Corruption Perception Index #3
Amount of miles 90-year-old great-grandmother Doris `Granny D' Haddock walked per day during her trek across the country to raise attention to the need for campaign finance reform: 10. Average amount spent per day by frontrunners' presidential campaigns to reimburse corporations for use of their jets: $1,243. Number of consumer complaints against airlines filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation in 1998: 9,608. Number of complaints filed in 1999: 20,495. Airline industry net profits in 1998, latest year available: $4.9 billion. Date Senator John McCain dropped measure in a passenger rights bill that would have fined airlines that don't provide reasonable customer service: June 23, 1999. Peak of soft money contributions to Republican Party by airline industry that year: June. Average national price per gallon of gas as of March 6, 2000: $1.49. City miles per gallon a driver can expect from her Ford Explorer, the top-selling SUV in the country: 16. Number of years Congress has barred the Transportation Department from requiring higher fuel efficiency for SUVs and light trucks: 4. Auto industry manufacturers' campaign contributions to federal campaigns from 1996 elections to present: $4.6 million.The Corruption Perception Index is a biweekly bulletins on money in politics and how it hurts our average citizens and our democracy as a whole, published by Public Campaign.
