corps picking up dnc tab

When the speeches are finished, the applause is over and the balloons are dropped, what’s a DNC delegate meant to do? Party with the Corporations, of course.

This great article at AlterNet takes a look at the late-night corporately-funded shin-digs happening across Boston.  Dangerous multinationals Generous corporate citizens like Pfizer, Bristol Meyers and Altria (the company formerly known as Philip Morris) are ponying up to the bar and buying drinks, food and politicians one shrimp-stuffed canape at a time.

The article is written by Micah L. Sifry and Nancy Watzman, authors of the superbly titled book: Is That a Politician in Your Pocket? Washington on $2 Million a Day. The problem with corporately funded fetes, they argue, isn’t who gets to sip champagne with delegates, it’s who is not on the guest list:

What happens at these parties isn’t so much the direct exchange of cash for favors as something more subtle and invidious: the reinforcement of a common worldview. That’s because ordinary people aren’t invited to these events; nor could they afford to pay-to-play. So the politicians in the room don’t hear about the high cost of health insurance or how hard it is to find affordable housing on the minimum wage. To do that, they’d have to talk to the waiters, busboys and janitors who clean up after the revelers leave at 2:00 a.m.

When November 3rd rolls around, I’m hoping for a change in Washington, but I’m not naive enough to believe much will be different. You are who you party with. And it’s clear that many of the regulars will be sticking around the trough regardless of who takes the White House.