“The SuperPAC Superdonors”
Who are the forces behind the presidential candidates? A lot of rich people and corporations, of course, now that the Supreme Court has let them basically donate whatever they want.
I’m going to simplify and summarize the FEC-derived data from the npr.org reports “The SuperPAC Superdonors” (5/22/12) and “New SuperPAC Financial Reports Reveal More Big Spenders” (6/21/12).
See those reports details on donations and donors; I’ve added up donations from each donor (including spouses and associated companies) to each campaign.
We’re only looking at $1,000,000 totals and up (just for comparison, that’s 10,000 times the $100 you scraped together to give your favorite candidate so far this year).
Remember the Golden Rule: the one that has the gold makes the rules.
To me, it would be simple: you’d say to the 99%, “Here is what the billionaires want you to do, so do the opposite.” But for some reason, it doesn’t seem to work that way, yet.
Anyhow, according to npr:
“More than two dozen people or groups have donated at least $1 million each to the new superPACs, which can raise unlimited funds to help a candidate — although without technically coordinating with that campaign. The money is largely being used to run attack ads against opponents….”
Note, however, that a lot of donations are not reported or are cloaked in secrecy, so are not included here (like those of Charles and David Koch, though their brother William is on the list).
What do we learn, besides that some people have a whole lot of money to give away for political gain?
Not one gave to two parties. Many corporations and smaller donors try to buy influence with both parties, but the $1,000,000+ group obviously knows what it wants. Look for next year’s ambassadors and other dignitaries to come from these donors.
Obama has cleared $10,000,000; the Republicans all together, $78,672,000. So as you might have suspected, the Democrat is not the one getting the big millions.
Individual R. candidates’ totals:
$21,500,000 Romney
$21,100,000 Gingrich
$5,550,000 Santorum
$2,600,000 Paul
$2,322,040 Huntsman
$1,100,000 Perry
But in first place: Karl Rove, whose American Crossroads took in $24,500,000 from the Millions Club. [Update: the absurdity of saying these SuperPACs are not coordinating with the campaigns is shown by Rove’s prominent presence at a Romney megadonor retreat in Utah, as recounted in “For Wealthy Romney Donors, Up Close and Personal Access,” New York Times, 6/24/12. Photo below from that article.]
Charles Dharapak/Associated Press. Karl Rove was among the high-powered Republicans at a retreat for Mitt Romney fund-raisers in Utah this weekend.
What is noteworthy is that Romney, with 18 donors in this group (some of who donated to others as well) and Gingrich, with 2 of these donors, received about the same amount.
For better or worse, Gingrich, Santorum, Huntsman, Perry, and Paul seem to have been kept in the race by a couple of tycoons each, most notably Gingrich by gambling magnate Sheldon Adelson and Huntsman by his own father. (Cain got quite a lot of attention, though not always of the type he planned, considering he didn’t have a millionaire friend helping him out and his SuperPAC was virtually nil.)
You could say: Why should rich people be able to keep fringe candidates going?
Or you could say: Well, at least money buys some diversity (!).
The anti-union lobby has been gnashing its teeth (yes, lobbies are people too, right?) about the supposed influence of labor unions. $2,000,000 of the total $88,672,000 on this list, or 1/44th, is from labor unions to Obama. Not a major money player, to say the least.
Otherwise, how about donors’ professions? As you might expect, most are in business. What strikes me is that none appear to have “old money”; all seem enriched by recent businesses and investments.
Two (an individual plus a couple) are or were at Bain Capital, Romney’s company.
Four others are or were at hedge funds.
Three are “investors” though no doubt all have investments.
So in case you were planning to join the 1%, those are the promising areas right now (and you can bet if Romney wins, they will become even more promising).
There are, though, one lawyer and three connected with the entertainment industry.
Finally, here’s the composite list of donors who as of reports to date have given $1,000,000 or more:
Sheldon and Miriam Adelson (Las Vegas Sands Corp.; owns hotels and casinos):
Winning Our Future (Gingrich) $20,000,000
Kareem Ahmed (Rancho Cucamonga CA):
Priorities USA Action (Obama) $1,000,000
Edward Conard (New York, N.Y.; executive, formerly at Bain Capital):
Restore Our Future (Romney) $1,000,000
William J. Dore (Lake Charles, La.; energy)
$2,250,000 Red White and Blue Fund (Santorum)
Paul & Sandra Edgerley (both now or formerly at Bain Capital):
Restore Our Future (Romney) $1,000,000
Eli Publishing Inc. (“an inactive Utah company formed in 1997 by Nu Skin founder Steven Lund”) and Utah F8 LLC (same address):
Restore Our Future (Romney) $2,000,000
Foster S. Friess Jackson, Wy. (mutual fund investor):
Red White and Blue Fund (Santorum) $2,100,000
Amy Goldman (Rhinebeck, N.Y.):
Priorities USA Action (Obama) $1,000,000
Kenneth Griffin (Chicago, Ill.) :
American Crossroads (GOP) $1,000,000
Restore Our Future (Romney) $1,050,000
Jon M. Huntsman Sr. (Salt Lake City, Utah; Huntsman Corp.)
Our Destiny PAC (Huntsman) $2,222,040
Jeffrey Katzenberg (Universal City, Calif.; chief executive at DreamWorks Animation):
Priorities USA Action (Obama) $2,000,000
John Kleinheinz (Fort Worth, Texas):
Restore Our Future (Romney) $1,000,000
William Koch (West Palm Beach, Fla.; brother of Charles and David):
Restore Our Future (Romney) $1,750,000
Bill Maher (Los Angeles, Calif.; comedian, political commentator):
Priorities USA Action (Obama) $1,000,000
Robert Mercer (East Setauket, N.Y.; hedge fund manager):
Restore Our Future (Romney) $1,000,000
Melaleuca Inc. (Idaho Falls, Idaho, privately held dietary supplement and cleaning supply company; CEO Frank L. VanderSloot is national finance co-chairman of Romney’s campaign):
Restore Our Future (Romney) $1,000,000 Donor:(Romney)
Irving Moskowitz (Hawaiian Gardens, Calif.; retired Florida physician and bingo magnate):
American Crossroads (GOP) $1,000,000
National Air Traffic Controllers Association PAC
Priorities USA Action (Obama) $1,000,000
John Paulson (New York, N.Y.; hedge fund manager):
Restore Our Future (Romney) $1,000,000
A. Jerrold Perenchio (Los Angeles, Calif.; former chairman and CEO of Univision):
American Crossroads (GOP) $2,000,000
Our Destiny PAC (Huntsman) $100,000
Restore Our Future (Romney) $500,000
Bob J. Perry (Houston, Texas Perry; owner of Perry Homes):
American Crossroads (GOP) $2,500,000
Restore Our Future (Romney) $4,750,000
Make Us Great Again (Perry) $100,000
Julian Robertson (Locust Valley, N.Y.; hedge fund manager):
Restore Our Future (Romney) $1,250,000
Rooney Holdings Inc. (Tulsa, Okla; family-owned builder):
Restore Our Future (Romney) $1,000,000
Robert B. Rowling (Irving, Texas; oil industry, Omni hotel chain):
American Crossroads (GOP) $2,000,000
Restore Our Future (Romney) $100,000
Service Employees International Union Committee on Political Education:
Priorities USA Action (Obama) $1,000,000
Harold C. Simmons, (Texas businessman):
Make Us Great Again (Perry) $1,000,000
American Crossroads (GOP) $13,000,000
Winning Our Future (Gingrich) $1,100,000
Restore Our Future (Romney) $800,000
Red White and Blue Fund (Santorum) $1,200,000
Paul Singer (New York; hedge fund manager):
Restore Our Future (Romney) $1,000,000
Peter Thiel (San Francisco, Calif.; co-founder PayPal, investor Facebook):
Endorse Liberty (Paul) $2,600,000
Whiteco Industries (Merrillville, Ind.; construction and advertising):
American Crossroads (GOP) $1,000,000
Franklin L. Haney (Washington DC; real estate):
Priorities USA Action (Obama) $1,000,000
Barbara A. Stiefel (Coral Gables, Fla.):
Priorities USA Action (Obama) $1,000,000
Steve Mostyn (Texas; lawyer)
Priorities USA Action (Obama) $1,000,000
Reynolds and Reynolds Co. (Dayton OH; CEO Robert T. Brockman):
Restore Our Future (Romney) $1,000,000
Joe Craft (Tulsa, Okla.; coal):
American Crossroads (GOP) $1,000,000
Harlan Crow (Texas; investor):
American Crossroads (GOP) $1,000,000
Restore Our Future (Romney) $300,000
