Listening To America With Bill Moyers: Who Owns The Government?

Who Owns the Government? is the question posed by this edition of Listening to America with Bill Moyers, and if you didn't already know the answer, this program is pretty persuasive that the government is indeed owned by, surprise!, moneyed interests. Together with interviewees and on-location correspondents, Moyers and company investigate the ongoing abuse of PAC (political action committee) funds, the savings & loan fiasco (and the role our government played), and the powerful lobbying position of the 700 billion dollar health care industry which continues to prevent much needed reforms. While much of the information contained in the program will be old hat to regular PBS viewers who have followed these issues fairly closely, there are a few interesting gems in the program. Most fascinating is the discussion of President Bush's "Team 100," a group comprised of some 249 members whose only distinguishing characteristic is that each member paid at least $100,000 in contributions to the Bush campaign. It's amazing how many of these folk--people who have apparently little or no political background--have been made ambassadors to third-world countries. While neither as cohesive nor as compelling as the similarly themed Frontline: The Betrayal of Democracy (reviewed in our September 1992 issue), Who Owns the Government? is still an excellent and very affordable entree from an outstanding series. Highly recommended. (Available from: PBS Video, 1320 Braddock Place, Alexandria, VA 22314-1698; (800) 344-3337.)