Special interests gave millions to budget panel (Super Congress)

The newly appointed members — six Democrats and six Republicans — have received more than $3 million total during the past five years in donations from political committees with ties to defense contractors, health care providers and labor unions. That money went to their re-election campaigns, according to AP's review.

The lawmakers represent a large swath of political ideology and geography, but they have some things in common: They received more than $1 million overall in contributions from the health care industry and at least $700,000 from defense companies, the AP found. Those two industries, especially, are sensitive to the outcome of the committee's negotiations because the automatic spending cuts could affect them most directly. The committee's co-chairs — Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas — each received support from lobbyists and political committees, including those with ties to defense contractors and health care lobbyists. Hensarling's re-election committee, for instance, received about $11,000 from Lockheed Martin and $8,500 from Northrop Grumman.

news.yahoo.com...

This is sure to work out well for the common folk. Corporate whores fill the panel. The easiest cuts for them will be ones that don't affect them...but yikes if they lose one dollar on spending that lines the pockets of the corporations they stand for, then hell no.

Actually, it's going to get worse if Wisconsin was any indication with the amount of money that was thrown around there....all thanks to the Citizens United decision by the Supreme court.

edited for typos/grammar

Well of course they did.

We don't pay Congress enough for them to able to afford to run for re-election again and again and again. They have to get the money from somewhere.

Wake up America you are being duped and fo a very long time. Ordinary US folk dont mean anything to these and the rest of the US congress parasites who are happy to maintain the status quo and feed off TPTB!!!!!!

and those are only the recorded transactions
2nd

Originally posted by Zippidee
and those are only the recorded transactions
2nd

Yeah, wouldn't you like to know how much money really goes into their re-election coffers?

We'd be awfully PO'ed about that though. They might have to declare martial law.

Isn't this what our government looks like? A giant pyramid? Just like the merging-corporate structure of the world? Granny - What consolidated power you have! The better to dominate you with my child!

reply to post by David9176


That is why I can not stop calling the political trash that walks Washington nothing but whores, they sell themselves to the higher paying pimps and they careless about screwing the rest of the nation or the people that elected them to service.

Anybody that voted for that corrupted trash should ask for their heads, they are nothing but traitors to the people that they swore to serve.

People blame too much. The rich did it! Bush did it! The tv did it! God told me to! The communists!

Start blaming yourself.

So someone else makes a million? Well, that means you can to. But you must earn it.

Like someone else said, the money has to come from somewhere. No matter where it comes from someone will complain. The larger more important issue is that citizens are using this as an excuse to DO NOTHING. They desire to blame every problem on their leaders. Stand up and be responsible! Care for your own. This country was founded on principles of freedom and still stands by them. If you want to make well in life then you must act and not rely on somebody else. Stop being a snake and start being real. Nothing else works.

reply to post by marg6043


Agree. Thats the reality!!!!!! But most US folk are like sheep and dont reside there!

Originally posted by jonnywhite
People blame too much. The rich did it! Bush did it! The tv did it! God told me to! The communists!

Start blaming yourself.

So someone else makes a million? Well, that means you can to. But you must earn it.

Like someone else said, the money has to come from somewhere. No matter where it comes from someone will complain. The larger more important issue is that citizens are using this as an excuse to DO NOTHING. They desire to blame every problem on their leaders. Stand up and be responsible! Care for your own. This country was founded on principles of freedom and still stands by them. If you want to make well in life then you must act and not rely on somebody else. Stop being a snake and start being real. Nothing else works.

edit on 12-8-2011 by jonnywhite because: (no reason given)

Yes you can make a million dollars if you try really hard and play their system to your benefit. The problem is however that they are closing all those loopholes so they are doing nothing but squandering your money. When the country is in as much debt as it's in and you have these A-holes in office that won't make cuts to the budget because they might lose campaign dollars then that is clearly a conflict of interest and their vote should be discounted. We need to have completely unbiased motives in office if this republic is to survive. Although the government is looking more Totalitarian Fascist everyday if anything is to change we need to make a stand and not vote in any candidate that received campaign money or donations from large business or at the very least that business cannot benefit directly from any decisions that person makes. Buy American made and throw out all your cheap crap from China and other countries. Plead to your representative that Tariffs are brought back so that the American people can still be competitive with imports. Maybe at that point we'll start seeing an incline in our economy.

These 12 decision makers only have to save 4 Trillion dollars over a 10 year period. At our current spending rate, our debt will be closer to 30 trillion dollars without including percentage rates. They are nothing but a farce to try and squash more American's rights to become that Police State. Essentially the creation of them has made the house and senate completely useless especially if they weigh in on every bill first. They will wait until the last minute to pass and then put a rush vote through congress. Also NONE of their actual decision making rights has been talked about with exception to the economy. When is Obama going to address the nation to say who, what, how and why this group of people were chosen without sounding like a dummy and getting people drunk because they take a shot every time he says jobs, fiscal responsibility, and I'm not gonna lie to you. His speeches are nothing but spew from some PR person that is meant to make empty promises to the American public that they all eat up because they're kept in the dark to know what's going on.

For once, I would love to see members of congress take the corporate special interest money and then vote against those special interest groups (or don't take the money....but definitely vote against corporate special interest). If those congressional clowns would stop for one minute and think about it...so what if they lose the special interest money? I mean, they would become instant heroes to the private citizen and would almost certainly receive ten times the donation money from the new found private citizen supporters.

reply to post by jonnywhite


I have a slight suspicion that you are either a e a comfortable life or you are a silver spoon child, or you are a complete niave idiot! Where have you been living for the last 20 years? In some sort of comfortable bubble!

Its not about wealth! Some of us on ATS even the crazy ones are actually not poor but do come from poor backgrounds!!!