The Senator That CEOs Love

by Matt Stoller, Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 06:05:53 PM EST

Ok, so this is the pattern I've noticed in Lieberman's big dollar donor base (the FEC only requires disclosure of donors who give more than $250).  There are a LOT of CEOs that want to support Senator Lieberman's brand of politics.  73, to be precise, through 4/20/06.  I didn't recognize a lot of the companies, since I don't know that much about the large business world, and some of them are probably small companies.  But here's a list of the ones I did recognize.

Choicepoint
General Dynamics
Cisco Systems
Citigroup Property
Costco
Chicago Mercantile Exchange
Southwest Airlines
People's Bank
ING US Financial Services
Jetblue
Dominion
Loew's Hotels
Chiquita Brands
Pfizer

Lieberman raised $1.3 million this quarter, mostly from large dollar donors and PACs (which include among others the uber right-wing US Chamber of Commerce).  According to the AP, he has spent $5 million so far on the race, and has $4.3 million cash on hand.  

And yes, Choicepoint raised my eyebrows as well.




Tags: Ned Lamont, Joe Lieberman, Connecticut (all tags)

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Re: The Senator That CEOs Love (none / 0)

With how much Southwest sucks and how much Jet Blue rocks, is this the only thing the CEOs agree upon?


by Bob Brigham on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 06:36:43 PM EST

not only that... (none / 0)

but Choicepoint was key in the wrongful striking of many thousands of eligible black voters as "felons" in Florida and New Mexico.

check out Greg Palast's work for more of that...

In a way it's almost a good thing that data was stolen, as it finally has come out in the air just how much power that company has under their own autonomy.

I wish I could see them donating to Lieberman surprises me.

-C.


by neutron on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 06:38:27 PM EST

So what? (3.00 / 1)

Evidently, you're trying to single out Joe as an outstanding corporate whore. But, so far, you've proved squat.

For a start, how do other Dem senators match up when it comes to CEO donations?

My sense would be that 73 wasn't that many! Especially because, as you admit yourself,

and some of them are probably small companies.

And what have these CEOs got for their money in terms of access or favors?

What about PACs whose donations they influence?

Of course, the Dems do have a deep bench of corporatists in the Senate. If Joe's tally of corporate-linked contributions, on a fair basis of comparison, was towards the middle of the pack, I'd not be surprised.

(I'd also curious about how lefty blog faves measure up - Russ and Babs, for instance?)

But let's have some decent stats on the subject!

I have no brief for Lieberman: but, for lack of evidence and analysis, Matt's effort does seem perilously close to a bullshit hit-piece.


by skeptic06 on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 06:53:33 PM EST

Re: So what? (2.25 / 4)

So do your own analysis.  You like to bitch, let's see you do some work for a change.


by Matt Stoller on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 07:05:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: So what? (3.00 / 1)

Neither did you. You just posted a list of contributors and posit that Joe is business whore.

What the hell is wrong with someone getting money from big business anyway? I agree that Joe is a douche, but I'm not reflexively anti-big business.


by crazymoloch on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 07:32:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

contrast it with Ned Lamont. (none / 0)

... that's what I say.

-C.


by neutron on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 07:53:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: So what? (none / 0)

Where did I call Lieberman a business whore?


by Matt Stoller on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 10:12:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: So what? (none / 0)

So, what was the point of this diary?


by v2aggie2 on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 12:02:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: So what? (3.00 / 1)

My problem with your piece was that it took one factoid - the stat about the 73 CEOs - presented entirely without context, and with a clear implication that the stat was noteworthy.

However, the stat could only noteworthy when seen in the context that you don't supply.

We may not have context for the stat, but we certainly have context for FP pieces here on Lieberman: they are almost invariably hostile.

So it would be natural to take your piece as suggesting that his CEO donor tally was something particularly discreditable to him.

Even read without that context, I think a reader would fairly infer that you were not citing that list of companies as a compliment to his fundraising abilities!

As for me doing my own analysis - you're the guy making the claim (no less of a claim for being implied rather than stated) that Lieberman's receipt of CEO contributions is noteworthy.

Of necessity, that claim only stands up if the record of the average Dem senator shows a significantly smaller tally.

If you haven't got that information, you don't have a case. Period. Nothing to put before the jury. Nada.

If, for instance, it turned out that Feingold took contributions from 100 CEOs in his 04 election, that would make Joe's effort look a bit sick, surely?

The fact you've (evidently) no idea how other Dem senators match up on the stat with which you seek to characterize Lieberman unfavorably does not enhance the credibility of your argument.

You're making the claim, not me - let's see you substantiate it!


by skeptic06 on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 11:31:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

wrong, wrong, wrong absolutely brimming over... (none / 0)

with wrongness!

look, on it's own, as it's own thing this would be eyebrow raising but mean... not a lot.

Compare the campaigns, Lamont's funds comes from grassroots progressives and CT voters, Lieberman's comes from big corporations.

It's another part of the tapestry, and unless you are myopic, it's easy enough to see.

-C.


by neutron on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 07:08:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Really? (3.00 / 1)

Lieberman is a three term senator: of course his donor profile is going to be markedly different from a challenger like Lamont!

Lamont could always pledge to limit his funding sources for 2012 (if he wins in November) to grassroots progressives and CT voters. Bet you he won't, though.


by skeptic06 on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 11:59:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: So what? (none / 0)

Skeptic,

One other point, you misread what I wrote.  I did not assert anything about Lieberman based on his contributors.  

You misrepresented what I wrote as you often do, and criticized the straw man.


by Matt Stoller on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 10:14:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: So what? (none / 0)

I did not assert anything about Lieberman based on his contributors.  

Oh, come on!

The implication was pretty clear. The main reason for the decades-long concern over campaign contributions has been the fear that contributors get special treatment in terms of access or even more.

Any piece on a candidate's contributions that notes that he receives money from a particular class of wealthy donors carries an inescapable implication that such receipts raise a question whether such special treatment has been or may be given to them.

I'd say there's no other reasonable way to read it.

I'd certainly be interested to see how you'd parse the piece differently.

(Assert is pure non-denial denial, by the way.)


by skeptic06 on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 11:47:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: So what? (3.00 / 2)

Holy Joe depends largely on individual contributions rather than PACs.  The largest industry sector is FIRE (Financial, Insurance, Real Estate).  Joe is the third largest recipient of FIRE behind Hillary Clinton and Rick Santorum.  Insurance is a big CT industry.

What struck me from a less than complete look (OK just the As and Bs from the alphabet) was the large number of donors connected to military contractors.  United Technologies in particular was giving through its various subs.  They make helicopters and jet engines.  Plus Carrier air conditioning and a bunch of non-military things.  All the little subs and their big time employees were giving.

The other thing that struck me was how national the contributions were.  Connecticut, what's that.  That was easy to track but I didn't do it.

Not many doctors in the list but they usually give to Republicans.  He did draw a few lawyers, probably below average for a Democrat and some CPAs (usually Republican donors).

As for the PACs, it was top heavy with insurance companies rather than unions who sort of filled out the dance card.  This is unusual for a Democrat.


by David Kowalski on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 01:34:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: So what? (3.00 / 1)

According to Opensecrets, Joe is the leading Senate recipient of defense-related contributions this cycle.


by tparty on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 09:37:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Wait a minute - Choicepoint??!?!!? (3.00 / 0)

Wasn't Choicepoint the company chosen by Katherine Harris to purge tens of thousands of Democratic voters from the voter rolls in Florida, leading to Gore/Lieberman's defeat?

Why would Lieberman take a PENNY from them?


(The artist formerly known as "Maura in VA"!)
by Maura in CT on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 07:02:07 PM EST

sure was. (3.00 / 0)

see my comment upthread.
Also New Mexico in 2004 and a few others.

-C.


by neutron on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 07:06:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The Choicepoint connection (none / 0)

was actually covered by Don Michak of CT's Journal-Inquirer back in May:

Executives at ChoicePoint Inc. - which bought the company whose l st Florida officials used to prevent thousands from voting in the 2000 p esidential election - were among the biggest contributors to U.S. Sen  Joseph I. Lieberman's re-election campaign from January to March, records show.

Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential candidate in 2000 who often quips that he actually was elected despite the bitterly disputed Florida results, reported to the Federal Election Commission that over a two-week period in March he collected a total of $11,700 from 14 ChoicePoint officials, only one of whom resides in Connecticut.


by tparty on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 07:18:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Hammer this (none / 0)

Seriously.  Even though these donations are last quarter's news, there could be even more this quarter.

Something is rotten here.  Really rotten.


(The artist formerly known as "Maura in VA"!)
by Maura in CT on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 07:34:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

What's on the calendar? (none / 0)

Lieberman's ranking Dem on the Senate Committee for Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

What's on the Committee's plate that needs to be approved?  Bet you it's DHS-related security systems...


by RayneToday on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 10:29:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Senator That CEOs Love (none / 0)

I live in a very Republican district in GA near Choicepoint.  Just for fun I entered my zip code on open source to see who else might support democrats.  One Choicepoint exec that lives(d) nearby heavily supports democrats.  {His house recently sold}   Florida was a fiasco but they might have been working within the parameters that they were given.


by JL on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 07:38:11 PM EST

Choicepoint (none / 0)

According to Opensecrets.org, in the 2002-2006 election cycles, so far, CEO Derek Smith has given

Joe Lieberman 2,100
Lindsey Graham 1,000
Saxby Chambliss 1,000
Voice for Freedom 1,000
Max Cleland 1,000
Orrin Hatch 2,000
Bob Bennett 1,000
David Scott 1,000

For COO and President Douglas Curling:
Joe Lieberman 2,100
John Barrow 3,900
Tom Price 2,000
Mark Pryor 2,000
John Kerry 2,000
Max Cleland 1,000
Denise Majette 2,000
Saxby Chambliss 500
John Lewis 500
Democratic Senatorial Campaign 30,700
Georgia Federal Elections Committee 10,000
Hilary Clinton 2,100
Orrin Hatch 3,300
Tom Daschele 1,000
David Scott 2,009
Bob Bennett 1,500
Forward Together PAC 1,000
DNC Services Corp 21,000

Scott is the local Democratic Congressman for Choicepoint.  Barrow and Lewis are other Georgia Democratic Congressmen.  Denise Majette is the Democrat who defeated that nut Cynthia McKinney in a Congressional primary, before giving up that seat in a failed challenge for the Senate.  Price is a Georgia Republican.  Forward Together is a PAC associated with Mark Warner.  I can't find anything on Voice for Freedom.


Things You Don't Talk About in Polite Company: Religion, Politics, the Occasional Intersection of Both
by Anthony de Jesus on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 07:53:49 PM EST

Connecting dots (none / 0)

Hard to make the right connections here in the absence of the rest of the matrix of info needed.  These folks sit on different committees; depending on the legislation before them for approval by a committee or the swing votes on a bill, any of these folks could have received a donation to encourage their "patronage".  

Of them, Chambliss is the one that sits on Senate Armed Services and received donations from both.  Lieberman also sits on Armed Services, but only received money from one of the two.  The next question would be timing of the donations.


by RayneToday on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 10:37:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Connecting dots (none / 0)

Chambliss is a Georgia politician, so it's a local thing.

And Lieberman got money from both.  First name on each list.


Things You Don't Talk About in Polite Company: Religion, Politics, the Occasional Intersection of Both
by Anthony de Jesus on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 03:51:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: The Senator That CEOs Love (3.00 / 1)

Check out another company executive that gave Joe money.

Robert Belfer - Belco Oil and Gas

Who, you say, is Robert Belfer and what is Belco Oil and Gas.  Robert Belfer is the president of Belco and longtime member of Enron's Board of Directors.

Here's the link to a story about Enron and Belco from the "left-wing" Wall Street Journal.

http://bodurtha.georgetown.edu/enron/Enr on%20Director's%20Firm%20Supplied%20Capi tal%20to%20Fund%20JEDI%20Partnership.htm

He gave $4,200 and his wife, son and daughter-in-law gave another $4,000 total.


A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy. - Teddy Roosevelt
by minvis on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 12:57:13 AM EST


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