Sanders’s Record, Filings Show Benefits From Super PACs, Links to Wall Street Donors
Cross posting from GDP
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511259007
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As a member of Congress, Sanders regularly attended retreats with Wall Street lobbyists and other donors, and as a candidate for the Senate, he benefited from money that indirectly came from them. Last year, he directly accepted about $55,000 in Wall Street contributions for his Democratic presidential campaign, FEC filings show.
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He may not have formed A Super PAC of his own, but Mr. Sanders is getting help from National Nurses United for Patient Protection, a super PAC that gets its money from the nation’s largest nurses’ union, with nearly 185,000 members. The union doesn’t have to disclose its donors, but a spokesman said the super PAC money comes exclusively from members’ dues. Representatives from the union have frequently joined the senator at events and this week launched a bus tour across South Carolina ahead of the state’s Feb. 27 primary. At an Iowa campaign stop, Mr. Sanders thanked the group for being “one of the sponsors” of his campaign.
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The battle over the influence of special interests began in earnest in New Hampshire. Mr. Sanders has been suggesting that Mrs. Clinton is influenced by Wall Street campaign donations. On Monday, she replied by drawing attention to Mr. Sanders’s 2006 race for the Senate, when he benefited from $200,000 in contributions from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, known as the DSCC, which is charged with electing Democrats—and accepts significant contributions from Wall Street interests.
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Five of the top 20 givers to the DSCC in the 2006 election cycle were Wall Street firms, two were law firms and the rest were senators’ political committees. The top giver that year was Mrs. Clinton’s campaign committee, which gave $2 million. Goldman Sachs Group gave $685,050.
Mr. Sanders has also regularly attended the DSCC’s retreats, either during the winter in Florida or during summer on Martha’s Vineyard, including one as recently as July. Guests at the retreats are donors who have donated the maximum amount to the party, or raised more than $100,000. Many attendees are lobbyists, lawyers and members of the financial industry.
Similarly, at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Mr. Sanders attended a luncheon with a group of roughly 30 senators and donors who had given the maximum to the DSCC for five years in a row, or a total of $500,000. The group was called the “Legacy Circle,” had been organized by New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, with the goal of enticing more donors to pass that threshold.
More..
http://www.wsj.com/articles/sanders-record-filings-show-benefits-from-super-pacs-links-to-wall-street-donors-1455300881
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