Morris tobacco company announced that it would penalize retailers convicted of selling cigarettes to minors. But after the company declined to act against 17 Minnesota stores caught selling to under-age buyers, Minnesota attorney general Hubert Humphrey III charged that the firm's "Action Against Access" campaign was an empty promise made with no real plans for implementation.
Philip Morris attorneys replied that they will, indeed, take action, but only when they have verifiable reports from the state. Contact Philip Morris or other tobacco companies to give your feedback or ask for information.
http://www.outpost.net/issues/cftobac.htm

Campaign Reform Project
http://www.campaign-reform.org/

Instructions for Putting the "Project Independence" Logo/Petition on Your Site
(It's really simple: just copy the html they give you and paste it into your page).
http://www.commoncause.org/get_involved/projind_instructions.htm

Wash. Post's Campaign Finance Reform Page
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/campfin/c...

Project Independence Protests at Republican Fundraiser
Reuters

Organizers said Tuesday's event was the culmination of nearly four months of fund raising that raked in more than $11 million for the GOP treasury. Ted Welch, who chaired the event, told the crowd as they sat down to salmon and filet mignon that a recent Democratic effort raised only $4 million -- "so we have a lot to cheer for."

A Declaration for Independence
Project Independence has a special July 4 push to sign their petition in support of the bipartisan McCain-Feingold bill, currently pending in Congress, which provides the framework for effective campaign finance reform.
http://www.projectindependence.org/

Money & Politics
Homepage of The Political Finance & Lobby Reporter and The Almanac of Federal PACs
http://www.pflr.com/

McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Activist Site
Common Cause gives you an easy way to register your support for this bill which would do away with "soft money," and attempt to get us away from a "government of the PACs, by the PACs and for the PACs." You can find out info here, and sign the petition here
http://www.commoncause.org/issue_agenda/cf_senate.htm

Government Reform Sites
from Common Cause
http://www.commoncause.org/special/pisites.htm

Lobbyist.org
If you can't beat 'em, lobby 'em, and this site gives you an arsenal of lobbyist tools at their Lobbyist Resource Page. Check their fine roundup of Media Outlets
http://www.lobbyist.org/

Sweethearts of Big Tobacco
The Public Citizen report on Congressional votes/PAC contributions

In order to illustrate how Big Tobacco tries to woo members of Congress, Public Citizen analyzed all tobacco-related votes in Congress in 1997. Each member was assigned a "pro-consumer" score based upon the number of times the member voted against the Big Tobacco position. We then analyzed campaign contributions from the tobacco industry's political action committees (PACs) and the relationship between these contributions and members' votes.


"Let's Go Out and--LOBBY!"

Follow the Money
Courtesy of MS/NBC's new site.
http://www.msnbc.com/specials/party_favors/database/default.asp

Smoke & Mirrors
Common Cause roundup of 1995 tobacco contributions
http://nonprofit.venus.net/cmncause/396tob.htm

Follow the PAC Money
Courtesy of Mass. Common Cause
http://www.tiac.net/users/comcause/tobacco.htm

Mother Jones' remarkable "Coin-Op Congress" database.
Plug in your candidate and see his or her campaign contributors.
http://www.mojones.com/COINOP_CONGRESS

Tobacco Hard and Soft Dollar Summary for the 105th Congress
Center for Responsive Politics
http://www.crp.org/pubs/tob96/tobacco.htm

Top soft dollar donors by unique name so far for 1997-98
You can even see where the money's transferred once it leaves the RNC or DNC, look up soft money contributors by name, state--even zip code. There's more. This site is jam-packed.
http://www.tray.com/fecinfo/98topsoft.htm

The Buying of the President
Wow--full downloadable databases of contributions/trips/you-name-it--paid the candidates by special interests. From the Center for Public Integrity.
http://www.essential.org/cpi/database.html

Campaign Finance Studies
documents special interests donations, like Philip Morris' 1996 Contributions
http://www.commoncause.org/publications/campaign_finance.htm

Common Cause's Money Trail/Soft Money Laundromat
has been updated for the latest figures. Read 'em and weep.
http://www.commoncause.org/soft_money/dollar.htm

The Money Pump
RW Mann is tracking campaign contributions. No new tobacco entries since Sept. of 1996(!)
http://zeus.odyssey.net/subscribers/mann2000/pump796.html

Lobbyist Database
Center for Responsive Politics. Use the pop-up menu--"Tobacco" is a listed interest area.
http://www.opensecrets.org/lobbyists/98lookup.htm/

PBS' Follow the Money
On campaign financing. Includes a useful timeline, featuring events like the 1907 Tillman Act banning direct corporate contributions to politicians. (TR, who campaigned on a "Clean Government" platform, would be ashamed to see how dirty we still are 90 years later.)

Something is very rotten in American politics when nearly every candidate for office is dependent on a tiny, economic elite to mount their campaigns, when candidates are judged first and foremost by how much money they can raise, and when lawmakers tilt public policy toward those who finance their campaigns. What can be done to reduce special interest influence, end the money chase that diverts lawmakers' precious time and attention, and make it possible for candidates to run for office without having to sell themselves to the highest bidders? These are the fundamental problems that must be addressed by any serious reform of our campaign system.You can find out more about the show, and when/where it's on here

NY State Lobbying Commission
http://www.nylobby.state.ny.us/

Blowing Smoke
Big Tobacco's 1998 Congressional Lobbying Expenses Skyrocket $43 Million Total -- An Average of $81,000 for Each Member of Congress
http://www.citizen.org/tobacco/oct98lobby.htm

Tobacco Political Giving Tops $4 Million in 1997, Total Giving Since 1987 Reaches Nearly $30 Million, Common Cause Study Finds
http://www.commoncause.org/publications/tobaccotoc.htm

Common Cause's Washington Watchdog

Burning Down the Houses Public Citizen nails tobacco political influence.in DC in 1997; tracks lobbying firms, use of former staffers, voting records aligned with PAC contributions, etc. Nicely Done.

Read the petition, then sign at the bottom of the page urging congressional passage of comprehensive campaign finance reform.

Find Individual Contributors
http://www.tray.com/fecinfo/indiv.htm

Soft Money Database
Choose as State "NY", and alphabetical "P", for example, to see PM's "soft money" contributions reported to the FEC. The FECInfo Site has lots more resources on PACs.
http://www.tray.com/fecinfo/soft.htm

Tobacco Industry Figures--House and Senate Recipients
Center for Responsive Politics
http://www.crp.org/pubs/tobaccotally.htm.

Who's Tobacco Friendly?
GREAT ABC News Interactive Database--Click on your state.

During the 1997 session of the 105th Congress, lawmakers looked at several bills related directly and indirectly to the tobacco industry. We've chosen five key votes on tobacco-related issues from the Senate, and four from the House, and cross-referenced how members of Congress voted on the issues, and how much money they received from direct tobacco contributions. Do contributions from industry interests influence the way your Congress votes? You decide. Here's New York

NY: New York City Campaign Finance Board
has a searchable database and other campaign finance information.
http://www.cfb.nyc.ny.us/

RJR lobbyists
http://207.197.132.133/lobbyists/98profiles/20165.htm

PM lobbyists
http://207.197.132.133/lobbyists/98profiles/18834.htm

Lorillard lobbyists
http://207.197.132.133/lobbyists/98profiles/14151.htm

BAT lobbyists
1998
http://207.197.132.133/lobbyists/98profiles/3221.htm

1999 Top Contributors to Presidential Candidates
http://www.opensecrets.org/2000elect/contrib/AllCands.htm

Tobacco Contributions
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/tobacco/tobacco.htm

Open Secrets
CRP's compilation of campaign finance reports, including Influence, Inc. , and Tobacco
http://www.opensecrets.org/home/index.asp

The Center for Responsive Politics
fights for campaign finance reform and tracks contributions and their effects.
http://www.crp.org/

Public Campaign
Campaign Finance reform
http://www.publicampaign.org/

Search Wizard
Narrow search by contributor/recipient/state Database only includes some states.
http://www.campaignfinance.org/powersearch/query-interface.ptmpl...

Election Cycle Comparisons
http://206.239.183.87/smecc.html

Campaign Reform Project
The Business Advisory Council (BAC)

The Business Advisory Council (BAC) is an association of prominent business leaders who have joined together to assist in efforts to reform the existing campaign finance system.

PAC Contribution Data
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids lets you search by representative's name, by state, or by party.
http://www.tobaccofreekids.com/html/pac_contribution_data.cfm

The Call
The Call

Classification of cigarettes and alcohol as dangerous drugs; removal or reduction of the profit from narcotics, tobacco and alcohol by forbidding their sale other than by nonprofit local or state entities, decriminalizing narcotic use and a new national addiction-treatment system.

C-Span Congressional Schedule


Call the President: 202-456-1111
Call your Senators and representatives 202-224-3121
Ronnie Dugger's http://www.ea1.com/alliance)
http://congress.nw.dc.us/c-span/

Contacting the Senate
No pointless searching around; Full list of Senate info: Name, Party, State, Address, Phone, Email all in one convenient place.
http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index_by_state.cfm

Congressional Email Directory
http://www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congress-email.html

House Email addresses
From the House--you need your zip code.
http://www.house.gov/writerep/

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