Democrats are Rallying against the Same Corporate Interests that Fund their Campaigns
As the American people are becoming more aware of the fact that corporate interests control their politicians through donating massive amounts of money to their political campaigns throughs PAC's and other interest groups, many Democrats have begun to rally against the plague that is money in politics in order to give a populist tone to their rather corporatist agenda. Not surprisingly, if you look into the numbers, many of the Democrats using anti-corporate rhetoric are simultaneously taking donations from PAC's and other interest groups through a lesser known process called "bundling", while some are just taking the donations outright as usual.
Bundling campaign contributions is describes as a form of fundraising where a politically affluent person, or group of people involved in lobbying, or other activist activities convince their co-workers and other likeminded donors to make donations to the groups preferred candidate for office at the same time. This is basically the same thing as taking PAC money, just instead of taking one huge donation, they receive multiple smaller, (but still large nonetheless) donations from prominent individuals working within those same corporations.
Reporting by In These Times has exposed the corporate donations to some of the prominent Democrats running for President in 2020:
They indicate that Cory Booker is the candidate that is most favored by the financial industry who is running in 2020 by receiving a total of $88,492 from big banks, along with his past comments reprimanding President Obama in 2012 for criticizing Mitt Romney's work with Bain Capital, its no surprise Wall St. has its eye on the Senator from New Jersey. Senator Kristen Gillibrand from New York received $46,600 from big banks, making her the second most favored candidate by the financial industry. According to In These Times, "Gillibrand took in $30,600 from the six largest US banks, including $11,100 from four Morgan Stanley employees, and $5,600 from two Citigroup executives...". This is a perfect example of bundling campaign contributions.
The Senator from California, Kamala Harris has been dubbed the third most favored candidate by the financial industry by receiving a total of $44,947 from big banks on Wall St. Donations indicate that Harris' most prominent and "enthusiastic" source of support comes from Wells Fargo. Through the process of bundling campaign contributions Wells Fargo employees have donated a total of $16,713 in the first quarter of her campaign for the Presidency in 2020. In These Times indicates that "Wells Fargo's generosity to Harris raises eyebrows for several reasons. For one, the bank was one of the key players in the 2008 financial crisis...", they go on to state more current violations by the bank including opening new accounts without the customers consent. Why is Kamala Harris, a former District Attorney, eager to have the support of a company that has shown a complete disregard for the rule of law?
Texas pretty face Beto O'Rourke and establishment favorite Pete Buttigieg, Mayor of South Bend Indiana, are the fifth and sixth most favored Presidential candidates by the financial industry. According to In These Times the two have "...received comparatively little from the six biggest banks...", a total of $12,987 for Beto, and $9,035 for Mayor Pete. Beto has already received criticism for breaking his no fossil fuel money pledge while running against Ted Cruz for Senate, and he has a troubling past voting record of siding with Republicans to dismantle banking regulations. Some notable donations to Buttigieg include donations by 12 employees and three partners at McKinsey and Company, "...the controversial management consulting firm that has drawn outrage for working for various autocratic governments and ICE...". In These Times states that, "One former McKinsey and Company employee describes the organization as 'missionaries for capital'", they go on to state that Buttigieg perviously worked for McKinsey, and has called it " his most 'intellectually informing experience'". This is something that should raise eyebrows for Progressives everywhere. Mayor Pete has also received $2,800 from the executive Vice President of defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, something that is quite notable at a time when public opinion is heavily against our astronomically high defense budgets.
Its no surprise that Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren are are prominent Democratic Candidates that have taken the least amount of money from the financial industry. Bernie received a total of $7,034 and Warren received a total of $2,800, furthermore, according to In These Times reporting, "...their support came exclusively from lower level employees such as managers, attorneys, and bank clerks." This indicates more small dollar donations and grassroots support rather than bundling contributions from a handful of wealthy executives.
In These Times reporting leaves out important candidates including Joe Biden, Amy Klobuchar, Tulsi Gabbard, and Andrew Yang. Thanks to OpenSecrets.org and other independent watchdog outlets we can find out who their biggest donors are.
According to the Intercept, "Joe Biden has pledged to reject contributions from lobbyists and corporate PAC's. But he has quietly taken in more than $30,000 in donations from corporate interests through a PAC he created in 2017". Furthermore, his PAC, American Possibilities includes former lobbyists who spent their careers undermining American democracy. Big donors include John Breaux, a former executive at Squire Patton Boggs who is registered to represent the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and former lobbyist for the healthcare and oil industry.
Open Secrets reveals that Amy Klobuchar has received $26,400 from law firm Watchtell Lipton who represented Anadarko Petroleum in its $50 billion acquisition by the Chevron corporation, one of the worlds largest polluters. She has also received $22,525 form Medtronic Inc, the worlds largest medical device company that generates the majority of its profits from the United States healthcare system. No wonder she's not in favor of a single payer system.
Open Secrets also reveal the donations to candidates that are hardly every focused on by the mainstream media, Tulsi Gabbard and Andrew Yang. Gabbard's biggest donors, besides her public donations, have been American Spraytech, a contract developer for aerosol and other spray products for personal care, they've donated $16,240 so far. She has also received $11,200 from Mosaic Media Group, a talent management firm that represents some of todays most popular comedy stars, including Jim Carrey, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Will Ferrell. Pretty random for the most anti-war candidate in the race. Yang's biggest donors, also besides his public donations, have been Google and Microsoft, they've donated $9,211 and $6,334 respectively. This is no surprise as Yang has had a very pro-technology message. Other prominent donors include Amazon and Walmart, donating $5,111 and $3,152 respectively. This raises some concern among progressives who are tired of big business influencing government, but the amount donated is so small we'll have to watch and see how he responds. The American public may be willing to come to terms after they hear his pitch to implement a Universal Basic Income of $1,000 a month for every American citizen.
Its no shock that almost every Democrat running for President is using rhetoric that makes it seem as if they are against money in politics, but the numbers reveal that for almost all of them, that rhetoric is not backed up by action.