By Joseph Rhee and Dana Hughes, ABC News
A Texas businessman listed as a major fundraiser for President George Bush has made millions of dollars in profits from a federal reading program that critics say favored administration cronies at the expense of schoolchildren.
A company founded and owned by Randy Best, who is listed by the nonprofit group Public Citizen as a Bush “Pioneer” during the 2000 presidential campaign, received the lucrative contracts under a Bush administration initiative called Reading First.
Only those who pledged to raise $100,000 or more are considered “Pioneers” by the Bush campaign. Best told the Blotter on ABCNews.com that he did not raise $100,000 and personally gave only the legal limit of $4,000.
(Original Article)