By Cliff Montgomery – Oct. 16th, 2012
A simple thought recently hit us here at The American Spark: Who precisely is buying the Democratic and Republican parties?
Now we probably don’t have to inform our readers of what’s really behind such actions as ‘political donations’ and ‘lobbying’. Even The Washington Post has flatly referred to the practice of lobbying as “influence peddling.”
So this matter seems to be an important subject worthy of consideration…
And yet, few corporate news organizations even attempt to reveal such things. True, now and again a few brave heralds may venture to expose this or that person or group as a strong financial supporter of a political party – but those actions are all too rare, and are often politically motivated.
Each major political party rakes in hundreds of millions of dollars during an election year. Who gives the lion’s share of that cash? To whom are these parties selling their political favors?
Or – to put it more bluntly – just who’s buying our political parties?
Below, The American Spark provides a basic answer. We reveal just how much money each political party has raised so far for the 2012 election cycle, and we further reveal the top 20 political contributors to each party.
The statements printed below refer only to the 2012 election cycle. The numbers are based on Federal Election Commission information released today. The info was obtained from the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP).
“The numbers on this page are based on contributions from PACs, Levin money donors, and individuals giving $200 or more,” according to CRP.
Democratic Party
Total Raised: $671,497,222
Total Spent: $585,448,700
Cash on Hand: $103,669,505
Debts: $13,209,414
Republican Party
Total Raised: $643,474,512
Total Spent: $451,263,339
Cash on Hand: $202,949,001
Debts: $12,866,908
Democratic Party: Top Contributors
Hoyer for Congress: $931,880
Nancy Pelosi for Congress: $878,255
Blackstone Group: $768,900
Comcast Corp: $761,948
Time Warner: $700,007
Microsoft Corp: $662,255
Dan Inouye for US Senate: $650,544
American Federation of Teachers: $562,600
Google Inc: $549,566
Akin, Gump et al: $529,403
Harvard University: $521,966
Goldman Sachs: $495,699
Durbin for Congress Cmte: $485,000
Skadden, Arps et al: $459,873
Becerra for Congress: $455,000
Larson for Congress: $455,000
Steve Israel for Congress: $450,324
Friends of Kent Conrad: $448,000
University of California: $435,606
Cooney & Conway: $428,250
Republican Party: Top Contributors
Friends of John Boehner: $7,802,761
Goldman Sachs: $2,063,360
KKR & Co: $1,137,400
Kevin Mccarthy for Congress: $980,811
Elliott Management: $928,050
Blackstone Group: $871,944
Roskam For Congress: $722,400
Bank of America: $717,078
Paulson & Co: $707,000
JPMorgan Chase & Co: $694,777
Bain Capital: $644,778
Las Vegas Sands: $626,600
American Financial Group: $615,769
Devin Nunes for Congress 2002: $582,122
Crow Holdings: $581,200
Morgan Stanley: $558,980
Koch Industries: $536,548
Apollo Advisors: $504,300
Arclight Capital Partners: $493,200
PVS Chemicals: $491,300
