The media is all abuzz with this presidential primary race between the two Democratic contenders. They are so excited and I’m feeling like a zombie. I can’t watch the television or go on the big websites because I am thoroughly disgusted, and so totally not interested. I don’t care what kind of “spin” they put on these two politicians; I can’t stand either of them. If it’s not totally clear in every Liberal/Progressive’s head’s by now, it really should be. These two candidates represent just about everything, and everyone that we have been screaming about since Bush came into office.

Let’s get down to the real nitty-gritty on this campaign. We all know that campaign finance is just about the biggest problem we have. We are constantly reminded of this every time we read or hear of the cost of running a successful bid for the White House. It’s fact that the candidates this cycle have outspent the previous candidates in the last Presidential election. We should realize that it is all about money. It’s not about our money however; it is all about corporate money from the Military Industrial Corporate Complex. Many people get a knee-jerk reaction to that phrase. Let me clear the air and present some facts that will underscore exactly what I am saying here; that there is absolutely no difference between the three corporate candidates that the MICC media has presented to us. Oh, by the way, Mussolini’s definition of fascism; corporatism.

Let’s see where these candidates get their money to convince you to vote for them;

Hillary Clinton;
Goldman Sachs $413,361 Morgan Stanley $362,700 Citigroup Inc $350,895 Lehman Brothers $241,870 JP Morgan Chase & Co $214,880 EMILY's List $213,266 National Amusements Inc $210,010 Kirkland & Ellis $179,676 Greenberg Traurig Llp $177,800 Skadden, Arps et al $167,796 Merrill Lynch $165,042 Cablevision Systems $145,313 Time Warner $144,977 Microsoft Corp $143,459 Bear Stearns $141,835 Latham & Watkins $138,598 Patton Boggs $137,200 Ernst & Young $126,865 PricewaterhouseCoopers $121,939

Barack Obama:
Goldman Sachs $421,763 Ubs Ag $296,670 Lehman Brothers $250,630 National Amusements Inc $245,843 JP Morgan Chase & Co $243,848 Sidley Austin LLP $226,491 Citigroup Inc $221,578 Exelon Corp $221,517 Skadden, Arps Et Al $196,420 Jones Day $181,996 Harvard University $172,324 Citadel Investment Group $171,798 Time Warner $155,383 Morgan Stanley $155,196 Google Inc $152,802 University of California $143,029 Jenner & Block $136,565 Kirkland & Ellis $134,738 Wilmerhale Llp $119,245 Credit Suisse Group $118,250

John McCain:
Merrill Lynch $155,950 Citigroup Inc $153,362 Blank Rome LLP $141,401 Greenberg Traurig LLP $130,587 Goldman Sachs $85,252 Univision Communications $82,000 IDT Corp $79,250 Bank of New York Mellon $74,000 Bridgewater Assoc $72,100 MGM Mirage $70,400 Irvine Co Apartment Community $66,100 JP Morgan Chase & Co $65,485 Credit Suisse Group $65,000 Pinnacle West Capital $64,000 Lehman Brothers $63,450 Wachovia Corp $58,675 Cisco Systems $56,650 Morgan Stanley $55,701 Blackstone Group $47,950 MacAndrews & Forbes $45,000

Mike Gravel:
Floor Surplus inc $2,550 New Perspectives Quarterly $2,300 Jim Stork for Congress $2,300 Decode Biostructures $2,008 Mitchell Gold Co $2,000 Hewlett-Packard $2,000 Exxon Mobil $2,000 Paypal Inc $1,695 Worldwide Media $1,500 Internet Communication $1,000 Urburn Univiersity $1,000 Ogim $1,000 Crisis Consultants Group $1,000 VOTEC Corp $1,000 Pictures Inc $1,000 Hypertone Inc $1,000 Apple Inc $1,000 Witness for Peace $1,000 American Ecology Corp $1,000 Treeman Inc $875

Is there something a wee bit fishy up there? Seems like the same people are financing the same “top three”, Is it me being suspicious or is it really true? By the way, these contributions are from employees of these companies that give and are “bundled” together by their employers. Are they being patriotic? Some of these corporations aren’t even American corporations!

Let’s look at the Military Industrial Complex:
Election Cycle 2008*
Total Contributions $9,307,088
$2,819,665 Contributions from Individuals
$6,487,423 Contributions from PACs
$4,861,181 Donations to Democrats
$4,439,327 Donations to Republicans
% to Dems 52%
% to GOP 48%

Why would the MIC give to the Democratic candidates unless they want to influence them?
What I’m saying is that there is no difference between which “corporatist” you see in the major parties that are still in this race, save the only one that hasn’t bet the farm, and that is Mike Gravel. The rest are supported (or should I say employed?) by the same corporations.
So the next time Obama says he doesn’t take “special interest” money, you know that he is a liar. The next time they rant and rave about “change”, you know what change you’ll get: what’s left after their payback to their benefactors.
So, like I said before, vote for the corporate-backed candidate of your choice, we could have stood up to the Mainstream Media when they selected who would get promoted, but we didn’t. We can either keep playing their game, or wake up and smell the coffee. Just one more thing, I don’t make this stuff up.
*Data is from www.OpenSecrets.org