WANNA BE A PIONEER? OR BETTER YET, A RANGER!?

"As Bush 'Pioneers' who had raised at least $100,000 each for the president's reelection campaign, or 'Rangers' who had raised $200,000 each, the men and women who shot skeet with Cheney, played golf with pros Ben Crenshaw and Fuzzy Zoeller and laughed at the jokes of comedian Dennis Miller are the heart of the most successful political money operation in the nation's history.

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For achieving their fundraising goals, Pioneers receive a relatively modest token, the right to buy a set of silver cuff links with an engraved Lone Star of Texas (Rangers can buy a more expensive belt buckle set). Their real reward is entree to the White House and the upper levels of the administration.

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Asked whether the president gives any special preference to campaign contributors in making decisions about policy, appointments or other matters, White House spokesman Trent Duffy said, 'Absolutely not.' The president, Duffy said, 'bases his policy decisions on what's best for the American people.'"

From THE BUSH MONEY MACHINE

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