This is the fourth and last part of a series on the dangers of a political and judicial system that Americans should no longer trust.
The first article in the series was posted on June 19 and was entitled “Supreme Court Is Political, Not Judicial.” The second article in the series was posted on June 21 and was entitled “Billionaires’ Influence Growing Thanks to Supreme Court.” The third article in the series was posted on June 23 and was entitled “Sneaky Billionaires May Be Destroying Our Democracy.”
I wrote a genuine article for a client entitled “American Citizens Lose When Lobbyists Win” and subtitled “But The Influence Of ‘Shadow Money’ Is Unclear” that I was going to post on Storeboard, but I decided instead to post statistics furnished by the Center for Responsive Politics.
These statistics are shown in chart and graph form at opensecrets.org. I am presenting the highlights here in text form. You can see the complete information via the links in this article.
Richest Members Of Congress 1. Darrell Issa (R-Calif): Estimated net worth $464M 2. Mark Warner (D-Va.): ENW $257M 3. Jared Polis (D-Colo.): ENW $197M Fourth through 10th: John Delaney (D-Md.), Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Scott Peters (D-Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jay Rockefeller (D-WVa.), Vernon Buchanan (R-Fla.), Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Why Does This Matter: “About 1 percent of all Americans are millionaires. In Congress, that number regularly hovers between 40 percent and 50 percent, meaning elected leaders generally need not worry about the economic pressures many Americans face.”
2014 Political Spending By Group 1. Senate Majority PAC (Democrats): $18.8M 2. U.S. Chamber of Commerce: $14M 3. Club for Growth (conservative anti-tax group): $5.7M 4. Patriot Majority USA (advertises against conservative billionaires): $4.8M 5. American Crossroads (conservative group run by Karl Rove): $4.7M
2012 Political Spending By Group 1. American Crossroads: $176.4M 2. Restore Our Future (pro-Mitt Romney group): $142.1M 3. Priorities USA (pro-Barack Obama group): $65.2M 4. National Republican Congressional Committee: $64.7M 5. Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: $60.5M
2012 Non-Party Presidential Campaign Spending For Dems: $49.8M Against Dems: $333.9M For GOP: $123.2M Against GOP: $135.2M Total: $652.8M (doesn’t quite add up; not my fault)
2012 Top Donors To Political Groups (Note: Anonymous donations are permitted. This list only included disclosed donors) 1. Sheldon & Miriam Adelson (my June 21 article focused on Sheldon Adelson): $92.8M 2. Harold Simmons (one of three major donors to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth): $26.9M 3. Robert Perry (one of three major donors to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth): $23.95M 4. Fred Eychaner (top donor to Dems): $14.05M 5. Michael Bloomberg (NYC mayor): $13.7M (website lists top 100, including Jeffrey Katzenberg, Lawrence Ellison, George Soros, Jon Huntsman Sr. (Dad of candidate), Peter Angelos, Steven Spielberg, Boone Pickens – the third major donor to Swift Boat Vets, David Boies, Morgan Freeman, and Bill Maher)
2012 Top Industries By Political Donations 1. Securities & Investment: $95.1M 2. Casinos/Gambling: $53.6M 3. Health Professionals: $44.4M 4. Retired: $36.5M 5. Public Sector Unions: $35.9M (sixth through 20th are Chemical, Conservative, Business Services, Misc. Unions, Real Estate, Home Builders, Industrial Unions, Misc. Finance, Building Trade Unions, Pharmaceuticals, Lawyers, Oil & Gas, Printing & Publishing, TV/Movies/Music, and Civil Servants)
2012 Political ‘Nonprofits’ Spending By Viewpoint (My June 23 article explains why partisan groups are allowed to claim they are nonprofits) Conservative: $256M Liberal: $55M Other: $24M
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