Corporate Donations are Now Favoring the Democrats

The fix is in. It is now official. The corporate powers-that-be have officially sanctioned the Democrats in the 2008 elections. According to The Center for Responsive Politics and their Campaign Finance website “Open Secrets”, the political gift giving program for the “own your own politician” has turned to the left. Democrats now get more of the corporate “manna” than the Republicans.

So where does that leave the corporations? Have they finally become aware of the evil mechanizations of Darth Cheney? Have they finally decided to follow the good side of “the force”? Hardly, in reality the corporate kingmakers have seen the writing on the wall and are now doing “damage control” on their swiftly sinking ship. The ship seems to be listing so badly, that instead of trying to repair a ship that surely has a date with destiny at the bottom of the political sea, they are climbing aboard another ship that seems a bit more seaworthy.

This will obviously be greeted with shouts of joy from diehard Democrats that can’t see the forest for the trees. They don’t seem to understand that they are just trading one type of dictatorial power for another one. The saddest part of this story is that now they will be controlled by the same forces that control the Republicans (not that they weren’t controlled by the corporate boys before). Now it is official. There is more to this than meets the eyes however, so let us get to the putrid mechanics of this political swicheroo.

Let us gaze at the top ten donors. This might raise a few eyebrows:

1 Act Blue $3,151,038 100% Dem 0% GOP Solidly Democratic
2 Goldman-Sachs $1,656,954 71% DEM 29% GOP Strongly Democratic
3 Citigroup Inc. $1,582,857 63% Dem 37% GOP Leans Democratic
4 JP Morgan Chase & Co. $1,171,720 68% Dem 32% GOP Strongly Democratic
5 AT&T Inc. $1,094,144 45% Dem 55% GOP On the fence
6 UBS AG $1,068,953 62% Dem 38% GOP Leans Democratic
7 Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers $947,815 98% Dem 2% GOP Solidly Democratic
8 Laborers Union $924,500 91% Dem 9%GOP Solidly Democratic
9 Morgan Stanley $923,850 62% Dem 38%GOP Leans Democratic
10 Machinists/Aerospace Workers Union $904,000 97% Dem 3%GOP Solidly Democratic

Take out the Unions and the Democratic Organizations and we are left with what else, the bankers. Surprised, don’t be, they were the largest donors to the Republicans for the last 16 years. As Bob Dylan sang; “You just want to be on the side that’s winning”. The fact is, Goldman Sachs has been the largest political contributor to political races in history. The rankings from 11-20 are Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, General Electric, Comcast Corp, Akin, Gump et al, American Bankers Assn, Air Line Pilots Assn, Ernst & Young, American Federation of St/County/Municipal Employees, American Assn for Justice. Of these, only The American Bankers Assn, and Ernst & Young give more money to the GOP. Merrill Lynch is hedging their bet with an even number to both.

So what does all of this mean to the average American? Well to begin with, it means that your paltry contribution means squat. If your credit card debt and the spine-numbing late fees and fines are driving you to bankruptcy, don’t expect anyone to be in your corner. In fact every corner that every American owns has no supporters in it, save family and friends.

Let’s look at who the corporate guys are supporting these people in their campaign bid. These are the top ten in the House of Representatives:

Rangel, Charles B (D) $2,089,597 Democratic member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee

Hoyer, Steny H (D) $1,514,912 House Majority Leader in the 110th Congress

Gillibrand, Kirsten E (D) $1,393,205 House Armed Services Committee

Clyburn, James E (D) $1,292,435 House Committee on Appropriations

Pelosi, Nancy (D) $1,290,490 Speaker of the House

Kirk, Mark (R) $1,270,405 House Appropriations Committee

Tsongas, Niki (D) $1,266,974 New to Federal Elective Seat.

Klein, Ron (D) $1,264,593 House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Committee on Financial Services.

Boehner, John (R) $1,182,683 House Committee on Education and the Workforce, House GOP Leader

Murphy, Patrick J. (D) $1,127,818 House Armed Services Committee

In the Senate, the top ten candidates by contributions:

Watts, Mikal (D) $4,991,752 Former Democratic Fundraiser listed by news sources as “One of the Biggest Influence Peddlers in Washington”.

Durbin, Dick (D) $3,805,220 Senate Appropriations Committee

McConnell, Mitch (R) $3,327,263 Senior member of the Appropriations, Agriculture and Rules Committees.

Franken, Al (D) $3,278,313 No Record

Levin, Carl (D) $3,226,226 Armed Services Committee

Coleman, Norm (R) $3,191,705 Foreign Relations Committee

Cornyn, John (R) $3,121,962 Armed Services Committee

Pryor, Mark (D) $2,869,693 Armed Services Committee

Baucus, Max (D) $2,755,382 U.S. Senate Committee on Finance

Dole, Elizabeth (R) $2,592,765 Armed Services Committee

Isn’t it a coincidence that out of twenty Congressmen and Senators that six are on the Armed Services Committee, six are on appropriations committees, and ALL have significant influence on appropriations in general (except for two new candidates for office)?

These members of Congress have significant clout. The corporate political machines know this and will cross party lines and ideologies in order to guarantee that they can conduct business as usual in Washington in the years to come. Nothing will change, although outward appearances will make it seem as if the playing field is being leveled. Anyone that does their homework can see that the deck is stacked in corporate America’s favor. The old saying “The more things change, the more they stay the same” is very appropriate in this day and age.

Let’s see how these corporate puppets vote on bills and amendments that come their way. Charles Rangel, with his seat in Harlem, needs campaign donations like Brittany Spears needs to get herself pregnant again. He’ll use that money to spread his influence around Congress by donating to other Congressmen’s campaign coffers as Steny Hoyer did in 2006 that insured his House Majority Leader’s post. We can keep a scorecard on their voting. Pick one politician and when that person scores 10 votes that benefit his or her corporate sponsors, you yell BINGO and get instantly screwed.

Seriously though, this is no joking matter. We need corporate money out of political campaigns yesterday. Those that look at the Democrats and see saviors need to look again. “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”. Maybe a third party that doesn’t take corporate money is a great idea whose time has come. You won’t get these good ‘ol boys to change the rules.

That’s the way I see it.

Thanks to The Center for Responsive Politics and their website "OpenSecrets.org" for the information used in this article.