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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

U.S. Politics Really Is Big Business

Washington Post

Nearly $1.6 billion will be spent on this year’s presidential and congressional campaigns and the bulk will come from big corporations, according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

The five biggest contributors through the middle of this year were tobacco giant Philip Morris Cos., AT&T Corp., the trial lawyers’ trade group, the Teamsters and the Laborers’ International Union of North America. Together, these five donors gave more than $11 million to either or both the Republican and Democratic parties, a presidential candidate or a House or Senate campaign.

“We have a political system paid for by Wall Street, not Main Street - and some might say by Tobacco Road,” said Ellen Miller, executive director of the not-for-profit organization, which studies the role of money in politics.

Top giver Philip Morris donated $2.7 million, nearly four-fifths going to Republicans. AT&T gave $2.1 million, with three-fifths going to the GOP. The Association of Trial Lawyers of America and the Teamsters each gave about $2.1 million, the bulk of it to Democrats.

Giving tended to divide along party lines, with labor unions and lawyers consistently backing Democrats and business groups giving heavily to Republicans.

Business groups donated most, with $242 million in contributions, nearly seven times the $35 million given by labor groups and more than $10.6 million given by such ideological or single-issue groups as the National Rifle Association, which opposes gun control, and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.