TELCO-SPONSORED REVELRY A THING OF THE PAST AT CONVENTIONS

摘要

The fun and games hosted by telecom companies at previous national political conventions will be lacking next week at the Democratic gathering in Denver and the week after at the Republican get-together in St. Paul, Minnesota. Cited as the reason, besides the economy: Tough new rules against members of Congress accepting gifts. "We're not doing shit," said a lobbyist for a Fortune 500 communications company when asked his organization's plans for the conventions. He said his company will send only two executives to each city. But telcos are among the businesses underwriting the conventions. Sponsorships begin at $5,280 and can reach $1 million, according to the Democratic Convention Host Committee website. Committee host sponsors include Qwest, Cisco, AT&T and Level 3. GOP committee hosts include AT&T, Comcast, Verizon Wireless and Cisco. AT&T was among the biggest givers at $7.3 million, 65 percent to Republicans and 35 percent to Democrats.