Richard Farmer, founder and chairman of the Cintas Corporation -- the nation's largest uniform supply company -- was not impressed with the potential savings. Like other big businesses, Cintas had lobbied to block the rules, saying the cost of implementing them would be "devastating." Farmer had no trouble, however, finding money to try to implement his political agenda. According to a list of the nation's 400 largest campaign contributors compiled by Mother Jones, Farmer gave $721,000 to the Republicans in the last election cycle, making him the second-largest individual donor to the GOP. Such contributions, combined with an ad campaign by the National Association of Manufacturers, made the issue a top priority for Republicans. The day before Al Gore conceded the presidency to George W. Bush, GOP congressional leaders announced they would work with the new administration to overturn the safety measures.

All told, a record $3 billion poured into federal campaigns during the last election. An estimated 55 percent went to Bush and GOP candidates for Congress -- and $696 million of that came from corporations and wealthy executives eager to underwrite the Republicans' hands-off approach to business. When campaign contributions are divided into 10 broad industries ranging from agribusiness to transportation, it becomes clear that every major business sector except lawyers and communications sided firmly with Bush (see chart).

To track precisely what business spent on the election -- and what it expects in return -- we linked each of the individual donors on this year's Mother Jones 400 to the industries they represent. Underwriting campaigns has become part of the cost of doing business, an investment that pays dividends in access to policymakers with the power to reduce taxes, ward off regulations, award contracts, and dole out subsidies. "We're building a relationship," Dan Scheinman, a vice president with Cisco Systems, explained to the Wall Street Journal as his boss, John Chambers (No. 31), handed out $582,933 to candidates for federal office and their political parties. "Money contributing is part of the relationship."

Never has the power of campaign contributions been more starkly displayed than in the last election: Candidates who raised more money than their opponents captured all but 29 of the 469 seats up for grabs in Congress -- and the White House as well. Mismarked ballots may be discarded, but money is the vote that is always carefully counted.

Bush was banking on private wealth from the start. Before the race even began, he announced that he would accept no federal matching funds during the primaries -- enabling him to ignore the spending limits that accompany them -- and instead turned to a relatively small group of corporate owners and executives eager to buy shares in his start-up venture. He spent more than $100 million to win the GOP nomination, more than doubling the previous record. The stories that follow examine some of the industries that invested the most capital in Bush, and how they expect him to repay them: handing over billions in Social Security to Wall Street brokers, keeping the Internet tax-free for Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, drilling on public lands to benefit Texas oilmen, curtailing lawsuits by workers and consumers against tobacco companies and asbestos manufacturers.

To be sure, not every big donor on our list represents business interests. Some are retired or work for nonprofit charities. Others give to support their favorite cause, whether it be military support for Israel or abortion rights for women. And many who top the list -- like Slim-Fast founder S. Daniel Abraham (No. 1, $1,518,500) and Philadelphia philanthropist Peter Buttenwieser (No. 4, $1,304,700) -- are longtime Democratic donors. But whatever their political views, many members of the Mother Jones 400 agree on one thing: The cost of doing business on Capitol Hill is too high. "It's terrible," Richard Farmer (No. 15) told reporters. "I think the whole campaign finance situation is ridiculous."

"I think it sucks," agrees Alan Solomont (No. 66), a nursing home investor who gave $361,500 to the Democrats. "We have a lousy system of financing campaigns."

Like many other top donors, Solomont has consistently made the Mother Jones 400 since we started the list in 1996. A former finance chair of the Democratic National Committee, he is well aware that the current system of campaign finance enables an elite group of donors to wield enormous influence.