If you've listened to the Democrats' rhetoric this election cycle, you'd think corporate and special interests financing the right were hijacking America itself. While this narrative may work to help fire up a disheartened party base, The Washington Examiner's Tim Carney highlights the hypocrisy of it all.
Carney writes:
quote:Obama likes to pretend he's running against greedy financial-industry millionaires, but look down the list of top donors in September, and you'll see partners and managers of hedge funds and private equity firms like Grosvenor Capital Management, Saturn Asset Management, and Chicago's Delaware Street Capital all giving the DNC the maximum. Other hedge-fund donors who give the max come from Bain Capital and the Tudor Investment Corporation.
Obama famously rejects lobbyist cash, but he defines lobbyist pretty narrowly -- only currently registered federal lobbyists are banned. That means state lobbyists are allowed to make donations, as are lobbyists who choose not to register, as well as lobbyists' wives.
In addition:
quote:When you look at the parties' total fundraising, the Democrats' pauper talk becomes laughable. Democrats have outraised Republicans $664 million to $441 million -- a 50 percent advantage -- according to data at the Center for Responsive Politics.
Not to mention, independent expenditures is something Obama should know plenty about. Moveon.org, and unions have pledged around $220 million during this election cycle, as Carney points out, combined with the Democratic Party's fundraising edge, you roughly have parity between the two sides.
Special interests don't just exist on one side of the spectrum over the other. If there is any truth to the narrative at all, it's that big-money has always funded both sides of the aisle and probably always will.
We need to get this through our partisan thick skulls..."Special interests don't just exist on one side of the spectrum over the other."