Jeff,
Mr. Schwartz is still #1 donor to the Demorcratic party. Mr Levy is going crazy. So are other political active investors.
Money Flows To Both U.S. Parties Ahead Of Election
By Alan Elsner, Political Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One hundred individuals and 262 companies gave $100,000 or more to the U.S. Democratic or Republican parties for the 1998 elections, with 43 companies and one individual giving at least that much to both parties.
According to data compiled from filings to the Federal Election Commission, the number one individual donor was Bernard Schwarz, whose previous donations to the Democrats are under investigation because of suspicions they may have influenced an administration decision to allow the export of sensitive technology to China.
The data was compiled for Reuters by the Campaign Study Group, a political research company not affiliated with any party and based in northern Virginia.
Schwarz gave $871,000 in so-called ''soft money'' to the Democrats between Jan. 1, 1997 and Sept. 30, 1998, even more than the $630,000 he gave during the 1996 campaign.
Soft money is subject to no limits on how much any one donor can give but is not supposed to be used directly to urge voters to back a particular candidate by name. However, the rule is widely ignored.
Such donations would have been eliminated under campaign finance reform legislation that passed the House of Representatives but was defeated in the Senate earlier this year after a majority of Republicans mounted a filibuster.
Thirty-four Senate seats, 36 governorships and all 435 seats in the House are at stake in the Nov. 3 elections, which may also help determine President Clinton's political future.
Schwarz, who runs Loral Space & Communications Ltd (LOR - news), is at the center of a congressional investigation into whether his previous campaign contributions affected a decision by the administration to allow technology exports to China, and whether China used the U.S. know-how to improve its nuclear ballistic missiles.
The number two contributor was Peter Buttenwieser, a self-described education consultant from Philadelphia who does not give interviews. He gave the Democrats $720,000.
Third was Cincinnati financier Carl Lindner, who together with his family owns a controlling interest in Chiquita Brands. He gave $175,000 to the Democrats and $460,000 to the Republicans.
Lindner recently successfully lobbied top congressional Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and House Speaker Newt Gingrich, to pass a bill that threatened to impose punitive tariffs against the European Union if it did not lift restrictions on imports of U.S. beef and bananas.
The bill was dropped after the White House pledged to aggressively pursue the matter.
Next on the list of donors were Richard DeVos, who controls the Amway cosmetics and household cleaning products empire, and his wife Helen, each of whom have $500,000 to the Republicans.
Julian Robertson, founder of Tiger Management, the world's largest hedge fund group, gave $400,000 to the Republicans. According to recent reports, Tiger recently lost some $1.8 billion due to dollar-yen market fluctuations.
Other prominent donors included Peter Angelos, majority owner of the Baltimore Orioles baseball franchise, who gave $220,000 to the Democrats.
Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition and the Christian Broadcasting Network, a prominent backer of conservative causes, gave $200,000 to the Republicans.
Democratic Party chairman Steve Grossman gave $167,000 to his own party.
James Barksdale, executive director of Netscape Communications, who was testifying Monday in the Justice Department anti-trust case against Microsoft, gave $25,000 to the Democrats and $100,000 to the Republicans.
Film director Steven Spielberg donated $55,000 to the Democrats, the same amount as Maurice Tempelsman who was a close personal friend of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis in her final years.
Among the companies that gave to both parties were tobacco corporation Philip Morris which gave $417,000 to the Democrats and $1.8 million to the Republicans.
AT&T gave $280,000 to the Democrats and $560,000 to the Republicans while Bell Atlantic Corp. (BEL - news) gave $263,000 to the Democrats and $438,000 to the Republicans.
In total, the Republicans raised $184 million in so called ''hard money,'' that can be used to directly appeal for votes, and the Democrats raised $98 million.
The Republicans raised $100 million in soft money compared to $75 million for Democrats. In the last mid-term elections in 1994, the Republicans raised $58 million in soft money and the Democrats raised $49 million.
Brian H. |
