Goldman Sachs was 2nd biggest contributor to Obama campaign

[Liberty Star]

Should Obama return election campaign contributions from GS, get the bailout money back in light of recent friendly treatment of Goldman Sachs with billions given in bailout and record profiteering by GS bankers in the process?



Barack Obama (D)
Top Contributors

University of California $1,564,490
Goldman Sachs $994,795
Harvard University $854,017
Microsoft Corp $833,617


http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00009638



Goldman Sachs Reaps $6B After $1M Obama Contribution

Henry Paulson was CEO of Goldman Sachs prior to entering former President George W. Bush’s Cabinet as Treasury Secretary. Goldman Sachs has come under scrutiny for receiving $6 billion in AIG bailout money. (Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI)

Goldman’s Home Run
By Joe Murray, The Bulletin
Tuesday, March 10, 2009

He campaigned on a promise to restore trust in the U.S. government by making it more transparent, but after a confidential report showing how taxpayer money to American International Group (AIG) landed in the back pocket of Goldman Sachs was leaked to the Wall Street Journal, many have questioned Barack Obama’s commitment to transparency.

http://thebulletin.us/articles/2009/03/10/top_stories/doc49b61e46e935b133022700.txt

[Zippyjuan]

According to Open Secrets, their list of contributors includes individuals who donated money to a candidate and indicated a particular employer. By their same standards, the top contributors to Ron Paul were mostly branches of the military and military contractors. It is not quite accurate to say that the US Army themselves gave all that money to Dr. Paul or that Goldman Sachs gave that money directly to Obama.

This table lists the top donors to this candidate in the 2008 election cycle. The organizations themselves did not donate , rather the money came from the organization's PAC, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.

Because of contribution limits, organizations that bundle together many individual contributions are often among the top donors to presidential candidates. These contributions can come from the organization's members or employees (and their families). The organization may support one candidate, or hedge its bets by supporting multiple candidates. Groups with national networks of donors - like EMILY's List and Club for Growth - make for particularly big bundlers.


Portions of Ron Paul's list:
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00005906

US Army $77,855
US Navy $56,769
US Air Force $53,405
Google Inc $52,801
Microsoft Corp $47,923
US Postal Service $26,591
Lockheed Martin $23,425
Hewlett-Packard $23,318
Cisco Systems $23,007
Boeing Co $22,434


His list of donors would seem to indicate that he supports the military and in turn the wars in Iraq and Afghsnistan. But does he?

[tggroo7]

According to Open Secrets, their list of contributors includes individuals who donated money to a candidate and indicated a particular employer. By their same standards, the top contributors to Ron Paul were mostly branches of the military and military contractors. It is not quite accurate to say that the US Army themselves gave all that money to Dr. Paul or that Goldman Sachs gave that money directly to Obama.


Portions of Ron Paul's list:
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00005906


His list of donors would seem to indicate that he supports the military and in turn the wars in Iraq and Afghsnistan. But does he?

I totally agree with you. I was just about to say the same thing about how many GS contributions were probably from employees. No he doesn't need to return it

[anaconda]

No. He has a mandate from the People. Never mind that they don't know what for. Yes, we can!

[Kludge]

Ron Paul didn't return Don Black's donation...