Word: fruited
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...underwear mogul, you surely cannot lack confidence. So it is with Bill Farley. The handsome physical-fitness buff has under his belt brands like BVD, Munsingwear and his flagship, Fruit of the Loom. He rubs shoulders with the rich and powerful, and recently co-chaired a lunch that raised more than $500,000 for George W. Bush. Muscles rippling, Farley, 57, has also shown up wearing a tank top in Fruit of the Loom advertising. He once even put himself forward as a candidate for President of the United States...
These days, however, Farley's political focus is squarely on Congress, where Fruit's adventures in lobbying offer a choice example of how the game is played. Fruit of the Loom is a tattered company, suffering from bad performance and poor management and lobbying heavily for a bill that would ripen its bottom line...
...likely is it that the company's case will be heard on the Hill? Well, last year alone Fruit handed out more than $435,000 in soft-money donations, a figure that puts contributions by the firm (1998 sales: $2.2 billion) ahead of those of such giants as Coca-Cola, Exxon and Bank of America. Most of Fruit's plums go to Republicans, including $265,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, run by Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, the principal opponent of campaign finance reform...
...Fruit's lobbyists--along with those from competitors like the Sara Lee Corp., which makes Hanes underwear, and retailers like the Limited and the Gap--are pushing hard for passage. Fruit officials claim the measure, which Bill Clinton supports, will create jobs, and deny that the company's donations can buy influence. Says Ron Sorini, a Fruit lobbyist: "There's absolutely no correlation between our soft-money donations and those who decide to vote in favor of this bill...
...longer. Even when living conditions are spare and amenities few, people find volunteer vacationing an enriching experience. In Ghana, Carnright, 74, stayed in a hostel-style building with seven other volunteers, sharing simple meals of rice and chicken or fish and fruit. "It was a healthy experience," she says. And not all that expensive: the $1,850 program fee, not including airfare, is tax deductible...