September 7, 2012

Busting the Democrat myth of the Koch brothers

Lee Cary

Merely mention the monstrous Koch brothers and Democrats go berserk.

But what's the truth concerning the extent of the Koch's financial impact on elections?

On the website opensecrets.org , we find this list of Top All-Time Political Donors from 1989-2012.  The top 100 donors are listed below.  Note the contributions from unions.

Given all the noise from Democrats, we'd expect to see the Kochs in, at least, the top ten.  Not there.

Or, the top 20

Merely mention the monstrous Koch brothers and Democrats go berserk.

But what's the truth concerning the extent of the Koch's financial impact on elections?

On the website opensecrets.org , we find this list of Top All-Time Political Donors from 1989-2912.  The top 100 donors are listed below.  Note the contributions from unions.

Given all the noise from Democrats, we'd expect to see the Kochs in, at least, the top ten.  Not there.

Or, the top 20. Not there either.

Certainly the top 50!  Nope.

They rank 75th on the list.

One of Saul Alinsky's rules in his book "Rules for Radicals" -- required reading in the state university in Illinois I attended long ago -- was to "demonize the opposition".  It works because attach credibility to repetition. (Like next year is the Chicago Cub's year to win the Series.)

[The first column to the right of the total is the percentage of total contributions that went to Democrats; the second column to the right the percentage of the total given to Republicans.]

1

ActBlue

$69,829,402

99%

0%



2

American Fedn of State, County & Municipal Employees

$61,440,473

73%

0%



3

AT&T Inc

$49,435,290

43%

55%



4

National Assn of Realtors

$44,032,938

45%

47%



5

National Education Assn

$43,613,263

71%

5%



6

Service Employees International Union

$41,809,666

70%

2%



7

Goldman Sachs

$39,830,663

56%

40%



8

American Assn for Justice

$36,480,728

88%

8%



9

Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

$35,994,170

95%

2%



10

American Federation of Teachers

$34,698,466

86%

0%



11

Teamsters Union

$33,543,228

85%

5%



12

Laborers Union

$33,502,740

86%

7%



13

Communications Workers of America

$32,245,257

90%

0%



14

Carpenters & Joiners Union

$32,000,160

85%

9%



15

Citigroup Inc

$30,075,676

49%

49%



16

United Food & Commercial Workers Union

$28,652,035

92%

0%



17

American Medical Assn

$28,523,448

40%

59%



18

United Auto Workers

$28,360,837

98%

0%



19

National Auto Dealers Assn

$28,170,508

32%

67%



20

Machinists & Aerospace Workers Union

$27,690,147

98%

1%



21

United Parcel Service

$26,874,093

36%

63%



22

EMILY's List

$26,242,976

97%

0%



23

Altria Group

$26,098,832

27%

72%



24

American Bankers Assn

$25,989,790

38%

61%



25

National Beer Wholesalers Assn

$25,415,795

34%

65%



26

JPMorgan Chase & Co

$25,180,648

49%

49%



27

Microsoft Corp

$24,649,246

55%

44%



28

National Assn of Home Builders

$24,344,855

35%

64%



29

National Assn of Letter Carriers

$24,158,334

82%

9%



30

Morgan Stanley

$23,055,528

44%

55%



31

Blue Cross/Blue Shield

$22,948,301

37%

62%



32

AFL-CIO

$22,504,688

82%

4%



33

Lockheed Martin

$22,398,020

42%

56%



34

Time Warner

$22,222,405

73%

26%



35

General Electric

$21,947,727

50%

49%



36

Verizon Communications

$21,699,696

41%

58%



37

Bank of America

$21,639,155

43%

55%



38

Credit Union National Assn

$20,950,466

47%

50%



39

Deloitte LLP

$20,184,062

35%

64%



40

FedEx Corp

$20,078,811

40%

59%



41

Sheet Metal Workers Union

$19,992,720

95%

2%



42

Operating Engineers Union

$19,963,136

84%

14%



43

International Assn of Fire Fighters

$19,934,293

78%

17%



44

Plumbers & Pipefitters Union

$19,788,306

92%

4%



45

Ernst & Young

$19,667,518

43%

55%



46

National Rifle Assn

$18,979,122

17%

82%



47

American Dental Assn

$18,875,934

45%

53%



48

American Hospital Assn

$18,818,618

53%

45%



49

PricewaterhouseCoopers

$18,737,044

36%

63%



50

UBS AG

$18,276,962

40%

58%



51

Boeing Co

$17,884,942

46%

52%



52

Air Line Pilots Assn

$17,509,897

83%

16%



53

AFLAC Inc

$17,287,629

44%

55%



54

Natl Assn/Insurance & Financial Advisors

$16,979,024

42%

57%



55

Pfizer Inc

$16,359,097

33%

66%



56

United Steelworkers

$16,028,846

96%

0%



57

Union Pacific Corp

$15,943,095

25%

74%



58

Northrop Grumman

$15,598,484

43%

56%



59

Ironworkers Union

$15,544,424

92%

6%



60

United Transportation Union

$15,464,260

88%

11%



61

Comcast Corp

$15,323,830

58%

41%



62

American Postal Workers Union

$15,044,873

92%

3%



63

Club for Growth

$14,975,478

0%

91%



64

Credit Suisse Group

$14,958,586

43%

56%



65

National Rural Electric Cooperative Assn

$14,694,771

49%

50%



66

Merrill Lynch

$14,498,522

37%

61%



67

National Air Traffic Controllers Assn

$14,354,258

70%

18%



68

American Institute of CPAs

$14,074,166

42%

57%



69

Reynolds American

$13,961,603

24%

75%



70

General Dynamics

$13,894,518

47%

52%



71

Anheuser-Busch

$13,772,187

48%

51%



72

Honeywell International

$13,599,048

45%

54%



73

Newsweb Corp

$13,565,571

73%

0%



74

Exxon Mobil

$13,311,075

13%

86%



75

Koch Industries

$13,151,536

8%

90%



76

DLA Piper

$13,147,811

68%

30%



77

American Financial Group

$13,135,921

16%

79%



78

BellSouth Corp

$13,015,350

45%

54%



79

Raytheon Co

$12,804,298

45%

53%



80

KPMG LLP

$12,641,689

34%

64%



81

Walt Disney Co

$12,579,188

69%

30%



82

New York Life Insurance

$12,465,975

51%

48%



83

News Corp

$12,431,038

58%

41%



84

Chevron

$12,366,041

23%

76%



85

GlaxoSmithKline

$12,074,396

30%

69%



86

Natl Active & Retired Fed Employees Assn

$11,662,200

77%

22%



87

American Crystal Sugar

$11,506,989

61%

38%



88

Wal-Mart Stores

$11,429,091

29%

69%



89

Saban Capital Group

$11,317,722

90%

0%



90

American Health Care Assn

$11,311,524

51%

47%



91

Associated Builders & Contractors

$11,159,206

1%

98%



92

Prudential Financial

$11,157,062

50%

49%



93

Human Rights Campaign

$11,120,697

90%

8%



94

CSX Corp

$11,058,192

34%

65%



95

National Restaurant Assn

$11,013,295

16%

82%



96

American Society of Anesthesiologists

$10,988,187

42%

57%



97

Southern Co

$10,897,030

31%

68%



98

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance

$10,866,721

39%

60%



99

American Academy of Ophthalmology

$10,691,805

51%

48%



100

Indep Insurance Agents & Brokers/America

$10,680,025

38%

61%



OMG!  The evil Koch brothers even gave 8% of their total contributions to Democrats!

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