OpenSecrets.org has just updated their 07 database of Lobby Cash and Recipients. Follow the$$

[chill_wind]

See who's been giving and getting big in 07 (and previous years.)

TOP Spenders, 2007

Client Total

US Chamber of Commerce $21,160,000

General Electric $11,960,000

Pharmaceutical Rsrch & Mfrs of America $10,706,600

American Medical Assn $10,332,000

AT&T Inc $9,754,148

Amgen Inc $9,080,000

American Hospital Assn $8,788,009

AARP $7,400,000

Southern Co $7,260,000

Pfizer Inc $7,220,000

Exxon Mobil $6,440,000

General Motors $6,400,000

National Assn of Realtors $6,360,000

National Education Assn $5,671,162

Northrop Grumman $5,668,100

American Council of Life Insurers $5,376,407

Lockheed Martin $5,250,000

Natl Cmte to Preserve Social Security $4,860,000

Verizon Communicatio$4,860,000

Microsoft Corp $4,780,000

from:
http://www.opensecrets.org/lobbyists/index.asp?showyear=2007&txtindextype=s

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Top 10 Blue Chip Donor Dossiers (All time top 100 since 1989)

American Fedn of State, County & Municipal Employees $38,673,449
AT&T Inc $38,076,096
National Assn of Realtors $30,873,798
National Education Assn $27,267,750
American Assn for Justice $27,117,606
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $26,731,306
Goldman Sachs $26,414,065
Laborers Union $25,817,139
Service Employees International Union $25,072,293
Carpenters & Joiners Union $25,010,270



Based on data released by the FEC on Monday, June 04, 2007.

More:
(View Full List) http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/index.asp

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Oh gosh-- which Dem is in the top 5 recipients for Telco $$. See the Top 20:

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/recips.asp?Ind=B08&cycle=2006

Keep the data in mind when Bush renews his assault on Congress and America regarding the FISA Fix/Mess. (Immunity for Telcos/NSA warrentless spying)
Use it to write your reps in advance.

This is only an example of what you can research at this site---a great site with powerful tools. You can do some very refined and configurable searching on who gives, who gets, and how much.

http://www.opensecrets.org

[leftchick]

1. for Telecom $$ Hil's Number 4!

great site! Thank you. Now off to dig up dirt on my reps.

[chill_wind]

27. And number 4 recipient in the Senate for defense/mil $$.

Dems -- 3 of top 5

Defense Money to Congress
Election cycle: 2006



Lieberman, Joe (I-CT) $275,200

Talent, James M (R-MO) $195,850

Nelson, Bill (D-FL) $178,500

Clinton, Hillary (D-NY) $120,650

Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA) $116,349

more:

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary.asp?Ind=D&cycle=2006&recipdetail=S&Mem=Y

Murtha leads the House by far.

[leftchick]

2. This is disgusting beyond imagination!

only in Ameri$ca....


Banking on Becoming President

After six months of fundraising, the candidates for president in 2008 have already raised more than $265 million. No presidential money chase has ever started so quickly. By some predictions, the eventual nominees will need to raise $500 million apiece to compete--a record sum. To find out where all this money is coming from, explore the options to the left. The next campaign finance reports are due to the Federal Election Commission by October 15, covering July through September.

500 HUNDRED fucking MILLION!!!!

[Richard Steele]

3. Rec #5- to the Greatest page with you! nm

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. Oh, thanks for the heads up!

And a big :kick: &R

[huskerlaw]

5. Guess who's near the top of nearly every list?

Including commercial banking, hedge funds, insurance and lobbyists...

[never_get_over_it]

6. But that's ok

because she has assured us that just because these folks give her money it won't influence her decisions.....

[cui bono]

8. And here she told me it was nurses and teachers.

tsk tsk.

[cui bono]

7. Exxon is not spending nearly enough considering they are getting the enitire US Military

to "secure" a country for their profits.

[cosmicdot]

9. knr

opensecrets is a great resource

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/index.asp?cycle=2008

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/select.asp?cycle=2008
(change the display name to select an industry to see who's giving and who's receiving)

i.e.,

Lobbyists

Hillary Clinton (D)
$406,300

John McCain (R)
$239,250

Christopher J. Dodd (D)
$176,650

Rudolph W. Giuliani (R)
$157,900

Mitt Romney (R)
$156,675

~snip~

Hedge Funds

Mitt Romney (R)
$811,775

Rudolph W. Giuliani (R)
$800,750

Christopher J. Dodd (D)
$749,650

Barack Obama (D)
$706,074

Hillary Clinton (D)
$643,200

~snip~


Display:


Commercial Banks

Barack Obama (D)
$614,646

John McCain (R)
$490,650

Hillary Clinton (D)
$474,250

Mitt Romney (R)
$462,091

Rudolph W. Giuliani (R)
$456,101

Christopher J. Dodd (D)
$358,550

~snip~


Insurance

Christopher J. Dodd (D)
$605,950

Mitt Romney (R)
$459,625

Rudolph W. Giuliani (R)
$370,100

Hillary Clinton (D)
$352,700

Barack Obama (D)
$269,750

[MethuenProgressive]

10. Edwards must be wicked jealous

Edwardians: Watch for a send-me-donations-cuz-Hillary-has-more-money-than-me email soon!
:nopity:

[huskerlaw]

14. Hardly.

He'll be proud...because unlike some other candidates, when he says he can't be bought by big corporations and special interests, he proves it by not accepting their money.

[MethuenProgressive]

15. by not accepting money he was never offered? How "proud"!!

Now, if he had ever been offered any, and then refused, you might have a point.
But he wasn't, so he didn't, and so you don't.

[huskerlaw]

16. Proof?

You've got proof that no large corporation or special interest group has ever offered John Edwards money?

I'd sure like to see it.

[MethuenProgressive]

17. Good question!! You think Edwards would care to answer it?

"So, ex-Senator Edwards, you keep moaning that you've refused the same money that the top two candidates have accepted - care to tell who offered you what and when you "refused" it?"
You're obviously one of those Edwards persons - so tell us what you know.
Or do you just take his wild claims for fact without question?
:popcorn:

[huskerlaw]

19. WTF?

Why in the world would he disclose who offered him money? Nobody else does that. As far as I know, nobody has asked him to.

I wouldn't know that either...I'm not privvy to his financials. But then again, neither are you. But to think that no corporation has ever offered him money is plain ridiculous. If you have information that could prove me wrong, feel free to supply it.

So tell me. Since you're apparently not holding any donor stats in your hands right now, how exactly are you qualified to say:

"Now, if he had ever been offered any, and then refused, you might have a point.
But he wasn't, so he didn't, and so you don't."

Don't try to turn this around on me. You're the one who made the statement. Back it up.

[MethuenProgressive]

20. "Why in the world would he disclose who offered him money?" Honesty, perhaps?

In May 2007, Edwards explained that his 2005 decision to work for the hedge fund Fortress Investment Group was so that he might learn more about the way financial markets and poverty were linked, saying "It was primarily to learn, but making money was a good thing, too". Edwards initially declined to disclose exactly how much money he made, saying that all information would be released in his financial disclosure forms when candidates are required to do so. Those forms, released a week later, showed that Edwards made $479,512 from his time at Fortress, making it his biggest single source of earned income in 2006. In addition, John Edwards has raised at least $167,700 for his campaign from individuals associated with Fortress Investment Group.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Edwards_presidential_campaign,_2008

Well, they're not "Washington lobbyists", I suppose...

[huskerlaw]

21. Oh YAWN

Tired news. Tired. And it's been explained. Numerous times.

PS: If you're going for credibility, citing Wikipedia isn't the way to do it.

Meanwhile, are you going to back up your claim? Or shall I assume you pulled it out of your ass?

[MethuenProgressive]

25. "Why in the world would he disclose who offered him money?"

"Meanwhile, are you going to back up your claim? Or shall I assume you pulled it out of your ass?"
My "claim" is as valid as Johnny's. He's running for President, and you throw rose petals at his feet while he dances away after making outrageous claims. You just assume he pulled that claim out of his ass, but since it's Johnny's ass, it doesn't smell?
Oh, how you Edwards people crack us up!! :rofl:

[huskerlaw]

28. And yet...

you STILL haven't answered the question.

The difference is, nobody, to my knowledge, has ASKED Edwards to provide a list of people who tried to give his campaign money, but which he refused.

Until you can learn to back up your ridiculous statements with, you know, actual fact, I'm done trying to converse with you. It's beyond pointless.

[KharmaTrain]

11. GE Sure Loves Them Repugnicans

Be it the billions in defense contracts thanks to the war for profit in Iraq, special tax and trade deals that allowed jobs to be outsourced to the millions in political ad buys made on NBC stations, GE brings good lobbying money to life.

[chill_wind]

24. And the Repubs-- and more than just a few DEMS---love them.

#1 Favorite---- General Electric 36 dem investors 66 repub investers

http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/overview.asp?type=P

[warren pease]

12. And guess who's not getting rich from any of the top industries...

...but whose top donor is the Institute for Democracy Studies, while Larry Flynt has thrown in $2300 as well.

http://tinyurl.com/27uhf7


Oh waiter... I'll have a little open, honest, non-bribed government with my tax bill this time, please.


wp

[MethuenProgressive]

13. It's not an open secret that you need money to run for President.

And as Open Secret points out (if you look...) the Republican Party always has more $ than we do.

[WTF cubed]

18. Thanks for the link...

I would suggest to anyone to go and peruse who is doing what at this site.

K&R

[chill_wind]

26. Thanks for checking it out.

Thanks all, for all recs. Sunshine is good disinfectant.

[chill_wind]

22. Personal Finances - Top net $$$Worth$$$$ ( 2005 )

Top 25 (min and max)

1 Herb Kohl (D-Wis) $219,098,029 $234,549,004

2 Henry M. Paulson $190,727,085 $392,934,024

3 Jane Harman (D-Calif) $168,651, 649 $289,045,000

4 John Kerry (D-Mass) $165,741,511 $235,262,100

5 Darrell Issa (R-Calif) $135,862,098 $677,230,000

6 Jay Rockefeller (D-WVa) $78,150,023 $101,579,003

7 Samuel W. Bodman III $66,698,060 $117,179,012

8 Robin Hayes (R-NC)$58,952,196 $59,970,169

9 Donald H. Rumsfeld $57,089,104 $174,672,011

10 Charles H. Taylor (R-NC) $56,056,017 $77,341,000

11 William H. Donaldson $46,306,152 $191,419,025

12 Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif) $43,341,462 $98,630,021

13 Lincoln D. Chafee (R-RI) $41,153,105 $64,096,019

14 Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) $38,198,170 $90,733,019

15 John McCain (R-Ariz) $20,571,136 $32,043,011



see more of top 25: http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/overview.asp?type=W

[chill_wind]

23. And what they've invested in. GE-eee -- what surprises.

Most Popular Congressional Investments, 2005 (Dems and RePubs)

http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/overview.asp?type=P

[populistdriven]

29. war drugs & oil - war drugs & oil - war drugs & oil - war drugs & oil - war drugs & oil