BP and President Obama

[maTRIarch]

Please tell me it's not true that BP was a huge donator to Obama and the Democratic Party. Please!

[TwilightGardener]

1. Why? What effect does it have on you now, either way?

[maTRIarch]

6. Holy Crap--are you kidding?

[TwilightGardener]

8. No. Are you? If BP gave him money, are you going to turn to the GOP or something?

[TwilightGardener]

16. Crickets.

[JuniperLea]

23. I keep circling back to see if you received an answer...

Nope...

[TwilightGardener]

73. One day later, now it's crickets and coyotes.

[Captain Hilts]

2. They probably donate to both candidates. nt

[karynnj]

19. Their employees and their PACs do

[polichick]

3. Rest assured that BP and all oil giants like Republicans best. nt

[Enrique]

4. numbers

http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/toprecips.php?id=D000000091&type=P&sort=A&cycle=2008

BP
Senate Obama, Barack $71,051
Senate McCain, John $36,649
Senate Landrieu, Mary L $16,200
Senate Stevens, Ted $10,150
Senate Begich, Mark $8,550
Senate McConnell, Mitch $8,500
House Culberson, John $8,200
Senate Clinton, Hillary $6,700
House Skelly, Michael Peter $6,614
Senate Lunsford, Bruce $6,600
House Paul, Ron $6,300
House Hoyer, Steny H $5,000
House Pearce, Steve $5,000
Senate Chambliss, Saxby $4,500
Senate Cornyn, John $4,500
House Rangel, Charles B $4,500
House Young, Don $4,500
House Blunt, Roy $4,000
House Boehner, John $4,000
House Dingell, John D $4,000

Oil and Gas Industry
Top 20 Recipients
Rank Candidate Office Amount
1 McCain, John (R) Senate $2,403,437
2 Obama, Barack (D) Senate $898,251
3 Cornyn, John (R-TX) Senate $667,850
4 Giuliani, Rudolph W (R) $609,358
5 Romney, Mitt (R) $504,094
6 Pearce, Steve (R-NM) House $470,832
7 McConnell, Mitch (R-KY) Senate $400,900
8 Clinton, Hillary (D-NY) Senate $381,742
9 Inhofe, James M (R-OK) Senate $365,200
10 Landrieu, Mary L (D-LA) Senate $272,250
11 Schaffer, Bob (R-CO) $246,850
12 Dole, Elizabeth (R-NC) Senate $230,917
13 Chambliss, Saxby (R-GA) Senate $222,350
14 Richardson, Bill (D) $220,875
15 Barton, Joe (R-TX) House $219,490
16 Roberts, Pat (R-KS) Senate $203,700
17 Wicker, Roger (R-MS) Senate $200,200
18 Thompson, Fred (R) $196,704
19 Boren, Dan (D-OK) House $185,950
20 Coleman, Norm (R-MN) Senate $174,900

[maTRIarch]

7. I stand open-eyed.

[Name removed]

45. Deleted message

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[FrenchieCat]

57. McCain took public funds during the General Election, and therefore

BP employees and such couldn't give to him during that entire time.

Obama in fact is the only candidate in 2008 for the presidency that was able
to take money from any employee of any corporation througout both the long primary,
as well as during the General Election.

Once that is put into perspective, those numbers start to beg to be put into that
context.

[karynnj]

20. THOSE INCLUDE EMPLOYEE DONATIONS!!!!!

I swear that open secrets in not having the numbers split by individuals and PAC misses a big opportunity to make finding the full truth easy.

Here is a page that shows the total PAC donations by Republicans and Democrats - http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/sector.php?cycle=2008&txt=E01 For all oil companies, the Democrats got $2,225,250. Republicans got 3 times as much.

As to Obama and PACs, here is the opensecrets report - he took almost no PAC money - it rounds to 0%.

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

[Raine1967]

29. Thank you!

Don't expect the facts get in the way here on this thread tho.

Bookmarking.

[Whisp]

31. can't believe people are so willfully IGNORANT on this fact.

and how the media runs with this Obama gets money from corporations meme when its just not the friggen truth.

but no surprise.

at least the ignoramuses HERE should get it by now - unless they just don't want to - unless it serves them much better to go to sleep every night knowing that Obama is a scum bag corporatist repug that has been bribed by...

Susan Jeaffs, janitor, Goldman Sachs. donation of $40.00

ferrcrissakes. what the hell is in the water down there across the border? people are seriously not too friggen bright!

[CTLawGuy]

58. also remember

corporations are BANNED from donating EVEN ONE DIME to a federal candidate, except through their PACs.

[CountAllVotes]

5. so was Goldman Sachs

just FYI.

:dem:

[boppers]

69. Yes, and the threads about Obama and Goldman Sachs get the same...

Countless folks who have to point out that numbers are being spun, and a plethora of links as to why the premise is wrong.

Round and round we go...



edit:typo

[phleshdef]

9. Something like 71,000, which is basically nothing and a large portion of it...

...probably came from BP employees that work in the gas stations.

http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/toprecips.php?id=D000000091&type=P&sort=A&cycle=2008

In the world of Presidential campaign contributions, especially considering the total amount that President Obama hauled, $71,000 is laughable.

[karynnj]

21. True - and opensecrets would do everyone a favor if they broke down individual vs

PAC money. As you said it is from employees.


Obama took almost no PAC money - http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/summary.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00009638

[greencharlie]

10. big corporations and politicans...

do this dance every 4 years. Whoever has a better chance of winning gets more donations.

Corporatists on the left and on the right. Disgusting. There is no separation between Corporate America and American government.

[lxlxlxl]

11. Big Corporations donate to Winners -- was it the BP PAC?

reading drudge probably...

[karynnj]

22. No - Obama got a grand total of $1,830 from PACs per opensecrets

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

They also show that for ALL Democrats in 2008, gave $81,500. They then do not break that down. http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/industry.php?txt=E01&cycle=2008

[JuniperLea]

12. They generally give to those they want to persuade...

Meaning, they give money to any campaign they think will succeed. You have to do some serious dot connecting to make that meme work. Got dots?

[babylonsister]

14. "Got dots?"

:rofl:

I imagine the OP has a pocketful!

:hi:

[JuniperLea]

24. Hehe!

I hope to make "got dots?" happen:D

:rofl:

:hi:

[jenmito]

30. Remember these?:

[Cha]

25. Si,

"got dots?" :D :hi:JuniperLea

Happy Cinco de Mayo~B-)

[JuniperLea]

27. Cinco de Mayo is HUGE...

In El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciúncula! I'm having burritos tonight, and fajitas on Saturday:) My neighborhood will be partying it up tonight, no question!

Feliz Cinco de Mayo, Cha! :hi:

[Cha]

38. I lived all over San Diego for 15 anos~

It's a Day to celebrate that you don't forget:party::party: Especiallly if you like la comida de Mexicana:P:9

And, I have a good buddy who turns 18 today..how cool is that for a birthday?:party:

:party::hi::party:~FELIZ CINCO DE MAYO~:toast:~JUNIPER LEA~:fistbump:

[Jennicut]

13. Big corps give to both parties, hoping to influence whoever wins the Presidency.

In 2008, they gave to both parties in Congressional races:

Dems: Dems: $195,415 $195,415
Repubs: Repubs: $190,949 $190,949
Others: Independents: $300 $300
Incumbents: Total to Members: $351,100 $351,100
Non-Incumbents: Total to All Candidates: $35,564 $35,564


It is called trying to influence no matter what the outcome in political races. And it is why our system sucks. But Obama was smart not to agree to do public financing with John McCain. The conservative 527's and the Rethug Party had a fund raising advantage for a long time and Dems only way to counter that was to accept private donations.

[TheKentuckian]

15. I'm not worried about BP but rather the industry at large

,how getting big carbon to heel is not something the administration is terribly serious about, and how the "largest ever investments in renewable energy" is largely a token effort.

BP isn't getting special treatment, the entire sector's free ride in no small measure continues.

[Phx_Dem]

17. Why? What does that have to do with the oil spill?

The gulf has been open for drilling before Obama came into office, and it was Bush/Cheney who decided oil rigs didn't need to have the emergency shut-off valve (acoustic switch).

From what I understand, BP has a pretty good record. They aren't Haliburton.

[karynnj]

18. Companies can not contribute

Their PACS and their employees can. Employees of EVERY large company contributed to Obama - and to HRC, and to McCain, and to Edwards. Obama took relatively little PAC money.

Can we please get some honesty on this issue?

[asphalt.jungle]

26. in fundraising terms, even the term "very little" doesn't tell the whole story

i think it was under $2k in total PAC money for Obama. so out of 700m i would say that's minuscule. those who look to express outrage all the time might see very little and think you're talking about a million.

[karynnj]

72. exactly - which is why I was the one to post the amount in a post

written about 4 minutes after the one you responded to. I probably should have gone back and edited it into this and my other posts.

[jenmito]

28. BP's employees donated to Obama MUCH LESS than NON-BP employees donated to

Obama. So what's your point? What would it mean to you even if BP, the company, DID give him a whopping $70,000-that you're mad that he threw them under the bus? Because he sure isn't giving them special treatment! :shrug:

[airforceone88888888]

32. this upsets me

I thought I was voting for change

[jenmito]

33. What about employees from BP upsets you and makes you think you didn't vote for change? n/t

[airforceone88888888]

34. I dont like

That Mr.Obama took ANY money froma company that kills animals :(

Better than republicans but thats not saying much.

Why would he not REFUSE MONEY FROM OIL COMPANIES????

[airforceone88888888]

35. or anyone

that even works to bring oil out of the ground to dirty the air and kill animals

[CreekDog]

41. which candidate accepts no money from *any* employee in the energy industry?

is there even one candidate?

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

42. Deleted message

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[CreekDog]

39. which thing upsets you?

:shrug:

[CreekDog]

36. BP the company cannot legally donate to Obama's campaign

their employees are allowed and apparently did to the tune of 77k.

but i don't know what jobs those employees did, whether they were secretaries, engineers or the CEO.

[airforceone88888888]

40. even if they

poured coffee it was for someone bringing oil out of the ground to poison the planet! I dont hate them etc.., but I do not think they have moral standards if they do that. there are plenty of places you can work without killing the planet. my parents are out of work but you dont see them drilling for oil :(

[CreekDog]

43. if you can't handle someone "pouring coffee" for someone in the oil industry

and you can't handle that person donating to Obama.

i think that's unreasonable.

heck, i worked at a gas station, my employer was "Shell Oil". should i have been prevented from giving or helping candidates for office? because i pumped gas?

[airforceone88888888]

44. you are right

they have to work but i dont have to like it.

i would never work in a fashion that in any way helps an oil company.

thats just me tho

[Blue-Jay]

46. eight 8s?

Nice one.

[airforceone88888888]

49. eight is my lucky number

and it's how many years Mr. Obama will be in office :)

[Name removed]

52. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

53. Deleted sub-thread

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[boppers]

70. Uhm, you might want to think about possible interpretations...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/88_(number)#As_a_Neo-Nazi_symbol

TinyURL version:
http://tinyurl.com/2rfz45

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

75. Nice catch. -nt

[CreekDog]

47. but that's not what we are talking about

we are talking about whether they should be allowed to give to campaigns or not.

or whether laws or candidates should make their donations impossible.

Obama did not say it was wrong to work for an oil company, so why would his campaign turn down their donations?

As for voting for change, if you voted for Obama, what part of his platform (that you voted for) said that change entailed not allowing employees of certain companies to donate?

[Name removed]

50. Deleted message

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[CreekDog]

51. i thought we were talking about how this isn't the change you voted for

:shrug:

you seem to be done with that.

[airforceone88888888]

54. well its not the change

my parents voted for lol

but the thing is i look up to Mr. Obama like noone, and it hurts when in hear he took money from oil companies. i have to believe he never will again :) he is still new and learning that there are sharks working in oil companies

[CreekDog]

55. he didn't take money from oil companies

i thought we went over this.

and by the way, you said you voted.

[airforceone88888888]

56. i know

but i went with them when they voted lol

i wish i could have voted for him so i say i have cuz I will in 2 years 6 months

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

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[ipaint]

59. I don't know who bundled for BP or how much was collected but Obama had 500 "bundlers" representing

many industries. They collected a third of his money, 112 mil, in individual donations that where then bundled into a single unofficial donations on behalf of the industries and organizations the bundlers represented..
Bush had his rangers and pioneers program. All politicians do it and industries know that is the best way to get around limits on campaign contributions.


"...records show that one-third of his record-breaking haul has come from donations of $1,000 or more: a total of $112 million, more than Senator John McCain, Mr. Obama’s Republican rival, or Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, his opponent in the Democratic primaries, raised in contributions of that size.

Behind those larger donations is a phalanx of more than 500 Obama “bundlers,” fund-raisers who have each collected contributions totaling $50,000 or more. Many of the bundlers come from industries with critical interests in Washington. Nearly three dozen of the bundlers have raised more than $500,000 each, including more than a half-dozen who have passed the $1 million mark and one or two who have exceeded $2 million, according to interviews with fund-raisers.

While his campaign has cited its volume of small donations as a rationale for his decision to opt out of public financing for the general election, Mr. Obama has worked to build a network of big-dollar supporters from the time he began contemplating a run for the United States Senate. He tapped into well-connected people in Chicago prior to the 2004 Senate race, and once elected, set out across the country starting to cultivate some of his party’s most influential money collectors."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/us/politics/06bundlers.html

[phleshdef]

64. Bundling total was only 11% of his total intake, Dreamworks was the highest bundler, NONE were BP.

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/bundlers.php?id=N00009638

[ipaint]

65. There are no disclosure rules for bundling. We know only what they tell us.

That is a major problem regardless of who is in office. For the record I don't think the amount he did get from BP is any big deal when compared to the legal bribery other industries where allowed to bundle and pass on, such as goldman sachs.

There are many on the list at open secrets that don't say who they where bundling for, they don't have to. We will never know.

[phleshdef]

66. The Obama 2008 campaign got the vast majority of its money from individual, non-bundled donations.

That part we DO know.

[ipaint]

67. Open secrets says "at least" 76 + million.

So we don't know.

[ipaint]

60. More info at Public Citizen

"What is bundling and who is a bundler?

Bundling describes the activity of fundraisers who pool a large number of campaign contributions from political action committees (PACs) and individuals. Bundlers, who are often corporate CEOs, lobbyists, hedge fund managers or independently wealthy people, are able to funnel far more money to campaigns than they could personally give under campaign finance laws.

While there are disclosure requirements for bundling, they only go into effect when a bundler personally hands over checks. Most campaigns get around the disclosure provision by not having the bundler ever touch the checks. Mandatory disclosure of all bundled contributions – regardless of whether the bundler touches them – is the very least we can do to address this new way to evade disclosure laws. Disclosure of bundling activity could be achieved either through a new law from Congress or by an improvement in FEC regulations.

Why is disclosure of bundling important?

Bundlers play an enormous role in determining the success of political campaigns and are apt to receive preferential treatment if their candidate wins. Bundlers who direct money to presidential candidates tend to be first in line for plum ambassador positions and other political appointments. Industry titans and lobbyists are more likely to receive preferential treatment from elected officials if they raised large amounts of money for them."

Obama- Total Raised:
$750,767,963
************
Bundlers: 605
Lobbyist Bundlers: 17

McCain
Total Raised:
$372,525,058
************
Bundlers: 851
Lobbyist Bundlers: 77

http://www.whitehouseforsale.org/

[golfguru]

61. Matt Sludge has big letter headline today saying

Obama was the top recipient of BP campaign cash for 20 years!

[CreekDog]

74. For 20 years? That makes no sense --Obama was at Harvard 20 years ago, right?

:wtf:

[ipaint]

62. Here is something interesting from the Center for Public Integrity

Top Five Lobbyist Bundlers Revealed; Four Worked Exclusively for Democrats

..."Prolific lobbyist Anthony T. “Tony” Podesta, 65, ranks second on the list with $394,800 in bundled donations. One of GQ’s 2009 “50 Most Powerful People in D.C.”, Podesta is wired into the Democratic establishment — his brother John served as Bill Clinton’s White House chief of staff and more recently acted as President Barack Obama’s transition team co-chair while running the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning DC-based think-tank. imageAnthony T. “Tony” Podesta. (Credit: cliff1066 / CC BY 2.0)Tony Podesta personally donated at least $84,750 to Democratic campaigns and committees this cycle alone, including a total of $50,000 donated to the DCCC. Over the same period, he bundled $142,900 for the DCCC and $102,000 to its sister Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). His wife, Heather, is a successful lobbyist in her own right and bundled another $25,000 to the DCCC and $79,750 to the DSCC respectively. Podesta also bundled $78,400 for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and $41,000 for Sen. Patty Murray. His numerous clients cover the gamut of major issues facing Congress, but Podesta has had an especially lucrative year lobbying on health reform — a recent Center investigation revealed Podesta’s firm had the fourth-largest number of clients concerned with the issue. Podesta’s office did not respond to a request for comment."

http://www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/2048/


TPM's Tour Of The Oil Spill Flack Universe -- Who's On Damage Control?

"Among the best-known BP reps in Washington is Tony Podesta, brother to former Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta. Tony's The Podesta Group lobbies on behalf of BP. We asked their role in the oil spill and they referred all calls back to BP. But we know Podesta has the ear of the White House and of his brother's liberal and influential Center for American Progress."

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/oil_spill_damage_control_--_bp_has_wide_net_of_fir.php


At this point it is getting a little incestuous.

[Name removed]

63. Deleted message

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[Beacool]

68. Yep, it's true.

Same with Goldman Sachs. Of course it was these companies' employees who made the donations. Funny how that's OK since they donated to a Democrat, but we would be excoriating the Republicans if their presidential candidate had been the recipient of these donations.

Ahhh, the hypocrisy of the left.........

:eyes:

[boppers]

71. "we would be excoriating"

What do you mean, "we"?

Some would be, for sure, others would not, much as this thread is a balance.

[AtomicKitten]

76. Hillary Clinton: "Lobbyists represent real Americans."

"oh the hypocrisy"

[Umbral]

77. Obama appointed Ken Salazar as Secretary of the Interior, BP got their money's worth. nt

[Number23]

78. And maTRIarch has left the building...

Gee, I'm sure everyone is just shocked. :eyes: