[olliemb]

Correct me if you know differently, but I think that Fritz Hollings was the biggest benefactor from Worldcom. I guess he was sleeping with the corporation.

[terilyn]

One of the biggest beneficiaries of WorldCom's political largess is South Carolina's U.S. Senator Fritz Hollings, the powerful chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee. In the past ten years, Hollings has received over $32 thousand in contributions from WorldCom and it is anybody's guess how much the South Carolina Democratic Party has received from WorldCom in soft money due to Holling's influence. On July 27, 2002, the Chicago Tribune described Hollings as, "One of the companies most important friends....who shares WorldCom's antipathy to regional phone companies." Hollings is considered to be the political go-to-man in the tremendously competitive telecom industry which is a risky business as many regular phone services are being supplanted by inter-net services.

http://www.zmag.org/content/sh owarticle.cfm?SectionID=10& ;ItemID=2055

[terilyn]

However...

WorldCom has been most generous to lawmakers from its corporate home state of Mississippi. Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) and Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) both rank near the top of the list of contributions from WorldCom, as do dozens of members of the House and Senate Commerce Committees who deal regularly with legislation that would affect WorldCom’s bottom line. President Bush raised $41,601 from the company during the 2000 election cycle.

http://216.239.37.100/search?q =cache:CaaASlkC3mUC:www.opense crets.org/news/worldcom/index. asp+worldcom+political+contrib utions+senate&hl=en&ie =UTF-8

[terilyn]

WorldCom Contributions
to Current Members of the House, 1989-2002*

http://www.opensecrets.org/new s/worldcom/house.asp

WorldCom Contributions
to Current Members of the Senate, 1989-2002*

http://www.opensecrets.org/new s/worldcom/senate.asp

WorldCom Contributions
to Members of the Bush Administration*

http://www.opensecrets.org/new s/worldcom/pres.asp