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View Full Version : AP: Special Interests Gave $3 Million To Members Of New Congressional Super Committee




HOLLYWOOD
08-12-2011, 01:27 PM
Bad part about Capital Hill corruption and consolidation of power/control... it will be mush easier to bribe 12 + (Obama), than all 535. Let's guess how these budget cuts are going to happen against the very donors departments/expeditures.

AP analysis: Special interests gave $3 million to members of new budget super committee

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ap-analysis-special-interests-gave-3-million-to-members-of-new-budget-supercommittee/2011/08/11/gIQAzHwM9I_story.html


By Associated Press, Published: August 11
WASHINGTON — The 12 lawmakers appointed to a new congressional super committee charged with tackling the nation’s fiscal problems have received millions in contributions from special interests with a direct stake in potential cuts to federal programs, an Associated Press analysis of federal campaign data has found.
The newly appointed members — six Democrats and six Republicans — have received more than $3 million total during the past five years in donations from political committees with ties to defense contractors, health care providers and labor unions. That money went to their re-election campaigns, according to AP’s review.

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( Elaine Thompson / Associated Press ) - Sen. Patty Murray answers a question during a news conference following a visit to the headquarters of Amazon.com Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, in Seattle. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid named Murray, as well as Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Max Baucus, D-Mont., to a powerful new committee tasked to find a bipartisan plan to slash the federal budget deficit.

Supporters say the lawmakers were picked for their integrity and experience with complicated budget matters. But their appointments already have prompted early concerns from campaign-finance watchdog groups, which urged the lawmakers to stop fundraising and resign from leadership positions in political groups.

The congressional committee, created as part of the debt limit and deficit reduction agreement enacted last week, is charged with cutting more than $1 trillion from the budget during the coming decade. If the committee doesn’t decide on cuts by late November — or if Congress votes down the committee’s recommendations — spending triggers would automatically cut billions of dollars from politically delicate areas like Medicare and the Pentagon.
The lawmakers represent a large swath of political ideology and geography, but they have some things in common: They received more than $1 million overall in contributions from the health care industry and at least $700,000 from defense companies, the AP found. Those two industries, especially, are sensitive to the outcome of the committee’s negotiations because the automatic spending cuts could affect them most directly.

The committee’s co-chairs — Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas — each received support from lobbyists and political committees, including those with ties to defense contractors and health care lobbyists. Hensarling’s re-election committee, for instance, received about $11,000 from Lockheed Martin and $8,500 from Northrop Grumman.

Companies like Lockheed rely heavily on government contracts: More than 80 percent of Lockheed’s net sales during the first six months of 2011 came from the U.S. government, according to Securities and Exchange Commission records. And in SEC filings two weeks ago, Northrop expressed concern of a “material adverse effect” on its finances had the debt ceiling not been raised.

The other panel members are Sens. Max Baucus, D-Mont.; John Kerry, D-Mass.; Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.; Pat Toomey, R-Pa.; and Rob Portman, R-Ohio; and Reps. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C.; Xavier Becerra, D-Calif.; Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; and Michigan Republicans Dave Camp and Fred Upton.

The AP’s analysis shows the extent to which special interests have directly supported the 12 members during their tenures in Congress, including support from agriculture businesses ($600,000) and labor unions ($580,000). Big checks also came in from the banking and insurance industry.