Question: Did Representatives who voted against H.R. 1591 (the Iraq War supplemental funding bill Bush vetoed) have a sinister reason for doing so? I did some digging to find out.
This is a follow-up to joanneleon's diary on "nay" voters to H.R. 1591. The research is a bit late, but it's an attempt to shed light on the so called "Blue Dogs'" remarkable insistence that Democrats act like Republicans.
We know why the Republicans voted against H.R. 1591. Reasons vary from loyalty to the Yellow Elephant, wanting to undermine Democrats, saving face, corruption, et. al. They won't listen to us if we super-glued megaphones to their ears. But Democrats can have pressure applied from below and from the side. So I followed up on every Democrat who voted against supporting the troops.
General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are famous defense contractors. Enough said there. "Blue Dog PAC" speaks for itself. For the rest, I included some research. One key frustration in this investigation was the re-routing of money through various foundations, associations and other organizations.
The culprits, and their masters (Top 2006 Contributors):
John Barrow (GA-12)
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
His 8th-biggest contributor was General Dynamics ($12,000).
He was General Dynamics' #6 House Recipeint. #1? Joe Lieberman.
Dan Boren (OK-2)
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
His #3 contributor was Blue Dog PAC ($10,000).
His #12 contributor is ConocoPhillips ($8050).
His #18 contributor is Anadarko Petroleum ($6000). Here's something interesting. . . they're selling their domestic assets like crazy.
Jim Costa (CA-20, abstain)
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
His #3 contributor was Blue Dog PAC ($10,000).
Lincoln Davis (TN-4)
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
His #3 contributor was Blue Dog PAC ($10,000). See a pattern?
Dennis Kucinich (OH-10)
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
His contributors are unions, almost top-to-bottom. No surprises here.
Nick Lampson (TX-22, abstain)
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
I don't recognize many of his contributors, but they're not big defense contractors.
Barbara Lee (CA-9)
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
Her #18 contributor, Environmental Chemical Corp. ($5000) is a Top 100 defense contractor according to
GlobalSecurity.org and is a top Iraq contractor.
John Lewis (GA-5)
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
His #20 contributor was Lockheed Martin ($5000).
Jim Marshall (GA-8)
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
His #3 contributor was Blue Dog PAC ($15,000).
Jim Matheson (UT-2)
His #5 contributor is EnergySolutions LLC ($11,546). According to their website, "For our government clients, we support clean-up efforts at U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sites around the country, as well as state and local government projects. Internationally, we have supported clean-up projects in Asia and the Middle East. . ." but they specialize in nuclear energy, so this might not be anything.
His #10 contributor is Blue Dog PAC ($10,000).
Side note: He's taken $10,000 contributions from many unions, and. . . Wal-Mart. WTF?
Michael McNulty (NY-21)
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
Nothing I found tied to defense contractors.
Mike Michaud (ME-2)
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
His #4 contributor was Blue Dog PAC ($10,000).
His #14 contributor was General Dynamics ($9000).
Gene Taylor (MS-4)
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
His #1 contributor was Blue Dog PAC ($10,000).
Tied is FedEx Corp ($10,000), the 27th-biggest defense contractor.
He also received $10,000 from Northrop Grumman.
His #7 contributor was Lockheed Martin ($8000).
His #9 contributor was General Dynamics ($7000).
His #13 contributor was Fluor Corp. ($5000), a Top 100 defense contractor and top Iraq contractor.
Whoa, this guy's dirty.
Maxine Waters (CA-35)
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
I don't see much here.
Woolsey (CA-6)
http://www.opensecrets.org/...
Nothing obvious here, either.
Most of these aren't "gotcha!" findings, but those with a defense contractor or "Blue Dog PAC" among their Top-20 contributors should be asked a very uncomfortable question: Did they vote their conscience?
Data sources:
joanneleon, thanks for the list of Reps who voted against the bill.
OpenSecrets.org, thanks for compiling campaign info.
Center for Public Integrity, thanks for compiling Iraq contractors.
GlobalSecurity.org has a list of top defense contractors.
I also used Google to gather info on contributors I didn't recognize.