by Frank James
Listen to both major-party presidential campaigns and you'd think right about now that neither one had very good (that is, generous) friends on Wall Street.
Well, both Republican presidential nominee John McCain and his Democratic rival, Barack Obama have benefited greatly from wealthy friends in the investment community who have bundled contributions from other, richly paid colleagues and friends.
The folks at OpenSecrets.org have tried to get a handle on just how good Wall Street types have been to both candidates. It appears they had a little easier time getting at McCain's bundlers than they did determining all of Obama's since the Democrat's campaign hasn't been as forthcoming apparently.
McCain's list includes at least 69 individuals who, according to his campaign, have raised a total of at least $11.4 million for his campaign. That makes the struggling investment industry his top source of bundlers. (Bundlers are those wealthy individuals who hit up their coworkers, family and friends to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, in addition to any contributions from their own pockets.) In the second spot is the real estate industry, where at least 55 individuals have delivered a total of $9.5 million or more to McCain. Overall, the finance, insurance and real estate sector has hauled in $30 million for the Republican candidate -- far more than any other sector.
Obama's list gives the appearance that he has not leaned so heavily on Wall Street, although since his campaign has ignored repeated requests from the Center for Responsive Politics and other watchdog groups to disclose his bundlers' employers and occupations, these figures are probably undercounts. The securities and investment industry is Obama's second-largest source of bundlers, after lawyers, and at least 56 individuals have raised at least $8.9 million for his campaign. The larger finance, insurance and real estate sector has produced $13.4 million for Obama, making it his most generous sector.
Bundlers for the McCain campaign include Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain, who is listed as raising at least half a million dollars. That may help explain why Merrill Lynch's employees have made the firm McCain's biggest donor -- when the boss is giving, others follow suit. McCain's bundles have also come in from executives at Lehman Brothers, the firm formerly known as Bear Stearns, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Credit Suisse and Wachovia. Former senator Phil Gramm, an executive at UBS, and Geoffrey Boisi, a board member for rescued mortgage buyer Freddie Mac, have both reportedly raised between $100,000 and $250,000 for McCain.
Obama's list of bundlers includes several executives at Citigroup, who together have raised between $600,000 and $1.5 million. Executives at Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs (Obama's number-one donor) are also in the mix.
Overall, the securities and investment industry has contributed about $10 million to Obama and $7 million to McCain. To all federal candidates for president and Congress, and to political parties, the industry has contributed more than $101 million in the 2008 election cycle, 56 percent of it to Democrats. The Democrats' edge is a relatively recent development, however; Republicans had the advantage for most of the last 10 years.
Contributions from the commercial banking industry are roughly split between Obama and McCain -- $2 million for the Democrat, $1.9 million for the Republican. The banking industry has contributed about $25 million in this election cycle to federal candidates and parties, giving 52 percent to Republicans.
Comments
Can you believe the length of truth distortion that In the Tank Frank will go to to protect Obama. Here's what OpenSecrets REALLY reported:
Of the two candidates for President, who got the most money from the two financial giants now in the news–Lehman Brothers and AIG?
McCain received $117,500 from Lehman Bros.
Obama received $370,524 from Lehman Bros.
How about AIG?
John McCain got $36,875 from AIG
Barack Obama raked in $75,899 (+205%)
Got that? Barack Obama, the guy who supposedly is not beholden to special interests, took three times as much money from Lehman Brothers and more than twice as much from AIG.
Gee, and who did the now Government financed mortgage broker Fannie Mae give its money to when it wanted to influence a politician?
OpenSecrets lists the top three politicians in which FNMA “invested” from 1989 to 2008.
Top Recipients of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Campaign Contributions, 1989-2008Name Office State Party Grand Total
Dodd, Christopher S CT D $165,400
Obama, Barack S IL D $126,349 ($6000 came from the PAC)
Kerry, John S MA D $111,000
What about McCain?
The folks at Fannie Mae didn’t show him a lot of love. According to Open Secrets:
McCain, John S AZ R $21,550 (all from individuals).
Oh yeah, and who tabbed the former head of Fannie Mae to head up his Vice Presidential search team? OBAMA, that’s who. Back in May Barack turned to Jim Johnson, former CEO of Fannie Mae. Who is Johnson?
Johnson served as Fannie Mae CEO from 1991 to 1998 and has a long history in both Washington politics and business. He served on the boards of numerous companies, including The Goldman Sachs Group, KB Home, and Target Corporation, and has been Vice Chairman of Perseus LLC. He also was a corporate finance managing director for Lehman Brothers. He was an executive assistant for Vice President Walter Mondale (1977-1981) and a U.S. Senate staff member. Johnson also helped screen running mates for Democratic presidential nominees Walter Mondale in 1984 and John Kerry in 2004.
When it came time for a tough decision who did Barack turn to? A former community organizer per chance? Heck no! He went with the inside the beltway uber lobbyist.
Posted by: Jeff | September 18, 2008 3:09 PM
"If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole."-John McCain, 2005.
Posted by: Jeff | September 18, 2008 3:15 PM
Want to bet Congress will do nothing and take another vacation. That's the only thing they know how to do. They're worthless!
Posted by: vla | September 18, 2008 4:03 PM
"Bundlers for the McCain campaign include Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain, who is listed as raising at least half a million dollars. ... McCain's bundles have also come in from executives at +Lehman Brothers+, the firm formerly known as Bear Stearns, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Credit Suisse and Wachovia. Former senator Phil Gramm, an executive at UBS, and Geoffrey Boisi, a board member for rescued mortgage buyer Freddie Mac, have both reportedly raised between $100,000 and $250,000 for McCain.
"Obama's list of bundlers includes several executives at Citigroup, who together have raised between $600,000 and $1.5 million. Executives at +Lehman Brothers+, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs (Obama's number-one donor) are also in the mix."
One would think that the Govt.'s denial of Lehman Bros.' request for a bail-out was equananimous in impact between the national political parties, but I wonder if there were fewer $$$ in contributions from their execs to McCain/the GOP than to Obama/the Dems.
Posted by: Regular Joe | September 18, 2008 4:38 PM
Isn't Obama the guy who bases his ability to be president on his experience in running his campaign? And isn't he the same guy who told us that how a presidential candidate runs a campaign is a good indicator of how they would run the White House? Yet here is Obama refusing "repeated requests" to disclose his bundlers' occupations and employers. Mr. Hope and Change, the candidate of reform and transparency. Right.
Posted by: JB | September 18, 2008 4:51 PM
So Jeff,
McCain was a member of that Congress in 2005. Republicans controlled Congress in 2005. McCain claims to be able to work across party lines. Why didn't the problem get addressed? Talk is cheap.
Posted by: dt | September 18, 2008 10:14 PM
THE FINANCIAL HOUSE OF CARDS FINALLY COLLAPSED!
This financial crisis didn't happen overnight.
Basically, it is the result of years of loose lending practices that were blatantly ignored by politicians and regulators as long as there were profits to be made.
So much for the Republicans' "trickle down" prosperity idea - now the working public gets to shoulder another mountain of debt due to other peoples' bad decisions.
(Anybody remember the Savings and Loan scandal decades ago?)
Posted by: Independent | September 19, 2008 9:12 AM
Financial risks are part of business economic flow. Therefore, financial forecasting, management and investment must have concise and reliable mathematical results to face such kind of negative business situation. It seems the super wealthy seem to think that the rules don't apply to them, and some of them seem to think that they should be allowed to get away with it. Recently, the investment giant Merrill Lynch had to be sold to Bank of America to avoid bankruptcy in the wake of the subprime mortgage collapse. An article in the Wall Street Journal reports that Merrill Lynch CEO, John Thain, has asked for a $10 million dollar bonus for the year, after he had to sell the company to Bank of America to avoid bankrupting it. His rationale is that his actions led to the company not going bankrupt, and therefore he deserves a bonus. The Attorney General of New York State, Andrew Cuomo, termed his request as "nothing less than shocking," as it seems callous to even ask for a bonus of that size when his company is barely able to stay afloat. Perhaps those at the top of the ladder don't think that the same rules apply that apply at the bottom, and perhaps they should.
Posted by: LisaO(paydayloans) | December 13, 2008 4:25 AM
Who is Johnson?
Johnson served as Fannie Mae CEO from 1991 to 1998 and has a long history in both Washington politics and business. He served on the boards of numerous companies, including The Goldman Sachs Group, KB Home, and Target Corporation, and has been Vice Chairman of Perseus LLC. He also was a corporate finance managing director for Lehman Brothers. He was an executive assistant for Vice President Walter Mondale (1977-1981) and a U.S. Senate staff member. Johnson also helped screen running mates for Democratic.
Posted by: bedroom furniture | April 1, 2009 10:50 AM
Isn't he the same guy who told us that how a presidential candidate runs a campaign is a good indicator of how they would run the White House? Yet here is Obama refusing "repeated requests" to disclose his bundlers' occupations and employers. Mr. Hope and Change, the candidate of reform and transparency.
Posted by: club penguin | June 6, 2009 9:10 PM
It's no surprise big bucks backs all successful political leaders. Unfortunatley, the saying is true, money is power.
Posted by: Kids Games | September 30, 2009 1:13 PM
Isn't he the same guy who told us that how a presidential candidate runs a campaign is a good indicator of how they would run the White House? Yet here is Obama refusing "repeated requests" to disclose his bundlers' occupations and employers. Mr. Hope and Change, the candidate of reform and transparency.
Posted by: classic video games | October 31, 2009 8:29 PM
from 1991 to 1998 and has a long history in both Washington politics and business. He served on the boards of numerous companies, including The Goldman Sachs Group, KB Home, and Target Corporation, and has been Vice Chairman of Perseus LLC. He also was a corporate finance managing director for Lehman Brothers. He was an executive assistant for Vice President Walter Mondale (1977-1981) and a U.S. Senate staff member. Johnson also helped screen running mates for Democratic presidential nominees Walter Mondale in 1984 and John Kerry in 2004.
Posted by: handbags | January 16, 2010 11:08 PM
McCain claims to be able to work across party lines. Why didn't the problem get addressed?
Posted by: ที่พักปราณบุรี | May 8, 2010 8:17 AM