Washington Journal

By MARY JACOBY and SARA FRITZ

© St. Petersburg Times, published October 15, 2000

Forget Windows: D.C. has munchies

Once, the mighty Microsoft paid little heed to the greased-palm culture of Washington, D.C. Small-minded bureaucrats, nitpicky regulators and grubbing politicians -- why would a new-economy titan want such Dickensian company?

That, of course, was before the government brought Microsoft to its knees with an antitrust investigation. Today, Microsoft understands the need to have "friends" in the Capitol. Over the last three years, it has paid more than $16-million to politicians, political parties, lobbyists, public relations firms and think tanks, according to watchdog group Common Cause.

And last Tuesday, the company shared some of this with the bottom-feeders of Washington: journalists and congressional aides, who in lieu of big paychecks often comfort themselves with morsels from HORS D'OEUVRE trays around town. Like birds to carrion, they descended on a spread that Microsoft ostensibly had laid out in honor of its 25th anniversary.

Common Cause president Scott Harshbarger said the real reason for the reception, held in a French restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue, was to allow Microsoft to ingratiate itself with the Washington establishment.

Several lawmakers attended, including Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska. Former Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour, a Microsoft lobbyist, was also there.

The journalists were invited, Harshbarger said, in part to demystify Microsoft, which has been criticized for not disclosing its funding of think tanks that defend the company.

"I think the journalists were invited because Microsoft wanted them to see who else came. It's very sophisticated. It's a way of making Microsoft a much more routine part of Washington, so everything they do doesn't get so much attention," he said. Full disclosure: Your ST. PETERSBURG TIMES correspondent ate several bite-size cheese quiches and sniffed suspiciously at a tiny guacamole-filled pie crust topped with sardines.

Bill puts clamp on gray market cigarettes

The effort to crack down on gray market cigarettes advanced last week when the Senate passed a wide-ranging trade bill.

One provision of the bill would ban imports of these cigarettes.

Gray market cigarettes are produced by American companies for foreign sales, then diverted back into the United States and sold below market prices.

One of the drawbacks of gray market cigarette sales is that they are made mostly to underage smokers. These sales also do not generate any tax revenue under the tobacco settlement between the states and the cigarette manufacturers. That revenue is designated for programs that discourage teen smoking.

Lieberman still in race to keep Senate seat

The headlines said: Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Joe Lieberman declines to debate. But the story had nothing to do with the presidential race.

Lieberman, it turns out, has declined to debate the Republican challenger for his Senate seat, Philip A. Giordano, the mayor of Waterbury, Conn.

Lieberman has two weeks to decide whether to withdraw from the Senate race and allow another Democrat to face Giordano. If he does not withdraw and wins both his Senate seat and the vice presidency, his successor will certainly be a Republican. That's because Republican Gov. John Rowland would be entitled to select a person to fill the vacancy.

Says Giordano: "If you don't have an hour and a half to spend with the constituents of Connecticut, then get out of the race."

- Staff writers Mary Jacoby and Sara Fritz contributed to this column.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright