US ELECTION SPECIAL : The world waits and watches

Executives at the UK's three biggest pharmaceuticals companies have been funnelling thousands of dollars from their personal fortunes to help the re-election campaigns of industry-friendly politicians in the US.

David Brennan, the chief executive of AstraZeneca, has emerged as one of the most generous donors to candidates in the midterm elections, in which drug prices have emerged as a big political issue. He and his wife have contributed a total of $31,000 (£16,000) to individual politicians and to Republican party schemes such as the Majority Initiative to Keep Electing Republicans.

Mr Brennan said he "supports candidates who recognise and value the importance of innovative medicines and innovative companies in enhancing people's health".

A Democrat takeover of the House of Representatives - which still seems odds-on, according to weekend polls - could trigger an assault on the pharmaceuticals industry and would likely unseat several of its staunchest defenders.

Political candidates are required to publish details of all donations, which are capped at $10,000 from any single source. Donations may include straightforward cheques or payments for attendance at breakfasts and dinners used as industry networking events.

The chairman of Shire Pharmaceuticals, James Cavanaugh, has together with his wife, contributed $36,500 to the Republican Party and to candidates in Pennsylvania, where the company recently located its North American headquarters thanks to tax and training grants negotiated with local politicians.

And all of GlaxoSmithKline's US-based senior executives, including the company's chief executive, Jean-Pierre Garnier, have contributed four-figure sums to political campaigns. According to an analysis of data compiled by the Centre for Responsive Politics, Mr Garnier had donated a total of $5,000 to the campaigns of three sitting Senators, including one Democrat, since the start of the current electoral cycle two years ago.

David Stout, GSK's head of pharmaceuticals; Christopher Viehbacher, president of the company's US pharmaceuticals business; and David Pulman, who runs GSK's manufacturing arm, were also significant donors. Daniel Phelan, GSK's head of human resources, contributed $2,000 to back the Republican Senator for Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum.

Pharmaceutical industry donations have become a central issue in Mr Santorum's campaign for re-election. His opponent, Bob Casey, has accused him of putting his drug-sector patrons ahead of senior citizens. Mr Santorum was a leading player in the creation of a new federal subsidy for senior citizens' drug bills, but helped shape the system in a way that benefited pharmaceutical companies.

The industry successfully lobbied for the Medicare drug benefit plan to be administered locally by the private sector. The Democrats are promising to legislate to allow central purchasing of drugs by the federal government, which at a stroke will turn the government into the nation's biggest single purchaser of medicines, with the power to demand big cost reductions from the industry.

Mr Santorum is behind in the polls and his race has become the second most expensive in the country. The pharmaceuticals industry has funded his television ads and helped get-out-the-vote efforts.

Mr Santorum's campaign has been the recipient of cash from all three FTSE 100 drug company chief executives in this electoral cycle. Mr Garnier gave $2,000; Mr Brennan contributed $4,100; and Shire's Matthew Emmens wrote a cheque for $500.

About three-quarters of the contributions from the drug industry go to Republican candidates. As well as executives' donations, GSK and AstraZeneca have given hundreds of thousands of dollars through their political action committees, which solicit contributions from staff, suppliers and other stakeholders. GSK's action committee has contributed $2.1m in two years, while AstraZeneca's has chipped in with $806,000.

Matt Cabrey, who will chair the new political action committee being set up by Shire, said: "It is important to have a vehicle where you can educate and communicate with legislators on issues that are important to you. If you call on your legislator for support, frankly you can expect that they may come back to you and ask for your support."

GEORGE W. BUSH - RESUME'

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20520.

I was arrested in Kennebunkport, Maine, in 1976 for driving under the
influence of alcohol. I pleaded guilty, paid a fine, and had my driver's
license suspended for 30 days. My Texas driving record has been "lost"
and is not available.

MILITARY

I joined the Texas Air National Guard and went AWOL. I refused to take
a drug test or answer any questions about my drug use. By joining the
Texas Air National Guard, I was able to avoid combat duty in Vietnam

PAST WORK EXPERIENCE

I ran for U.S. Congress and lost. I began my career in the oil business in Midland, Texas, in 1975. I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas. The company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that
took land using taxpayer money. With the help of my father and our friends in the oil industry, including Enron CEO Ken Lay, I was elected governor of Texas.

I changed Texas pollution laws to favor power and oil companies,
making Texas the most polluted state in the Union.
During my tenure, Houston replaced Los Angeles as the most smog-ridden
city in America

I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas treasury to the tune of billions
in borrowed money.

I set the record for the most executions by any governor in American
history.

With the help of my brother, the governor of Florida, and my father's
appointments to the Supreme Court, I became President after losing by over 500,000 votes.

I am the first President in U.S. History to enter office with a
criminal record.

I invaded and occupied two countries at a continuing cost of over one
billion dollars per week.

I spent the U.S. Surplus and effectively bankrupted the U.S. Treasury.

I shattered the record for the largest annual deficit in U.S. History.

I set an economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any
12-month period.

I set the all-time record for most foreclosures in a 12-month period.

I set the all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the
U.S. Stock market.

In my first year in office, over 2 million Americans lost their jobs and that trend continues every month.

I'm proud that the members of my cabinet are the richest of any
administration in U.S. History. My "poorest millionaire, " Condoleeza
Rice, had a Chevron oil tanker named after her.

I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips by a U.S.
President. I am the all-time U.S. And world record-holder for
receiving the most corporate campaign donations.

My largest lifetime campaign contributor and one of my best friends,
Kenneth Lay, presided over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in
U.S. History, Enron.

My political party used Enron private jets and corporate attorneys to
assure my success with the U.S. Supreme Court during my election
decision.

I have protected my friends at Enron and Halliburton against
investigation or prosecution.

More time and money was spent investigating the Monica Lewinsky affair
than has been spent investigating one of the biggest corporate
rip-offs in history.

I presided over the biggest energy crisis in U.S. History and refused
to intervene when corruption involving the oil industry was revealed.

I presided over the highest gasoline prices in U.S. History.

I changed the U.S. Policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded
government contracts.

I appointed more convicted criminals to administration than any
President in U.S. History.

I created the Ministry of Homeland Security, the largest bureaucracy
in the history of the United States government.

I've broken more international treaties than any President in U.S.
History.

I am the first President in U.S. History to have the United Nations
remove the U.S. From the Human Rights Commission.

I withdrew the U.S. From the World Court of Law. I refused to allow
inspectors access to U.S . "prisoners of war" detainees and thereby
have refused to abide by the Geneva Convention.

I am the first President in history to refuse United Nations election inspectors (during the 2002 U.S. Election).

I set the record for fewest numbers of press conferences of any President since the advent of television.

I set the all-time record for most days on vacation in any one-year
period. After taking off the entire month of August, I presided over
the worst security failure in U.S. History.

I garnered the most sympathy for the U.S. After the World Trade Center
attacks and less than a year later made the U.S. the most hated
country in the world, the largest failure of diplomacy in world
history.

I have set the all-time record for most people worldwide to
simultaneously protest me in public venues (15 million people),
shattering the record for protests against any person in the history
of mankind.

I am the first President in U.S. history to order an unprovoked,
pre-emptive attack and the military occupation of a sovereign nation.
I did so against the will of the United Nations, the majority of U.S.
citizens, and the world community.

I have cut health care benefits for war veterans and support a cut in
duty benefits for active duty troops and their families-in-wartime.

In my State of the Union Address, I lied about our reasons for
attacking Iraq and then blamed the lies on our British friends.

I am the first President in history to have a majority of Europeans
(71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and
security.

I am supporting development of a nuclear "Tactical Bunker Buster," a
WMD. I have so far failed to fulfill my pledge to bring Osama Bin
Laden [sic] to justice.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES

All records of my tenure as governor of Texas are now in my father's
library, sealed and unavailable for public view.

All records of SEC investigations into my insider trading and my
bankrupt companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.

All records or minutes from meetings that I, or my Vice-President,
attended regarding public energy policy are sealed in secrecy and
unavailable for public review. I am a member of the Republican Party.

IF YOU ARE A U.S. CITIZEN, PLEASE CONSIDER MY EXPERIENCE WHEN VOTING IN THE 2006 MIDTERM ELECTIONS!

I wanted to share with you a powerful inspiration I received this morning. I was in quite an inspired state and after thinking about the upcoming U.S. elections, the following thoughts came to me:

It all comes down to who we really believe is in power. To the extent we believe that the world's leaders (or powerful individuals secretly controlling them) are in power, we at their mercy. If, however, we know that the real power lies deep within each one of us, then we become powerful co-creators of the world and universe in which we live!

To subscribe to or unsubscribe from this list (one email every two weeks) or to reply to this message, see end of email

The concise excerpts from media articles below reveal major problems with the voting process. Fair voting is crucial to all who support democracy. This is not a partisan matter. Few have compiled this information in a way that educates the public on the great risk of using electronic voting machines. Spread the word and be sure to vote.

CNN News, 9/20/06, Voting Machines Put U.S. Democracy at Risk

Electronic voting machines...time and again have been demonstrated to be extremely vulnerable to tampering and error. During the 2004 presidential election, one voting machine...added nearly 3,900 additional votes. Officials caught the machine's error because only 638 voters cast presidential ballots. In a heavily populated district, can we really be sure the votes will be counted correctly? A 2005 Government Accountability Office report on electronic voting confirmed the worst fears: "There is evidence that some of these concerns have been realized and have caused problems with recent elections, resulting in the loss and miscount of votes."

New York Times, 9/5/06, In Search of Accurate Vote Totals

A recent government report details enormous flaws in the election system in Ohio's biggest county, problems that may not be fixable before the 2008 election. Cuyahoga County...recently adopted Diebold electronic voting machines that produce a voter-verified paper record. Investigators compared the vote totals recorded on the machines after this year's primary with the paper records produced. The numbers should have been the same, but often there were large and unexplained discrepancies. The report also found that nearly 10 percent of the paper records were destroyed, blank, illegible, or otherwise compromised.

MSNBC/Associated Press, 9/13/06, Princeton Prof Hacks E-vote Machine

A Princeton University computer science professor added new fuel...to claims that electronic voting machines...are vulnerable to hacking. In a paper posted on the university's Web site, Edward Felten and two graduate students described how they had tested a Diebold AccuVote-TS machine they obtained, found ways to quickly upload malicious programs and even developed a computer virus able to spread such programs between machines. They designed software capable of modifying all records, audit logs and counters kept by the voting machine, ensuring that a careful forensic examination would find nothing wrong.

USA Today/Associated Press, 7/13/06, Electronic Voting Machines Under Legal Attack

Lawsuits have been filed in at least nine states, alleging that the machines are wide open to computer hackers. New York University's Brennan Center for Justice released a one-year study...that determined that the three most popular types of U.S. voting machines "pose a real danger" to election integrity. More than 120 security threats were identified, including wireless machines that could be hacked "by virtually any member of the public with some (computer) knowledge." Lowell Finley: "We had dozens of affidavits from voters in New Mexico who said they touched one candidate's name, but the machine picked the opponent."

Washington Post, 6/28/06, A Single Person Could Swing an Election

A team of cybersecurity experts [concluded] that it would take only one person, with a sophisticated technical knowledge and timely access to the software that runs the voting machines, to change the [election] outcome.

New York Times, 5/30/06, Block the Vote

States are adopting rules that make it hard, and financially perilous, for nonpartisan groups to register new voters. New rules for maintaining voter rolls...are likely to throw off many eligible voters. Florida recently reached a new low when it actually bullied the League of Women Voters into stopping its voter registration efforts. Colorado recently imposed criminal penalties on volunteers who slip up in registration drives.

Wall Street Journal, 5/12/06, Reversing Course on Electronic Voting

Some advocates of a 2002 law mandating upgrades of the nation's voting machinery now worry the overhaul is making things worse. Proponents of the Help America Vote Act are filing lawsuits to block some state and election officials' efforts to comply with the act. In Indiana, an ES&S [electronic voting machine supplier] employee alerted local-election officials that another ES&S worker had installed unauthorized software on the machines before the election. That and other disputes led to a multimillion-dollar settlement.

New York Times, 5/12/06, New Fears of Security Risks in Electronic Voting Systems

Officials in Pennsylvania and California issued urgent directives...about a potential security risk in their Diebold Election Systems touch-screen voting machines. "It's the most severe security flaw ever discovered in a voting system," said Michael I. Shamos, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon. Diebold issued a warning...saying that it had found a "theoretical security vulnerability." A professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University...after studying the latest problem [said] "I almost had a heart attack."

Washington Post, 3/26/06, Election Whistle-Blower Stymied by Vendors

Ion Sancho is...elections supervisor in Leon County, Fla. Last year, [he] helped show that electronic voting machines...would allow election workers to alter vote counts without detection. Sancho may be paying an unexpected price for his whistle-blowing: None of the state-approved companies here will sell him the voting machines the county needs.The trouble began last year when Sancho allowed a Finnish computer scientist to test Leon County's Diebold voting machines. Diebold will not sell to Sancho without assurances that he will not permit more such tests, which the company considers a reckless use of the machines.

New York Times, 9/12/04, On the Voting Machine Makers' Tab

Some of electronic voting's loudest defenders have been state and local election officials. Many of those same officials have financial ties to voting machine companies. Officials from Georgia, California and Texas argued that voter-verifiable paper trails...are impractical. Former secretaries of state from Florida and Georgia have signed on as lobbyists for Election Systems and Software [ES&S] and Diebold Election Systems. When Bill Jones left office as California's secretary of state in 2003, he quickly became a consultant to Sequoia Voting Systems. His assistant secretary of state took a full-time job there. The list goes on.

MSNBC/AP, 8/23/04, Secretive Testing Firms Certify Nation's Vote Count Machines

The three companies that certify the nation's voting technologies operate in secrecy, and refuse to discuss flaws in the machines. Federal regulators have virtually no oversight over testing of the technology.

New York Times, 1/31/04, How to Hack an Election

Maryland hired a computer security firm to test its new machines. Paid hackers had little trouble casting multiple votes and taking over the machines' vote-recording mechanisms. Diebold...rushed to issue a self-congratulatory press release with the headline "Maryland Security Study Validates Diebold Election Systems Equipment." The study's authors were shocked to see their findings spun so positively.

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US ELECTION SPECIAL : The world waits and watches....

Drug company chiefs dig deep to get a result they like in the Senate

By Stephen Foley in New York

Published: 05 November 2006