Phil Gramm
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Senator Phillip Gramm is a right-wing Democrat turned right-wing Republican. He has spent much of his career advocating deregulation and tax-cuts. He is married to Wendy Gramm of the Mercatus Center and previously of Enron.
"Gramm's legislative record includes such bills as the Gramm-Latta Budgets and the Gramm-Rudman Act. Gramm-Latta mandated the Reagan tax cut. Gramm-Rudman placed the first supposedly binding constraints on Federal spending. Gramm was chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the return of a Republican majority in the Senate in 1994. With that majority in place, Gramm, as chairman of the Banking Committee, led passage of the Gramm-Leach Act, making changes in the banking, insurance and securities laws which Congress had kept at bay for sixty years.
"Gramm also led the fight against President Clinton's Health Care Bill, authored changes in the welfare system, and initiated the doubling of forces in the Border Patrol. He and Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia won passage of a highway bill that mandated use of the entire gasoline tax for road construction. Gramm has also worked to invest Social Security funds in the stock market." [1]
In 1996, Gramm spent $20 million seeking the Republican presidential nomination, but failed dismally.
The top contributors were:
- Service Corp International (funeral services) $52,800
- AFLAC Inc. (health insurance) $44,500
- Vinson & Elkins LLP (lawyers) $33,750
- Arthur Andersen & Col (accountants) $30,250
- Enron Corp. (natural gas) $28,250
- Anadarko Petroleum (oil and gas) $21,050
- Dean Witter (securities) $20,000
- Tenneco Inc. (natual gas) $19,750
- Sterling Software $19,250
- John L. Wortham & Sons (insurance) $18,800
References
- Phil Gramm (biographical notes), Famous Texans website, accessed April 2004.