[PAA-Discuss] Corporate Presidential Campaign Giving Surges

[Ron and Kris Graham]

Why in the hell does ANYBODY believe voting for ANY Democrat is going to
change a goddamned thing in this country? Look at who is donating to their
campaigns!! There will be NO SAVIOR from the Democrat Party, people! I am
sick and tired of reading about and hearing about Barack Obama and hope and
change. Barack Obama is not going to do a damned thing to change anything in
this country. He's part of the problem. He's merely a slick politician with
a flare for oratory. Do you guys know that U.S. troops have admitted to
"mistakenly" killing nine Iraqi civilians and wounding three others on
Saturday while they were trying to get the big bad bogeymen in Al Qaeda? Al
Qaeda is a goddamned CIA construct, people!! They don't exist. Innocent
people are being killed daily all over the fucking world, and people are
crowing about Barack Obama as if he's some kind of goddamned Jesus Christ
clone! All this makes me sick. I'm fed up with this shit. Frankly, I hope
John "Hurrah for Endless Wars" McCain wins the presidency and maybe then the
American people will get fed up with all the lying, killing, cheating,
stealing, wiretapping and basically getting screwed daily by the thugs who
are running this country and actually get off their complacent, consuming
asses and do something. Merely going to the polls in March and November and
voting for a lying sack of shit Democrat or Republican is not going to
change anything! 

 

The people in this country need a major slap upside the head to wake them
up. Perhaps when we're all drowning in debt, starving to death and dying
because we can't afford to go to the doctor we'll all wake up and realize
our so called representatives in Austin and Washington, D.C. have their
boots on our necks and their hands in our pockets.

 

The Democrat Party cannot be reformed from the inside out. It's not going to
happen. This country needs a viable third (actually second) party that
represents the people. The Global Corporate duopoly doesn't represent the
people and never has. It's all a ruse. A vote for any of the Democrat or
Republican candidates gets us more of the same shit we've been getting for
decades. A vote for any of the Democrat or Republican candidates gets more
dead Iraqis and Afghans and probably a whole lotta dead Iranians before it's
all said and done. Let's not forget the genocide going on in the Republic of
Congo and Darfur and all over the fucking world. Do you honestly think any
of the front running candidates give a flying fuck about a bunch of
tortured, maimed and dead black and brown people?! They don't give a shit.
Let 'em all die so long as wealthy Americans get all the worthless crap they
want. Consume, consume, consume!!! It's the American way! Pay your fucking
taxes. Keep the war machine going! It's the American way! Take what you want
when you want! Kill anybody that gets in the way! It's the American way!

 

If you don't like that mantra then don't keep voting for more of the same
because that's what you're going to get. Stop falling for the bullshit.

 

Kris

 

 Corporate Presidential Campaign Giving Surges
    By Kevin Drawbaugh
    Reuters

    Monday 04 February 2008

    Washington - Corporate America is pouring money into the US presidential
campaign at an unprecedented rate, with a torrent of donations coming from
the businesses behind the subprime mortgage crisis.

    Facing a government crackdown over predatory lending and a troubled
housing finance system, Wall Street and the real estate industry were among
the top political givers in 2007, a campaign finance watchdog group said on
Sunday.

    Leading all corporate donors in campaign donations as of the end of last
year was investment banking giant Goldman Sachs, based on an analysis of
Federal Election Commission records, the Center for Responsive Politics
said.

    The next four largest corporate donors were Citigroup, Morgan Stanley,
Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, according to the center's fourth-quarter
preliminary analysis, which is subject to revision.

    Investment banks, commercial banks and real estate companies altogether
have pumped almost $34 million into the presidential race, with Democratic
leaders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama getting the most money, the center
said.

    Overall, the 2008 presidential contest is shaping up, as expected, to be
by far the costliest in U.S. history.

    "From the beginning we've known this will be the most expensive race
ever ... Already the whole field has raised $582.5 million," said Massie
Ritsch, spokesman for the nonprofit, nonpartisan center.

    Senators Clinton and Obama have each taken in more than $5 million from
securities and investment firms; Republican Mitt Romney, over $4 million,
and rival John McCain, $2 million.

    Real estate has not been far behind, donating $4.8 million to New York's
Clinton and $3.7 million to Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts.

    Illinois' Obama has raked in $2.7 million, and Arizona Sen. McCain $1.9
million from real estate interests including mortgage brokers, homebuilders
and property developers.

    Real Estate Market Woes

    With home prices plummeting and foreclosures on the rise, especially
among subprime mortgage borrowers with poor credit, lawmakers and regulators
are looking hard at home lenders and the debt markets into which they sell
loans.

    Fears of recession have pushed the economy onto center stage of the
election campaign, stealing attention from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
health care, immigration and such social issues as abortion rights.

    One sector with an interest in almost every debate remains the richest
source of campaign funds - lawyers and law firms, which have donated $26.6
million to date in the 2008 cycle.

    Hollywood, including television, film and music, has given $6 million -
$5 million of it to Clinton and Obama.

    In contrast, oil and gas's favorite candidate still standing is Romney,
who has taken in $375,000 of the sector's $1.1 million. Those firms donated
more than $620,000 to former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who left the
race.

    Hedge funds and private equity, a new, independent-minded source of
funds, has sunk $3.6 million into campaigns: $1.3 million to Clinton; $1
million to Obama; $837,000 to Romney, and $395,000 to McCain. But the
private equity and hedge fund kingpins also bet big on drop-out Giuliani,
donating more than $1.2 million to him.

    Major hedge fund donors contributing to presidential and congressional
campaigns have included Elliott Management, SAC Capital Advisors, Citadel
Investment Group, Fortress Investment Group and Renaissance Technologies,
the center said.

    Giving by all of them has skewed heavily toward Democrats, except for
Elliott, which gave 99 percent to Republicans.

    Private equity firms with generous purses have included Blackstone
Group, Apollo Advisors and Carlyle Group.

    Housing finance groups Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have given nearly $1
million to 2008-cycle presidential and congressional campaigns; mortgage
broker Countrywide Financial has given $156,900, the center said.

    The center's analysis of campaign giving by business sector includes
donations by political action committees and donations from individuals
giving more than $200 based on employment.

    --------

    Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh, editing by Patricia Zengerle.

 

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://paa-tx.org/pipermail/discuss_paa-tx.org/attachments/20080204/685781ee/attachment.htm>