EPA file
Over the past decade many of the largest corporate donors have been financial firms. And no financial company has contributed as much money as Goldman Sachs.
By Douglas A. McIntyre and Alexander E. M. Hess, 24/7 Wall St.
With the U.S. presidential election heating up, 24/7 Wall St. decided to examine public companies? political contributions in the current election cycle. ?The donations include monies given to political parties, candidates, and political action committees. The figures are staggering and have prompted many to ask whether money can buy a seat in the House, Senate, or even the presidency itself.
The Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, the Romney Victory Fund, and the Republican National Committee raised more than $76.8 million in May and $100 million in June. May's number does not include what Romney and his supporters raised for the primaries, or the growing amount he will need as the presidential election shifts into high gear. While President Obama has raised more overall, his campaign and the Democratic party only raised $60 million for his re-election effort in May.
Political contributions, which used to go directly to candidates, now often flow to Super PACs, independent organizations that can raise money to either help or defeat a candidate. Historically, traditional political action committees have been prohibited from accepting donations from unions and companies. However, following rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals, Super PACs are now allowed to accept unlimited donations from unions and companies, provided the money does not go directly to the campaign.
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The rise of the Super PAC has opened the door to a new generation of fundraising, changing how money?is used to elect candidates and increasing the amount candidates need to raise to be competitive as they seek office.
Already, there is evidence of the influence large corporations and their senior managements can have. At one point in January, Las Vegas Sands? CEO, billionaire Sheldon Adelson, gave the GOP?s then-presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich $5 million. Gingrich could not have remained a candidate for the Republican nomination without the money. Adelson went so far in February as to say he might pass an additional $100 million to Gingrich and the PACs that supported him. Adelson, with his activist posture, won?t likely go away this political season as Gingrich did. His total contributions this election cycle already total nearly $12 million. Some of his contributions have been given through a tiny methadone clinic owned by him and his wife Miriam. It is perhaps not surprising then to find Las Vegas Sands, which is run by Adelson, at the top of the list of the ten public companies with the largest political contributions.
The ten companies on our list operate in different industries. While one might think financial firms, tethered to the federal government by the financial crisis bailout, and defense?companies, which count on billions of dollars in government contracts, would dominate the list, they do not entirely. Microsoft is on the list; so is AT&T, cable company Comcast, and film studio Dreamworks. In addition to the sums each company donated and to which political party, we also added how much these companies have spent on lobbying, which is counted separately from political donations. As tempting as it is, we did not speculate on the reasons behind the companies' contributions.
(Msnbc.com?is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal. The latter is a subsidiary of Comcast.) ? ??
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Based on data collected and published by?the Center for Responsive Politics on its website, opensecrets.org, 24/7 Wall St. has identified the 10 publicly traded companies contributing the most to candidates, political parties, and PACs. The Center calculates total political contributions made by either companies? PACs or employees within a given election cycle (beginning in January 1, 2011 for the 2012 cycle) that are over $200. 24/7 Wall St. also examined lobbying expenditure data, also published by the Center for Responsive politics. Finally, we relied on the 2012 Washington Technology Top 100 for revenue earned by the top government contractors.
These are the companies making the biggest political donations.?
5. Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc.
Total contributions (2012-ongoing):?$2,370,150
Donations to Democratic Party:?99 percent
Donations to Republican Party:?1 percent
Spending on lobbying (2012-ongoing):?N/A
Industry:?Movie production
Though Dreamworks Animation is a relatively small business, with just about 2,100 full-time employees and a $1.6 billion market capitalization, the company is an extremely large contributor to the Democratic Party and related organizations. Most of the movie production company?s contributions -- $2,125,000, or 90 percent of donations -- support outside spending groups, including PACs, instead of individual campaigns. And almost all of this support is from CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. He became one of the largest donors in the country after giving $2 million to Priorities USA Action, an organization committed to the reelection of President Obama.
4. AT&T, Inc.
Total contributions (2012-ongoing):?$2,504,219
Donations to Democratic Party:?35 percent
Donations to Republican Party:?65 percent
Spending on lobbying (2012-ongoing):?$7,050,000
Industry:?Telecom services
Since SBC Communications bought AT&T Corp. in 2005, the newly formed AT&T, Inc. has been one of the largest political donors in the country, with more than $18 million in contributions since the acquisition. The telecom was the largest political contributor among all public companies in 2006 and in 2010. For 2012, the board of directors approved a maximum amount of $6.5 million in total contributions to political candidates, parties, PACs and other groups. AT&T also lobbies extensively, having spent more than $7 million on lobbying so far in 2012 -- more than any publicly traded company.
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3. Comcast Corporation
Total contributions (2012-ongoing):?$4,769,994
Donations to Democratic Party:?29 percent
Donations to Republican Party:?71 percent
Spending on lobbying (2012-ongoing):?$1,380,000
Industry:?Diversified investments
Three times in the past 12 years cable company Comcast has been one of the largest corporate political donors in the U.S. Since 2008, election cycle contributions by the company and its employees have totaled more than $9 million. In the present cycle, contributions from Comcast have come in almost equal measure from private individuals within the company and from the organization?s own PAC, called the Comcast Corporation Political Action Committee. Of particular note, Executive Vice President David Cohen was the largest direct donor at the company, contributing $194,650. ? ??
2. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Total contributions (2012-ongoing):?$4,769,994
Donations to Democratic Party:?29 percent
Donations to Republican Party:?71 percent
Spending on lobbying (2012-ongoing):?$1,380,000
Industry:?Diversified investments
Over the past decade many of the largest corporate donors have been financial firms. And no financial company has contributed as much money or as consistently as Goldman Sachs, which has given $39 million since 1989. Since 2000, Goldman has been one of the ten largest political donors among publicly traded companies in every election cycle, a distinction unique to the company. Twice, in 2004 and 2008, the company contributed more to political campaigns than any other business in the U.S. In the 2008 election cycle, Goldman spent slightly more than $7 million, the most it has ever contributed.
1. Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Total contributions (2012-ongoing):?$11,738,600
Donations to Democratic Party:?0 percent
Donations to Republican Party:?100 percent
Spending on lobbying (2012-ongoing):?$30,000
Industry:?Resorts and casinos
So far in this election cycle, political contributions from casino and resort operator Las Vegas Sands have exceeded donations from any publicly traded company, including those in the defense, financial, and telecom industries, which usually make up the nation?s largest corporate political contributors. The majority of company's contributions, $10 million, came from Sands? CEO Sheldon Adelson. In addition, Adelson and his wife Miriam made individual contributions?totaling?$15 million through the Adelson Drug Clinic, a methadone clinic managed by Miriam Adelson. Most of this money has gone to outsider groups, rather than directly to candidates or parties, with the Gingrich-backing Winning Our Future PAC receiving donations of $5 million and $2.5 million.
Read the rest of "Companies that spend the most on political donations" at the 24/7 Wall St. site.
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