May 1 , 2000 Putin's Promises BY FRED WEIR Will Russia's new president launch a revolution from above? Union Nyet BY TONY WESOLOWSKY The decline of Russian unions Dullest Lights BY G. PASCAL ZACHARY Moldova makes a strange poster child for reform Steering the Global Economy BY DAVID DYSSEGAARD KALLICK Ingredients for an alternative News & Views Editorial BY SALIM MUWAKKIL Rudy plays the race card Appall-O-Meter BY DAVID FUTRELLE A Terry Laban Cartoon Mexico's Thought Police BY KENT PATERSON FBI-trained forces allegedly tortured political dissidents Dirty Deeds BY TRAVIS LEA Spain wants to extradite Argentina's former dictators Party Palace BY NATHANIEL HELLER George W. Bush's lucrative sleepovers Profile BY PAT AUFDERHEIDE Errol Morris, the interrogator The Flanders Files BY LAURA FLANDERS Arianna's change of heart Spring Books Mother Night BY LAURA SECOR Slavenka Draculic's S. Coming to America BY TED KLEINE Aleksandar Hemon's short fiction Take a Hike BY JANE HOLTZ KAY Wanderlust: A History of Walking Corporate Ideals BY KIM PHILLIPS-FEIN John B. Judis, a real Progressive Up, Up and Away BY RICK PERLSTEIN Frances Fitzgerald goes Way Out There in the Blue Curtain Call BY SCOTT McLEMEE Susan Sontag gets lost In America Constant Craving BY JOE KNOWLES The obsessions of Thom Gunn

Party Palace George W. Bush denies he broke Texas law. Credit: Joeff Davis By Nathaniel Heller Washington As George W. Bush's presidential ambitions grew, so did the frequency of overnight stays at the Texas Governor's Mansion by political allies and fundraisers. Beginning in mid-1997, the mansion became a gathering place and springboard for his nascent 2000 campaign, roping in key supporters early in the election cycle. Altogether, Bush's overnight guests at the mansion have raised more than $2.2 million to further his presidential candidacy. At least 15 of these guests are members of Bush's elite team of presidential fundraisers - the "Pioneers," who have each raised at least $100,000 for him - according to the full list of overnight guests from January 1995 through February 2000. But the overnight visits to the taxpayer-supported mansion may have violated Texas law. State legislation directly prohibits the use of state resources to support candidates for elected state or national office. The Texas Legislature appropriates approximately $350,000 per year for the maintenance and operation of the Governor's Mansion. Many of the overnight guests who stayed at the mansion during that period - most for the first time - were national politicians and fundraisers who would later become key advisers in the Bush campaign. "It's explicit that you can't use state resources to influence an election," says Steve Collins, general counsel of the Texas Legislative Council, a nonpartisan office that assists lawmakers with bill drafting and research. Collins notes that the issue rests on "whether [the overnight visits] were intended to influence the outcome of any election." Nathaniel Heller is the James R. Soles Fellow at the Center for Public Integrity. A verson of this article originally appeared in the Public I. For a complete list of overnight guests at the Texas Governor's Mansion, go to http://www.publici.org.   TOP HOME SUBSCRIBE MAIL   In These Times © 2000 Vol. 24, No. 11

Election 2000 Coverage Never Mind the Bollocks BY BILL BOISVERT Here's the new Republican Party September 4 , 2000 The Battle of Philadelphia BY DAVE LINDORFF September 4 , 2000 Working It BY DAVID MOBERG Will unions go all out for Gore? September 4 , 2000 Editorial BY DAVID MOBERG Big money problems. September 4 , 2000 Cleaning Up BY HANS JOHNSON Missouri, Oregon consider campaign finance initiatives September 4 , 2000 Why I'm Voting for Nader ... BY ROBERT McCHESNEY August 21, 2000 ... And Why I'm Not BY JAMES WEINSTEIN August 21, 2000 Dumped BY JEFFREY ST. CLAIR August 7, 2000 Bush's dirty politics turn an Texas town into a sewer. An Environmental President BY GUY SAPERSTEIN August 7, 2000 Three's Company BY JOHN NICHOLS July 10, 2000 Third parties strategize for the November elections. Editorial BY JOEL BLEIFUSS June 12, 2000 Memo to third parties: Face Reality. Marching On BY DAVE LINDORFF June 12, 2000 Unity 2000 plans to disrupt this summer's GOP convention Party Palace BY NATHANIEL HELLER May 1, 2000 George W. Bush's lucrative sleepovers Stupid Tuesday BY HANS JOHNSON April 17, 2000 After Super Tuesday, progressives mull over missed opportunities What Women Want BY DAVID MOBERG April 17, 2000 Working women's votes could seal Al Gore's fate. But is he listening to them? David vs. Goliath BY KARI LYDERSEN April 17, 2000 Socialist presidential candidate David McReynolds How to Deal with Gore BY JEFFREY ST. CLAIR and LOIS GIBBS April 17, 2000 Love him or leave him? Ralph Really Runs BY DOUG IRELAND April 3, 2000 Nader kicks off his second bid for president Editorial March 20, 2000 Flub watch. On the Fence BY MATTHEW KNOESTER March 20, 2000 Human rights or big oil for Al Gore? The First Stone BY JOEL BLEIFUSS March 6, 2000 Vanishing voters. Gush vs. Bore BY DOUG IRELAND March 6, 2000 Free Ride BY PAT MURPHY March 6, 2000 Meet the real John McCain. Cash and Carry BY JEFFREY ST. CLAIR March 6, 2000 George W. Bush's environmental menace. Fair Weather Friends BY JUAN GONZALEZ March 6, 2000 Candidates court the Latino vote. More Marketplace Medicine BY DAVID MOBERG March 6, 2000 Neither Democrats' health plan will fix the system. New Labor, Old Politics BY DAVID MOBERG November 14, 1999 Bradley Courts the Black Vote BY SALIM MUWAKKIL October 31, 1999 Changing Primary Colors BY DAVID DYSSEGAARD KALLICK June 13, 1999 The Great Right Hope BY RUSSELL CONTRERAS Who is George W. Bush? May 30, 1999 Money Money Money! BY NEIL SWANSON Al Gore and Bill Bradley go one-on-one. May 30, 1999