In the wake of Israel's bloody attack on American and other international peace activists of the Freedom Flotilla, now is a good time to examine just who gets what from AIPAC, the right-wing lobby which largely runs American foreign policy towards Israel. Outrage over the attack on the Freedom Flotilla now spans the political spectrum, with calls for a cut-off of all American taxpayer dollars to the government of Israel becoming widespread.
If we are to believe the Israeli government's spin, IDF Special Forces commandos were just minding their own business rappelling armed-to-the teeth onto the ships, when they were forced to defend themselves. If this gets anything but shot down in flames as an explanation, then the lunatics are running the asylum.
From Washington Report on Middle East Affairs:
AIPAC channels millions of dollars in campaign contributions to candidates for federal office through a network of political action committees established throughout the United States by members of AIPAC's national board of directors.
These directors boast that for every dollar that enters congressional campaigns through the PACs, they can steer at least one additional dollar to friendly congressional incumbents, or to opponents of unfriendly incumbents, through contributions by individual supporters which they collect and present as a "bundle" to candidates they favor. In closed meetings for AIPAC members only, AIPAC directors have taken full or partial credit for the defeats of two former chairmen of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Republican Charles Percy of Illinois and Democrat J. William Fulbright of Arkansas....[The Lobby] is exactly how AIPAC is referred to by members of Congress, one of whom recently remarked to a foreign visitor that AIPAC visits to his office are "the most unpleasant moments" of his congressional schedule.
Here are AIPAC campaign contributions to congressmen, highest first, full list at link...
http://maplight.org/...
Top Senate Recipients Funded
Joseph Lieberman $1,226,956
John McCain $750,368
Benjamin Cardin $487,572
Mitch McConnell $415,710
Richard Durbin $376,387
Carl Levin $366,378
Arlen Specter $338,080
Debbie Ann Stabenow $329,053
Bill Nelson $324,691
Jon Kyl $312,358
Mary Landrieu $291,609
Frank Lautenberg $260,333
Robert Menéndez $219,135
Daniel Inouye $197,750
Harry Reid $179,640
Sheldon Whitehouse $170,421
Ron Wyden $163,771
Maria Cantwell $162,598
Mark Udall $161,173
Christopher Dodd $158,132
Barbara Mikulski $152,050
Kent Conrad $150,410
Susan Collins $139,518
Mark Pryor $138,250
Jeff Merkley $136,130
Top House Recipients Funded
Mark Kirk $458,979
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen $141,507
Howard Berman $122,600
Eric Cantor $119,350
Ted Deutch $104,031
Steny Hoyer $100,050
Shelley Berkley $98,501
Gary Peters $94,522
Ron Klein $88,550
Nancy Pelosi $83,400
Steve Israel $77,000
Nita Lowey $68,600
Paul Hodes $65,950
Ike Skelton $64,049
Kendrick Meek $57,601
Deborah Halvorson $56,622
Gabrielle Giffords $56,000
Eliot Engel $54,600
Brad Sherman $53,500
Janice Schakowsky $53,195
Roy Blunt $47,550
Dan Burton $47,350
Alcee Hastings $46,150
Mary Jo Kilroy $46,135
Bill Foster $45,550
Debbie Wasserman Schultz $45,060
Robert Andrews $43,825
Patrick Murphy $41,000
Gary Ackerman $39,950
Brad Ellsworth $38,850
Silvestre Reyes $38,750
Lincoln Diaz-Balart $35,775
Steven LaTourette $35,325
Allyson Schwartz $33,625
Jerry Moran $33,300
Melissa Bean $33,150
Mike Pence $31,700
FULL LIST
http://maplight.org/...
