Tracking Political Contributions

[candycorn]

Just wanted to share a link I found to show who the biggest contributors are to the major parties:


Top All-Time Donors, 1989-2012 | OpenSecrets

 

[American Horse]

It would be interesting to look at those columns with weighted averages.

Consider the other side of the coin:

A new report from the conservative Government Accountability Institute (GAI) finds that President Barack Obama’s and Attorney General Eric Holder’s failure to criminally charge any top Wall Street bankers is likely a result of cronyism inside the Department of Justice and political donations made to Obama’s campaign.

Despite Obama’s and Holder’s “heated rhetoric” against Wall Street (in 2009, Obama blamed the 2008 financial collapse on “reckless speculation of bankers” while Holder charged that “unscrupulous executives, Ponzi scheme operators and common criminals alike have targeted the pocketbooks and retirement accounts of middle class Americans&#8221, they haven’t “filed a single criminal charge against any top executive of an elite financial institution,”

SOURCE

Now consider why the Obama administration might not even initiate ANY prosecutions of of Wall Street lawbreaking at all, while they constantly railing against them?

Could it be the obvious?
'Look we talk bad, but we are your friends - but if you don't contribute to our campaign, or you do donate to our opponents campaign - then look out in my next term term. We will take revenge then.' (my paraphrase)

This is Chicago politics at its best.



Justice Inaction Report - The Department of Justice’s Unprecedented Failure to Prosecute Big Finance

 

[waltky]

Where dey gettin' dey's money from...

U.S. Gov't Employees Among Top Campaign Contributors to Obama; Bankers Among Top Contributors to Romney
October 1, 2012 – U.S. government employees and their families have thus far contributed $396,550 to President Barack Obama's reelection campaign, making them one of the top five sources of cash for the campaign to reelect the president, according to Opensecrets.org.

Employees of the U.S. State Department and their families have, by themselves, contributed $213,256 to the Obama reelection campaign. Standing alone, State Department employees and their families are the 17th largest contributors to the Obama campaign, ranking just above the employees and family members of Wells Fargo, who have contributed $202,216 to the Obama campaign.

By contrast, employees of five major banks and their families have been among the top sources of campaign funds for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

The academic community has also been very supportive of President Obama's reelection bid. With employees of the University of California and their families being the very top contributors to his campaign--having given the campaign a total of $703,781 in campaign contributions so far in this election cycle--and employees of Harvard and their families being the fourth largest contributors to the president's campaign.

Here, as calculated by OpenSecrets.org, are the top five organizations whose employees and employee family members have given the most to President Obama's reelection campaign:

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