
The Families Funding the 2016 Presidential Election - ckurose
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/11/us/politics/2016-presidential-election-super-pac-donors.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
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aaronbrethorst
Quoting the article—please take this away if nothing else:

    
    
        But regardless of industry, the families investing
        the most in presidential politics overwhelmingly
        lean right, contributing tens of millions of
        dollars to support Republican candidates

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SmokyBorbon
This article is about direct contributions from individuals. This is just a
fraction of the donations to political campaigns. For example, you don't find
any mention of labor unions which provide more money than individuals and
donate almost exclusively to democrats. And we haven't mentioned corporations.

Imagine a giant hammer and sickle and a McDonalds arch so large that you can't
see the pile of monopoly pieces or even the White House behind them.

~~~
aaronbrethorst
2012's biggest individual contributors:
[https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?cycle=2012](https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?cycle=2012)

The first two items in the list are both Sheldon Adelson

ActBlue is primarily individuals donating to democratic candidates they
support.

#4 backed republicans almost exclusively. Interestingly, their founder funded
Oliver North's legal defense in the Iran-Contra scandal. More on his 2012
campaign funding:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Simmons#2012_presidenti...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Simmons#2012_presidential_election)

Only when you get to #5 do you see union money. But, the interesting thing
about that money is

    
    
        Most of the political work of the Service
        Employees International Union is funded
        by about 300,000 janitors, nurses' aides,
        child-care providers and other members
        who voluntarily contribute on average $7
        per month to SEIU's Committee on Political
        Education (COPE).
    

[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2010/10...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2010/10/20/AR2010102004912.html)

\---

So, the top 5 list for 2012 literally consists of _2 people_ on the Republican
side and hundreds of thousands or millions of people on the Democratic side.

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__Joker
Random thought, do people quantify investment in politics, if not in pure
numbers, at least in some ball park figures ? Like, markets are down, we are
better off investing 10 million in presidential elections.

~~~
venomsnake
Congress and the President oversee roughly 3-4 trillion dollar per year
budget. Even in best years throwing billions in elections will yield enviable
ROI.

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venomsnake
The article is pretty thin on substance.

> in a nation that is being remade by the young, by women, and by black and
> brown voters.

While this is a certain class of activist wet dream, the reality contradicts
it. Big business is becoming increasingly good at doing what is best for them.
They also learned to use treaties for overriding/bypassing a nation's laws.
Power is getting increasingly concentrated.

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hugh4
We should be happy that these kind benefactors are investing so much to
produce free entertainment for the rest of us.

