Woman walks across country

Off Our Backs, Mar 2000

At age 90, Doris Haddock is still making the most out of her lifetime as a social activist. "Granny D" spent the past twelve months walking across the country in support of campaign finance reform. She started in Pasadena, California on January l, 1999, and walked 3,200 miles to Washington, DC despite suffering from arthritis and emphysema. She covered about 10 miles per day. When she arrived in a snow-covered Maryland, she strapped on cross-country skis and covered 85 miles.

"I think I'm stronger than when I started. Certainly my emphysema is better," said Haddock. She urges that soft money contributions be outlawed and that voters oust politicians who won't work towards campaign finance reform.

"I feel very strongly that democracy is being threatened by the illegal money that is being given to our candidates by corporations and unions and wealthy men. So that we are shifting from being a country that is a government of the people by the people and for the people . . . [t]o an oligarchy . . . not a democracy," Haddock stated.

On her website, Haddock lists the "Dirty Thirty" companies that give the most soft money based on Federal Elections Commission reports of the 1999-2000 election cycle, as follows.

1. American Telephone & Telegraph

2. Mirage Resorts Inc.

3. Philip Morris Companies Inc.

4. SBC Communications Inc.

5. Citigroup

6. Bellsouth Corp.

7. Bell Atlantic.

8. General Electric.

9. FDX Corp (Federal Express). 10. AMR Corp.

11. Microsoft Corp.

12. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (Freddie Mac)

13. Pfizer Inc.

14. Schering-Plough Corp.

15. Limited Inc.

16. MGM Grand Inc.

17. UST Inc (US Tobacco)

18. Enron Corp.

19. Anheuser-Busch Companies

20. Atlantic Richfield Co (ARCO)

21. Services Group Of America

22. Archer-Daniels-Midland Co.

23. Rite Aid Corp.

24. Flo-Sun Inc.

25. TeleCommunications Inc.

26. Connell Co.

27. KMart Corp.

28. Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.

29. Coca-Cola Co.

30. UPS General Service Co.

(Info from Washington Post February 29, 2000 and )