By Cliff Montgomery – Aug. 16th, 2016In 2016, the American political system offers a real choice for the country’s next president: Voters may choose between a leading Washington insider who is worth several million dollars, or an obnoxious billionaire businessman who has filed for bankruptcy six times and inexplicably claims that his massive fortune makes him a political and social outsider.Any discussion of this ‘choice’ must also consider the ugly workings of America’s capitalist-based election process, that openly allows the country’s most wealthy to “contribute” massive sums of money to politicians – a charade that journalist Greg Palast has insightfully called “the best democracy money can buy.”So just who is buying Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump? is here to tell you. We’ll begin by exposing the top individual contributors to the Clinton presidential campaign the Spark will reveal Trump’s leading contributors on Aug. 19th.Hillary Clinton has been in the national spotlight for nearly a quarter of a century. She served as First Lady in the 1990s – thanks to her marriage to then-President Bill Clinton – and went on to serve as a U.S. senator (D-NY) and as a Secretary of State for the Obama Administration.Clinton has been bought by quite a good number of wealthy Americans and institutions – in fact, large individual contributions make up a whopping 68% of her campaign funds, according to Federal Election Commission information released on July 21st, 2016 and obtained via the Center for Responsive Politics.Below, the Spark shows the total contributions made by each donor to Clinton’s 2016 presidential run – this includes donations to her campaign committee, as well as to any pro-Clinton Political Action Committees (PACs):
Saban Capital Group: $10,036,238
Renaissance Technologies: $9,518,800
Pritzker Group: $7,873,257
Soros Fund Management: $7,044,600
Paloma Partners: $6,108,400
Newsweb Corp: $5,013,500
DE Shaw Research: $3,053,601
Center for Middle East Peace: $3,008,100
Plumbers/Pipefitters Union: $3,007,275
Laborers Union: $3,006,610
Herb & Marion Sandler/Sandler Foundation: $3,002,700
Carpenters & Joiners Union: $2,505,400
Fair Share Action: $2,255,000
Barbara Lee Family Foundation: $2,099,604
American Federation of Teachers: $2,073,717
DreamWorks SKG: $2,015,700
Operating Engineers Union: $2,010,000
Bohemian Foundation: $2,002,700
BLS Investments: $2,002,700
Paloma Partners Advisors: $2,000,000
