INDUCE Me Some More, Baby.

Washington's Top 50 Political Contributors

Figures are based on contributions reported to the Federal Elections Commission and state Public Disclosure Commission as of mid-July.

There are some really interesting connections between the Democrats, the media companies, the computer companies, and the INDUCE Act.

Of the top 50 contributors this year, 13 of the top 15 are Democrat donators; one, Bill Gates, donated to a bill rather than to a party, and therefore counts as both, and #14 of the top 15 is the first Republican contributor in the list.

Oddly enough, Bill Gates' father, William Gates Sr., is one of the top 50 as well, as a Democrat.

In fact, 34 of the top 50 Washington contributors this year are Democrats, 10 are Republicans, and 6 are fairly even-handed. So, let's break this down, shall we?

Of the top 50 individuals contributing to the mess in Washington, a total of $5,130,589 was donated to Democrats. $655,034 was given to Republicans, and $466,380 was handed out evenly to both.

But where does this money come from? Well, let's see.

Among the Democrats:

• Rob Glaser, founder and CEO of Real Networks


• Nicholas Hanauer, founder of Avenue A, and an initial investor in Amazon.com


• Jim Sinegal, co-founder of Costco


• Jeffrey Brotman, co-founder of Costco


• Jack and Charlotte Spitzer, owners of Covenant Mortgage


• Joseph Schocken, president of Broadmark Capital


• William Marler, the lawyer who sued Jack-In-The-Box about E.Coli


• 8 different current and former Microsoft Employees, and Bill Gates' father, who oversees the Gates Foundation

The Republicans:

• George Rowley, a developer


• Bruce and Jolene McCaw, got rich from cell phones (Seattle Times gives no detail)


• Wes and Nancy Lematta, owners of Columbia Helicopters


• William Conner, founder of Conner Homes


• Mark Pigott, chairman and CEO of Paccar, truck manufacturer


• James and Ann Wiborg, former CEO and chairman of Univar Corp.


• John Stanton, CEO of Western Wireless


• Craig Clifford, owner of Clifford Enterprises


• William Weyerhaeuser, chairman of the board for Columbia Banking Systems


• Charles Pigott, former CEO of Paccar.

The "both"s we can leave alone, as they at least donate fairly. I find the Microsoft numbers really, really interesting, especially since regardless of Orrin Hatch's (a Republican, $158,860 in Hollywood contributions this year) reknowned sponsorship of the INDUCE Act, his co-sponsors include some people you might not expect.
Like:

• Senator Hillary R. Clinton, D, NY (has received $149,580 in contributions from Hollywood companies so far this year, BTW.)


• Senator Barbara Boxer, D, CA, $517,660 Hollywood this year


• Senator Tom Daschle, D, SD, $382,760 Hollywood this year


• Senator Patrick Leahy, D, VT, $220,450 Hollywood this year


• Senator Paul Sarbanes, D, MD (no specific data on Hollywood,)


• Senator Debbie Stabenow, D, MI (no data on Hollywood contributions yet.)

and two Republicans, Bill Frist of Tennessee ($58,550 Hollywood this year,) and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina ($72,273 Hollywood, this year.)
Also let me add that in this election cycle, media companies and their associated PACs have contributed $17,483,489, $11,504,336 of which went to Democrats, and $5,947,916 to Republicans.

(A side note: Did you know that no Republican Senator has sponsored more bills later declared unConstitutional than Orrin Hatch. Just thought you'd like to know.)

Far be it from me to suggest that Microsoft employees are supporting the INDUCE Act, oh no, never that; but it does look a bit suspicious. Especially considering Microsoft employees have donated $750, 808 to these same Democrats this year alone. And that doesn't count Microsoft Corporation itself, which has contributed 61% of its $1,880,946 in donations this year to the Democrats.

And boy, some of those names just crop up again and again: when you look at the top recipients of donations from computer or Internet companies, lo and behold, at numbers 11 and 17 respectively, Barbara Boxer of California and Tom Daschle of South Dakota. But wait, look at the top 20 recipients of media contributions: there they are again, Boxer, Daschle, Leahy and Clinton. (numbers 6, 7, 10, and 13 respectively.)

Things that make you go "Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..."

Oh, and a final note: I find it hugely interesting that despite the Republican's constant labelling as the "rich people's party," the facts contradict this so heavily. The number that the media loves to point to is the fact that donations to the actual parties themselves are heavily stacked towards the Republicans. This is true; this year the Dems have raised $194,089,385, while the GOP has raised $264,493,293. However, this number is an illusion, as the war chests for the Dems are much higher: $713,556,957, as compared to the GOP's $647,196,047. The media loves to ignore the donations to the actual candidates themselves. In fact, if you look at the donations' complete breakdown, here, you'll see that contributions towards Democratic Congresspeople are 14 million dollars higher than for the Republicans, and John Kerry et al. are out ahead of the Bush camp by $122 million, nearly 60% higher.
Be like me. Get tired of media bias. Look up the numbers yourself, and decide from the facts.