US political spending attacked

"Money power has become ruling power" - Chuck Collins

By BBC News Online's Kevin Anderson in Philadelphia

US political party national conventions will cost an estimated $65m a piece, and millions of dollars will be raised during the conventions to fill party coffers and fund the candidates' campaigns.

Some Americans believe that the influence of money is bankrupting the US political system.

Seeking an alternative from the two major parties, they have convened the Shadow Political Conventions.

You get to meet Colin Powell for $1,000 a head, and George Bush for $5,000 a head

Chuck Collins, co-founder United for a Fair Economy

They are holding one this week in Philadelphia and will hold another in two weeks in Los Angeles.

Participants are calling for campaign finance reform and drawing attention to issues that they believe are not being addressed by the two major parties.

Former Republican darling

The Shadow Conventions were organised in part by former Republican favourite Arianna Huffington.

Many feel parties ignore basic public needs

Her former husband spent $25m in an unsuccessful bid for the US Senate in California in 1994. It broke campaign spending records at the time.

She now calls herself a "recovering Republican".

Parodying the signs held up by the various state delegations at the major party conventions, those at the Shadow Conventions hold up signs saying "Disillusioned," "Not a CEO," and "Downsized."

Jessica Parsley, of the Rain Forest Action Network, said that members of the environmental community believe that the lack of progress on green issues is due to the campaign finance system in the US.

It is costly to meet key party figure heads

"In the 1998 elections, polluting industries outspent the environmental organisations by 50 to one so how are we going to win on that kind of playing field?" she asked.

She advocates full public funding for campaigns at the national level. She said the cost to the taxpayer would be about $14 a year.

Issues not addressed

The organisers of the Shadow Conventions also wanted to draw attention to issues that they said the major parties were not addressing, including ending the War on Drugs and closing the gap between the rich and the poor.

Chuck Collins is co-founder and co-director of United for a Fair Economy. He fears that democracy in the US is threatened by the growing income and wealth gap.

"The money power has become the ruling power. We are becoming a plutocracy," Mr Collins said.

And he said that political parties have become little more than donor lists. "They are glorified money drops," he said, and he took aim at the Republican and Democratic party conventions.

There are calls to reform campaign financing

"Both the party conventions have the scripted, made for TV forum, and then they have the donor events," he said. "You get to meet Colin Powell for $1,000 a head, and George Bush for $5,000 a head."

He said that the influence on money is evident in how the government is run.

The only major piece of legislation to pass Congress this summer was a repeal of the estate tax, which is a tax on the richest 1.5%.

"There are tremendous needs in this country to address: Childcare, 44 million people without health insurance, helping poor and low income people afford homes . Those priorities don't make it to the agenda," he said.