The Top 20 Political "Heavy Hitters" Lean Democrat
| Top 20 Political Donors, 1989-2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Organization | Total Donations, 1989-2010 | Dem % | Rep % |
| 1 | ActBlue | $52,572,081 | 99% | 0% |
| 2 | American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees | $45,238,103 | 94% | 1% |
| 3 | AT&T Inc. | $41,314,444 | 45% | 54% |
| 4 | National Association of Realtors | $39,717,410 | 47% | 49% |
| 5 | National Education Association | $36,312,895 | 81% | 5% |
| 6 | Service Employees International Union | $36,043,789 | 77% | 2% |
| 7 | American Association for Justice | $33,983,671 | 89% | 8% |
| 8 | International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers | $33,476,655 | 97% | 2% |
| 9 | Laborers Union | $31,335,267 | 89% | 7% |
| 10 | American Federation of Teachers | $31,023,603 | 90% | 0% |
| 11 | Teamsters Union | $30,632,309 | 89% | 6% |
| 12 | Carpenters & Joiners Union | $30,523,437 | 86% | 9% |
| 13 | Communications Workers of America | $29,468,934 | 95% | 0% |
| 14 | American Medical Association | $27,431,405 | 39% | 59% |
| 15 | United Auto Workers | $27,108,182 | 98% | 0% |
| 16 | United Food & Commercial Workers Union | $26,788,209 | 93% | 0% |
| 17 | National Auto Dealers Association | $26,664,992 | 32% | 67% |
| 18 | Machinists & Aerospace Workers Union | $26,407,374 | 98% | 1% |
| 19 | United Parcel Service | $24,505,222 | 37% | 62% |
| 20 | American Bankers Association | $24,190,464 | 39% | 60% |
| Average | 76% | 20% |
OpenSecrets tracks political contributions by source, and also identifies the political leanings of the organizations who spend money on political donations. For example, the National Education leans strongly Democrat, the National Auto Dealers leans mildly Republican, and the National Association of Realtors is politically balanced.
Overall, the top 20 political donors lean strongly Democrat, see the average above in the last row of the chart: 76% Democrat vs. 20% Republican.
Note: Koch Industries ranks #87 at $9.5 million and AFSCME ranks #2 at $45.2 million. Read here what AFSCME has to say about the evil Koch brothers.
HT: Steve Bartin
36 Comments:
the amazing thing is that 14 of those 20 are the same unions that constantly complain about big business buying politicians.
Oh the OUTRAGE - GM - leans Republican
those INGRATES!
They say Obama will have $1 billion on hand to defeat the GOP--and that the GOP is going run a creationist, anti-immigrationist, homophobic campaign just to make sure they lose.
They say Benji will be back in the loving arms of his boyfriend Barack by election day.
"...run a creationist, anti-immigrationist, homophobic campaign just to make sure they lose"...
That's O.K. since the Kenyan Kommie Klown has your vote pseudo benny so all is right with the world...
did ya see the Republican debate?
the participants reminded me of the saloon scene in Star Wars....
it's also interesting to see that the left takes in 76% of the top 20's money, then spend their time vilifying the reublicans for selling out to " large special interests".
that's pretty astounding hypocrisy.
the democratic party is essentially owned by labor unions.
well.. remember.. conservatives have insisted that donations from corporations and unions could not be restricted because it's "free speech", eh?
did it come back to bite you in the butt?
buyer's remorse?
larry-
that has always been true of unions.
the right was trying to catch up to the flood of influence money the left has always gotten.
i'm not a big fan of either party, but the left sure seem to lie a lot more and try to use my money to buy the votes of others.
i mean, seriously, look at the absurd union bills that have passed REQUIRING the government to use unions or at the very least pay union rates to whomever they hire.
that's just price fixing for a favored minority at the expense of the taxpayer, who can now ever even get an honest bid on a project.
@morg - I'm no fan of unions but I'm also no fan of the many companies that have reputations for screwing over their employees.
and no fan of corporate nor union campaign donations...
the whole idea that corporations and unions have "free speech" totally corrupts the whole idea of a one man - one vote governance system.
If we are going to have this illicit system - we ought to have instant disclosure of donations.
Just put the mess on RSS and everyone knows the moment the cash hits the campaign.
"I'm also no fan of the many companies that have reputations for screwing over their employees"...
What an incredibly silly comment!
No one is forced to work at a company where he/she 'feels' like they're being 'screwed'...
Where do you dig this nonsense up Larry G? From pseudo benny?
"the participants reminded me of the saloon scene in Star Wars..."...
The Obama administration wouldn't qualify for that saloon scene because the folks in the saloon at least knew what they were doing...
There are a lot of different ways to look at the money trail leading to legislative influence. Maybe labor does not like to pay lobbyists so they pay to elect people who support them. They are next to the bottom in lobbying dollars.
It would be interesting to see a per-capita breakout. I assume labor is still representing a lot of people compared to the other groups, but I could be wrong.
Lobbying
Ranked Sectors
All years (1998-2011) 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998
Sector Total
Finance/Insur/RealEst $4,630,249,418
Health $4,619,685,450
Misc Business $4,611,283,244
Communic/Electronics $3,816,578,120
Energy/Nat Resource $3,414,761,934
Other $2,488,878,486
Transportation $2,406,164,695
Ideology/Single-Issue $1,582,543,416
Agribusiness $1,380,322,938
Defense $1,341,122,349
Construction $512,014,329
Labor $466,712,727
Lawyers & Lobbyists $366,369,689
Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center.
Maybe labor does not like to pay lobbyists so they pay to elect people who support them. -- Walt
Who needs lobbyists, when you have greater access to the President than his own cabinet members?
"If we are going to have this illicit system - we ought to have instant disclosure of donations." -- Larry
The Democrats are not big on transparency, of any kind, when it come to their union masters.
"Maybe labor does not like to pay lobbyists ... They are next to the bottom in lobbying dollars." -- Walt
Again, why pay lobbyists when all you've got to do is reach into your pocket?
What do you think they talk about during all those private meetings?:
About one-third of the $787 billion stimulus package was directed at state and local governments, which have been facing declining revenues and are, mostly, required to balance their budgets. The policy aim, Democrats say, was to maintain public services and aid. The political aim, although Democrats don't say so, was to maintain public-sector jobs -- and the flow of union dues to the public employees unions that represent almost 40% of public-sector workers.
Those unions in turn have contributed generously to Democrats. SEIU head Andy Stern, the most frequent nongovernment visitor to the Obama White House, has boasted that his union steered $60 million to Democrats in the 2008 cycle. The total union contribution to Democrats has been estimated at $400 million. In effect, some significant portion of the stimulus package can be regarded as taxpayer funding of the Democratic Party. Needless to say, no Republicans need apply.
The Washington Examiner
OBAMA SLASHES SPENDING, REDUCES REGULATORY OVERSIGHT
President Obama today unveiled a paltry $17 billion in cuts to the $3.4 trillion federal budget, about half of which will come out of defense spending. But buried in the budget documents released by the White House today is a 9 percent cut in the unit of the Department of Labor that is in charge of regulating unions.
Under the leadership of Elaine Chao during the Bush administration, the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards took its job of policing unions seriously. Its actions led to 929 convictions of corrupt union officials and to the recovery of more than $93 million on behalf of union members. Yet the Obama administration has proposed slashing its budget from $45 million in 2009 to $41 million in 2010, citing an insufficient “workload” for the office.
Instead of using the money to make sure unions play by the rules, the Obama administration proposes shifting resources to the department’s Wage and Hour Division, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration — all areas of the agency focused on regulating businesses.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, who has had a long and cozy relationship with big labor, already announced recently that the department would loosen union disclosure requirements.
These are the type of actions that occur under the radar, out sight of most Americans, but that have a dramatic impact on life in the workplace.
The message to crooked union bosses by the Obama administration is being delivered loudly and clearly: we’ve got your back.
Spectator
See, Obama has been carefully watching where every penny of taxpayer money is being spent.
walt-
lobbying is not really the same thing at all.
it's the difference between my hiring a lawyer to make my case for me and my bribing a judge.
Not everyone is happy...
From the AP: Some unions to skip 2012 convention
WASHINGTON (AP) -- About a dozen trade unions plan to sit out the 2012 Democratic convention because they're angry that it's being held in a right-to-work state and frustrated that Democrats haven't done enough to create jobs.
(thank you Drudge)
morganovich,
I look at it more as pay me now or pay me later :-)
It's like you hiring a lawyer to bribe the judge.
14 of the top 20 PACs give a majority of their money to the Republican Party.
Top 20 PAC Contributors to Candidates, 2011-2012
PAC Name, Total Amount, Dem Pct, Repub Pct
Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $826,200 96% 2%
AT&T Inc $805,500 36% 64%
Honeywell International $782,157 28% 72%
American Crystal Sugar $695,500 54% 46%
Lockheed Martin $694,000 38% 61%
Credit Union National Assn $687,200 47% 53%
New York Life Insurance $659,500 44% 56%
Boeing Co $658,500 40% 60%
National Beer Wholesalers Assn $652,500 44% 56%
PricewaterhouseCoopers $651,000 31% 69%
American Bankers Assn $630,000 25% 75%
Comcast Corp $555,000 45% 55%
Sheet Metal Workers Union $537,000 89% 8%
Machinists/Aerospace Workers Union $533,000 93% 3%
National Assn of Realtors $508,900 45% 55%
National Air Traffic Controllers Assn $493,680 54% 46%
Teamsters Union $490,000 96% 4%
Every Republican is Crucial PAC $480,000 0% 100%
National Rural Electric Cooperative Assn $442,500 32% 68%
Raytheon Co $437,282 41% 59%
Totals include subsidiaries and affiliated PACs, if any. Source: Open Secret
this is one of those deals where you can roll the data to suit your own prejudices 20 ways from Sunday.
Anyone who thinks the Republicans don't get uber campaign donations equal to or better that the union bribes to Dems, go tickle your throat...
" Yes, DI is called insurance, but it is really just another welfare program, as there are no assets reserved against payouts. "
the premiums are paid for with the FICA tax guy - 2.9 % of the 15.3% FICA - goes to pay for premiums for DI.
It works exactly the same way if you bought your own disability insurance and paid premiums and they used those premiums to pay claims.
If you had half a brain.. you could look this up:
http://www.ssa.gov/oact/progdata/taxRates.html
but then if you actually looked it up -you'd be forced to admit that your previous comment was ignorant crap...
The top two GOP candidates--Bachmann and Perry--both espouse creationism, anti-immigrationism and homophobia. There i no dispute about this.
I assume both will espouse state-church partnerships: In effect taxing people and giving it to religious groups.
I used to say there are two great parasites in the modern industrial state: militaries and organized religion, but organized religion had to ask you for your money, while the militaries just took it.
Now, with a Perry or Bachmann in there, maybe we will see organized religions just taking your money too, through the offices of the state.
However, these candidates do strike me as Gong Show material. Oddly enough, evidently Bachmann's husband is a gay, and so is Perry. Imagine those two on the campaign trail together!
Whatever happened to the Eisenhowers, the Dirksens and the Goldwaters? Even Nixon looks good now. Reagan.
Now we get Bachmann? Perry? Palin? These guys should be running a roller-derby team or something.
" Now we get Bachmann? Perry? Palin? These guys should be running a roller-derby team or something"
the ones who say they are going to vote against Obama are going to have a real burden trying to figure out which of these Star Wars characters to vote for...
:0)
The Republicans are a mess.
"The top two GOP candidates--Bachmann and Perry--both espouse creationism, anti-immigrationism and homophobia." -- "Benji"
Try defining those terms - "creationism, anti-immigrationism (whatever that is) and homophobia" -, genius.
"These guys should be running a roller-derby team or something ... the ones who say they are going to vote against Obama are going to have a real burden trying to figure out which of these Star Wars characters to vote for"
Awww.
“Terrorist,” “racist,” “uncivil,” “insane,” the list goes on–in this context, these words have no real meaning. They are mere epithets. The Obama presidency has reduced the liberal left to an apoplectic rage. His Ivy League credentials, superior attitude, pseudointellectual mien and facile adherence to lefty ideology make him the perfect personification of the liberal elite. Thus far at least, he has been an utter failure both at winning public support and at managing the affairs of the nation.
Obama’s failure is the failure of the liberal elite, and that is why their ressentiment has reached such intensity. Their ideas, such as they are, are being put to a real-world test and found severely wanting. As a result, their authority is collapsing. And if there is one thing they know deep in their bones, it is that they are entitled to that authority. They lash out, desperately and pathetically, because they have nothing to offer but fear and anger.
WSJ
Shoe fit?
as bad as Obama and the dratted liberals are - take a look at the Republican wannabes...
my LORD!
these cretins .. I would not trust alone at a soft cone ice cream machine - they'd end up with it stuck to one of their orifices...!!
Some folks.. you just know.. if you leave them alone with equipment.. that when you come back it's going to be a smoldering heap of useless metal...
these Republicans are the political equivalent of that.
Santorium - the "creationist christian" wants to bomb Iran back to the stone age.
Bachman passed a light bulb law and fought like hell to block the budget.
Gingrich buys his wife 200K jewelry on the "credit plan" and says that it's all perfectly okay...
Caine used to sell pizzas ..after he used to work for DOD...
Romney is flip-flopper in chief and the father of ObamaCare...
Ron Paul polls lower than almost everyone. even Gingrich...
I honestly don't see who ya'll would vote for...
the current Republican field is a joke - a bad joke.
Now.. I realize ya'll are really, really desperate.. but this is ridiculous...
:-)
Creationism is the belief that evolution is phony, and God created the Earth 5000 years ago, magically.
Anti-immigrationism is chanting against immigrants, legal or otherwise.
Homophobia is a fear that homosexuals will be tolerated as equals, have the same rights as anyone else.
Actually, this is fascinating turn of events for the GOP. The plutocrats had crafted a Faustian bargain with the Christians, along the lines of "You vote for us, and we will pay lip service to Christian ideals, and cut taxes on rich people."
At some point, the Christians realized they outnumbered the plutocrats, and began stealing the primaries from the party establishment. And the Christians admirably believe what they say, as opposed to the plutocrats, who have raised cynicism to an art form.
But the wild card this time is that Perry is a closet queen. He reminds me of John Edwards, who was getting a girl pregnant while running for President. He seemed to be courting disaster and exposure.
We have one wild show ahead of us.
"but then if you actually looked it up -you'd be forced to admit that your previous comment was ignorant crap..."
Unbelievable. You really are a piece of work, Larry. First, you post your comment on the wrong thread, then you link to the wrong tax rate table, then, based on that wrong table you claim that Medicare A contributions pay for Disability Insurance.
If you aren't embarrassed by this comedy of errors, nothing, and I mean nothing can shame you. How can you possibly keep posting stuff, pretending you know what youre talking about?
And to think that you're the one who keeps lecturing people on how Social Security is paid for.
Who helps you get dressed in the morning? There's no way you do it by your self.
"Benji",
Thanks for sharing your interesting theories. Perhaps, you could write a manifesto. Would you please share a little bit about your belief that the U.S. government was responsible for 9/11, and that the Moon landing was actually staged in Nevada. Hope to see you at "Burning Man".
They say Obama will have $1 billion on hand to defeat the GOP
A big chunk of that will again come from illegal Middle Eastern donations.
"The top two GOP candidates--Bachmann and Perry--both espouse creationism, anti-immigrationism and homophobia. There i no dispute about this"...
Who but a fool says there's no dispute about these slanderous statements pseudo benny but then again you're from California, right?
Tenuous grip on reality out there it seems...
From the Top 140 list:
Democrat total $ - $1,177,161,826
Republican tot $ - $295,548,471
Ratio 4:1 Democrat
Amount not credited to either Democrat or Republican: $500 million.
well.. remember.. conservatives have insisted that donations from corporations and unions could not be restricted because it's "free speech", eh?
did it come back to bite you in the butt?
buyer's remorse?
No. It simply evens out the field as both statist parties ensure that they can be bought by special interests.
Mark - An interesting post. What leaps out at me is that if you ask "which of these groups should I boycott," you quickly realize that the handful of groups you might "buy" something from, or who have members you might patronize directly (doctors, realtors), either lean right in their giving, or are close to balanced.
This only covers direct campaign contributions, not independent expenditures, and so misses major players on the right like the NRA and Club for Growth who prefer to run their own media and GoTV organizations rather than donate to campaigns.
Also, right-leaning organizations tend to morph a lot more from election to election despite often being funded by the same sources (Swift Boat Veterans, Crossroads GPS, etc.) so aggregating across 20 years of data diminishes the apparent influence of these ad hoc groups.
Finally, the Koch comparison shows another important omission -- you only include the direct contributions from Koch Industries, but not activity from the many other Koch-driven organizations like AfP.
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