Political Influence Peddling Watchdog Site

[Conan71]

This is an interesting utility a friend emailed to me:

http://maplight.org

It tracks political campaign contributions given within a number of days (default is three, you can adjust) of a vote on an issue related to that special interest or contributor.

It would appear all three Presidential candidates are guilty as hell of using their Senate seat to broker $$$ for their Presidential campaigns when compared to their Senate counterparts from their states.

Obama and Clinton and McCain all have recieved a good deal more money around key votes than their home-state counterparts.

Illinois-

Obama:

http://maplight.org/map/us/legislator/635/near_votes/3

Durbin:

http://maplight.org/map/us/legislator/563/near_votes/3

New York-

Clinton:

http://maplight.org/map/us/legislator/548/near_votes/3

Schumer (wow, he's even cleaner than Coburn):

http://maplight.org/map/us/legislator/606/near_votes/3

Arizona-

McCain:

http://maplight.org/map/us/legislator/592/near_votes/3

Kyl:

http://maplight.org/map/us/legislator/583/near_votes/3

Interesting to look around and see who's greasing whom.

[Gaspar]

Wow!  I had no idea buying a legislator's vote was that cheap!  

If I were Barak or Hillary I would have held out for a little more on some of those!  They must have poor haggling skills. . .but they are over 90% for sale!  McCain is not that much better.

That's shocking!

[Conan71]

I can't remember which legislator it was, but there was a $10 contribution listed.

They are all whores, some just demand a higher price than others. []

[USRufnex]

You (and that website) completely miss the point, Conan.

These are small donors. Individual donors.  I am one of them.  All individual donors are required to list their place of employment and occupation.    

There's a limit of $2300.  And considering Obama alone has a small donor list that is now over the 1,000,000 mark... many of those million donors have given $$$ multiple times... some of that million-person donor base could give money days before a vote... by accident.

Let's divide 1,000,000 donors by 365 days... that comes to 2753 donors per day (once again, these people can give multiple donations)... compare that to the number of donations on the website for Clinton, Obama and McCain and ask me how much "influence" those individual donations have on specific legislation in a Congress dominated by lobbyists...

Since I gave "X" amount of dollars to the Obama campaign, the campaign asks me for the name of my employer and what I do for that employer.... I work in the telecomm industry...

So, is it fair to then argue that the evil telecommunications industry is giving money to the Obama campaign days before a "crucial" vote???... when it's ME... a person who works in that industry... who could have unwittingly given $$$ before some senate vote on a telecommunications bill...

That kind of criticism is deceptive and cynical.  

But then again, it's silly season in politics...

When donating, you are asked for both the name of your employer and your occupation... then you...

------------------------------------------------
Check this box to confirm that the following statements are true and accurate:

1.  I am a United States citizen or a lawfully-admitted permanent resident.

2.  I am at least 16 years old.

3.  This contribution is not made from the general treasury funds of a corporation, labor organization or national bank.

4.  This contribution is not made from the funds of a political action committee.

5.  This contribution is not made from the treasury of an entity or person who is a federal contractor.

6.  This contribution is not made from the funds of an individual registered as a federal lobbyist or a foreign agent, or an entity that is a federally registered lobbying firm or foreign agent.

7.  The funds I am donating are not being provided to me by another person or entity for the purpose of making this contribution.
------------------------------------------------

Does that REALLY sound like influence peddling???

Move along... nothing to see here... there are bigger fish to fry...

[USRufnex]

Hey, maybe Obama's in the pocket of the oil industry... and George Kaiser...

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/28/834887.aspx

FACT CHECK: OBAMA AND OIL

From NBC/NJ's Aswini Anburajan
GREENBURG, Pa. -- The Clinton campaign today accused the Obama campaign of "false advertising," claiming that a recent ad Obama released in Pennsylvania was disngenous because Obama has been the recipient of more than $200,000 from the oil and gas industry.

In the ad, Obama says, "I'm Barack Obama, and I don't take money from oil companies or lobbyists, and I won't let them block change any more."

Obama has taken $213,884 from the oil and gas industry as of Feb. 29th, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Sen. Hillary Clinton has taken $306,813 in that same period.

Two of Obama's campaign bundlers are also CEOs for oil and gas companies, per a list released on his campaign Web site.

Robert Cavnar, listed as a bundler who has raised between $50,000 to $100,000 for the campaign, is the chairman and CEO of Mission Resources Corp., a Houston-based firm. George Kaiser, also listed in the same $50,000 to $100,000 category, is the CEO of Tulsa-based Kaiser-Francis Oil Company.

"It's unfortunate that Senator Obama is using false advertising to explain why he can be trusted to do something about energy prices," Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said.  "Senator Obama says he doesn't take campaign contributions from oil companies but the reality is that Exxon, Shell, and others are among his donors."

Obama routinely criticizes companies like Exxon-Mobil on the stump, but over the course of his presidential campaign he has taken more than $30,000 from individuals working for Exxon-Mobil. Clinton has taken more than $20,000 from Exxon-Mobil in the same period.

Just last month, Obama took more than $11,000 from individuals at Exxon-Mobil, per the center. At least 12 of those contributions came from individuals who contributed $250 each, the lowest listed donation. In that same period, Clinton took more than $3,000 from individuals working at Exxon-Mobil.

However, many of those contributions appear to come from workers at the firm not just executives. For example, Patrice McGowan, an Exxon-Mobil shift supervisor, who lives in Joliet, Ill., has donated $982 to Obama as of January. She also has a blog profile on Obama's campaign Web site.

"I am a single woman who has worked shift work all my life, sometimes never seeing another woman on the job for weeks," her profile reads, in part.

In a statement today, Obama spokesman Bill Burton, reiterated that Obama doesn't take PAC money or money from federal registered lobbyists, and "that includes oil companies and oil lobbyists."