Source:
The Wall Street JournalWASHINGTON -- For the new Democratic bosses in the House, power has quickly translated into money, as many big companies have shifted more of their campaign contributions to the new congressional majority, and away from longtime Republican allies.
The top four House leaders -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, Majority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland and their main lieutenants -- raised a combined $2.24 million in the first quarter of 2007, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. That was more than three times as much as the $697,694 they raised in the first quarter of 2005, the comparable period in the previous two-year election cycle.
With 19 months to go until the 2008 election, Democratic committee chairmen have also seen their campaign coffers swell. For Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel of New York, contributions surged to $761,000 in the first quarter of 2007 from $57,000 two years earlier. Sharp increases were also reported for Energy and Commerce Chairman John Dingell -- $376,000, up from $112,000; Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank of Massachusetts -- $217,000, up from $39,000; and House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton -- $227,000, up from $57,000.
Some of the new money came from companies with a stake in the committees' agendas. The political action committee of Allstate Insurance Co., a unit of Allstate Corp., gave $1,000 to Mr. Frank's campaign this year, after bypassing him completely in the previous election cycle. Defense contractor Armor Holdings Inc.'s PAC, which didn't give to Mr. Skelton at all in 2005-06, donated $2,000 to his re-election campaign earlier this year.
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Looks like the tail is always going to wag the dog when it comes to corporate interests and politics. Money is always a good thing when it comes to winning elections; being a puppet to corporations that give the most cash is not. I'd like to believe while it is great the DEMS are getting the lion's share this go around, we can still hope that the special interests of corporations will not dictate policy above the wishes of We The People.