Bloomberg : GM, Comcast, Pfizer Boost Political Giving, Skirt Federal Ban

[PhilipShore]

Bloomberg
GM, Comcast, Pfizer Boost Political Giving, Skirt Federal Ban
Feb. 21

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=as5eokD7VAys&refer=us

Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., Pfizer Inc. and Comcast Corp. are among companies pouring record sums into election campaigns four years after passage of a law that sought to reduce the impact of corporate money on U.S. politics.

The companies are working around the law, which banned unlimited contributions to parties, by giving more money through their political action committees than ever before in the first year of an election cycle, and writing checks to loosely regulated independent groups, financial disclosures show. Of the 25 top corporate donors to congressional candidates and the parties last year, 18 matched or exceeded what they gave in 2001, when they could still tap their treasuries to donate any amount to the parties.

Donations by corporate PACs soared by 58 percent to $79 million last year from $50 million in 2001, Federal Election Commission figures show. Contributions are surging even as Congress weighs efforts to curb political influence-buying following the investigation of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

``Companies get an incredible return on their investment and feel they can't stop spending the money,'' says Chellie Pingree, president of Common Cause, a Washington-based group that lobbied for the ban on unlimited donations. ``They're still looking for ways to influence the process, and there are still many ways to do that.''

[Selteri]

1. Naturally, since they didn't fix the problem...

just added another set of hands to get washed by the golden shower from those who would think they are our betters because of financial circumstances alone.