Paying a Price for Democracy.

Amount bid (as of August 25) on the Internet auction eBay for the vote of one U.S. citizen who had put his ballot up for sale to protest corporate influence in politics more than $10,000

Amount that the American Gas Association, the National Mining Association, the Nuclear Energy Institute, and other business concerns paid to sponsor "America's Energy Texas Barbecue," a party for delegates at a U.S. political convention in August more than $100,000

Turnout of East Timor's 439,000 registered voters for the nation's independence referendum last year, despite months of intimidation and threats of genocidal retaliation from pro-Indonesia militias 98.6 percent

Turnout of U.S. citizens of voting age for the 1998 Congressional elections 36.0 percent

Amount of money oil companies have "cheated" the U.S. government out of since 1991 by undervaluing the worth of oil they've pumped from federal lands $2,000,000,000

Amount of money oil companies donated between 1987 and 1998 to U.S. Senator Phil Gramm of Texas, who has voted successfully three years running against enforcing fair oil royalties $200,000

Number of people who watched the final episode of the U.S. television series "Survivor" 51.0 million

Number of people who voted for U.S. President Bill Clinton in the 1996 elections 47.5 million

Share of the 69 million registered U.S. voters who, among other reasons, didn't cast ballots in 1998 because:

they forgot 5 percent

they didn't like the candidates 5 percent

they were not interested 13...