Leave it to maplight.org, a watchdog group, to uncover a much fuller picture of what private equity firms do, and whose campaigns they fund on Capitol Hill.
While Democrats gleefully watch Mitt Romney’s competitors bang away at his actions at Bain Capital, a private equity and investment firm, the assumption is that all of these “corporate raiders” are the same.
In response, the Private Equity Growth Capital Council has released a statement (you can read it here) highlighting what the trade association views as the upside of Wall Street firms like Bain Capital. The press release, however, fails to mention how much members of Congress in both political parties have received from individuals connected to private equity firms.
It turns out that private equity firms pump millions of dollars into Democratic and Republican congressional campaigns every year and it is the Democrats – not the GOP – that hauls in the most cash.
Here are some figures compiled by maplight.org:
- From January 1, 2007, to June 30, 2011, PACs and individuals connected to Private Equity and Investment Firm interest groups have given more than $17 million to lawmakers serving on Capitol Hill.
- In that time period, Democrats have enjoyed a significant advantage, taking in $10.8 million, while their Republican counterparts received $6.5 million. Of the Democrats’ total, Barack Obama accounts for $1.9 million.
- Not surprisingly, two of the top Democratic recipients in Congress were the two New York senators, Chuck Schumer ($532,000) and Kirsten Gillibrand ($410,000), who like to pal around with Wall Street types.
You can read more here.
