With news reports filtering in about an industry-mounted offensives against the Motor Vehicle Safety Act and proposed increases to CAFE standards, we thought we’d take a look at how much the industry spent in the recent midterm election cycle. According to Opensecrets.org, the chart above shows the biggest spenders in “Automotive,” and industry sector that includes OEMs, suppliers, rental companies and just about anything else related to four-wheeled motorized transport. Charged up by the bailout-era dealer cull, it’s not surprising that NADA took the top spot, and with a hotly-contested Korea free trade agreement under negotiation, the AFIT PAC is a logical number two. But Enterprise beating out Ford? Didn’t see that one coming. Still, the contributor breakdown for the “Auto Manufacturer” sector is even more interesting…
The third-biggest OEM manufacturer is the Colorado-based manufacturer of a delivery van that it’s been shopping to the military. Number four is perhaps the most interesting: HK Motors is the Alabama-based prospective manufacturer of mysterious hybrid vehicles run by former Brilliance Chairman Yung Yueng. It’s also a Visa farm which uses the State Department’s EB-5 program… a scheme that closely resembles a venture being launched by Brilliance’s former CEO. And it outspent Chrysler in the latest election.
Still, the big lesson from these numbers is that the entire auto industry is spending way less on campaign contributions than in years past. No surprises there: the automakers have been cutting back everywhere for the last several years. But then campaign contributions are also just one part of the equation: lobbying on Capitol Hill is often a more effective tool for influencing policy. Below is a list of the top automaker lobbying spenders of 2010.
Any dollar figures for what the anti-car forces spend?
Joan Claybrook, environmental groups, public transportation employee unions, urban planning institutes, global warming alarmists, and so forth.
Generally much less. Oh, they get some, and it’s more now than it was now that there’s some social intertia, but the anti-corporate left is not exactly awash in funds like the corporate left or any members of the right are.
No Social Security number, no donation. Period.
Basically worthless data.
Show me the politicians departing office and bureaucrats leaving their bureaucracy now earning their wealth via corporations, special-interest groups, the speaking circuit etc. and I will be able to comprehend where the REAL influence upon the government, its bureaucracies and bureaucrats, etc. originates.
All 100 percent legal and NO promises need to be made by anybody.
Just do not behave too badly, do not blatantly “spit upon” the entrenched wealth and power structures and handsome rewards await those departing influential positions.
Note the many millions of bucks amassed by the male Clinton unit upon departure from the presidency.
Even Clinton’s progeny received ample largess via her history major upon college graduation. Show me a commoner starting at $100,000 yearly with a wondrous perk package far beyond the norm.
“Vote the bums out” the indoctrinated masses bellow. Yeah, a real fine punishment that be. Send the lackeys of the ruling elites to their ultimate true rewards even sooner!!!
Admittedly, some of those voted out love the power aspect so much or are independently wealthy that they would rather remain grasping their beloved reins of power but wealth awaits the vast majority of those ousted out of office or the bureaucracies created to isolate the elites from the masses and that enforces the status quo that in many ways enslaves We, the People.
I’m shocked that companies like Fisker, Spyker and Carbon Motors have the wherewithall to lobby anyone on the hill.
It’s noticable the corporates versus the single owner co’s for the political alliances.
It’s strange that GM and Chrysler gave more to the party who ranted that their bailouts were bad for the country. I guess now they have been saved with our money their main concern reverts back to pleasing the suits who see regulations as nothing more than a dampener on profits.
The numbers involved are probably less than the cost of a photo shoot for the Volt, so I shouldn’t really read anything into them. Just wait until Chery, SAIC and co. (now that the Supreme Court has ruled it legitimate) starts pumping millions into the political trough to get crash test and emissions standards twisted their way.
Just wait until Chery, SAIC and co. (now that the Supreme Court has ruled it legitimate) starts pumping millions into the political trough to get crash test and emissions standards twisted their way.
What was the Court thinking? Both parties for many decades recognized the importance of keeping unlimited money out of the process. But now the deep pockets get the final say. Not that they didn’t before, but did the Highest Court in the land have to justify it?
Someone needs to ask Senators Shelby and Corker if they got any money from PACs funded by G.M. and Chrysler.
Figures Ford would lean left…that explains so much.
Strange how G.M. leans to the party that wanted them dead (President Bush and the Michigan GOP congressional delegation excepted.)
Strange how G.M. leans to the party that wanted them dead (President Bush and the Michigan GOP congressional delegation excepted.)
Not really, it makes perfect sense to me.
You have X dollars to try to buy a friend. Do you give it to:
(a) somebody who is already is your friend
-or-
(b) somebody who doesn’t like you much, but would be a very good friend to have
The obvious choice is (b), since (a) doesn’t really accomplish much.
I have to say I was a little dissapointed to see Ford gave so much to the Republicans, I would have much rather seen a 100% in the left column, but I guess you have to cover all of your bases.
I do agree that it is odd that GM and Chrysler both lean right, although neither company spent much, so it could have just been to a particular candidate for a particular issue. Still, you’d think they’d want to repay the kindness of the Dems for keeping them in business.
This is for this election cycle. You bet on the horse you think will win. The last election cycle most of the money went to the democrats, including the political contributions of many Wall Street firms and a certain foreign based oil company (it didn’t do them any good).
The McLarty Companies is interesting, 100% Democrat. The company is controlled by Mack McLarty, a long time party hack and I think the founder of BET. They own several Chrysler dealerships that were kept open during the dealer cull while there nearest Chrysler competitors were shut down. All that money was really well spent for them.
McLarty was Cheif of Staff under Bill Clinton and owns a dealer network based in Arkansas. According to Wikipedia BET was founded by one Robert L. Johnson.
Whenever I look at lists of political contributions and their contributors, what strikes me is not that politicians can be bought, rather, it is how cheaply they can be bought.
Does anyone still wonder why walking into a car dealership is like walking into Congress?
They are both a den of thieves and should not be allowed to live in civil society…Parasites need to be exterminated for a healthy society to survive and prosper.
Wake me up when we outlaw this cr@p and use only public funds for elections.
It would be a hell of a lot cheaper.
The election money doesn’t seem like all that much to me, and it probably did little to sway any particular races.
The lobbying money is more effective, and apparently, much higher $.
There is a fine line between lobbying and buying votes. I have no problem with lobbying; it is a good way to inform our representatives of the issues facing industry, who can’t be experts in everything.
gslippy, lobbying isn’t about buying votes, it’s all about helping to write the bills that get voted on. A lobbyist is just a sales rep in Washington DC that influences the bills as congress flails around mashing together legal language and voting on huge bills that they haven’t read. The problem isn’t the lobbyist, it’s the practice of logrolling where small bills get combined together in must-pass legislation. If the bills were shorter and people had time to read them before votes occurred, there would be much less opportunity for favors to become law.
@George B:
Did you misunderstand my phrase “I have no problem with lobbying”?
What this should tell you—especially the historical and aggregate graphs—is that the money always goes to whom the wealthy see as the likely winner, and that partisan whinging about who’s more in the pocket of corporate interests really is irrelevant.
You left out the major contributor that gave more than all these organization combined–the UAW. Around $8.5 million in 2010 alone, and ALL to Democrats and Left-leaning causes. That doesn’t count what the members individually contributed either.
The UAW was THE reason for the auto bailouts. The rest of these numbers are chickenfeed. It was always about filling political coffers.
When you think about it, the UAW is just like a business in this case looking out for it’s own self interest. They should be added to the chart.
I was surprised to see my old employer JM Family Enterprises so high on the list. They are better known as Southeast Toyota Distributors. The founder Jim Moran was a big time democrat. After he died the company was turned over to some management group. When I was working there they ran an ad that showed a smiling mouth of pearly white teeth, except that one tooth was gold plated and had the Toyota sombrero painted on it. I suppose the persons mouth in the ad was black (I never saw the ad and I don’t know what the copy was) because Jessie Jackson went ballistic on Southeast Toyota and did his usual race pimping. Somehow the ad was racist. Unfortunately JM capitulated to his complaints, apologized profusely, promised to never do it again, and committed to lots more diversity training (on top of what we already had). Somehow I don’t think any of that was as important to Jessie as the big fat contribution that was given to his organization.