In July of 2013, the non-partisan National Institute on Money in State Politics issued a
report focusing on contributions from agricultural giant Monsanto.
Monsanto made over $600,000 in contributions to politicians and political parties in 2012. They made an additional $8.2 million in contributions to defeat California Proposition 37, which would have required the labeling of genetically modified organisms in California. According to campaign filings at the Washington Public Disclosure Commission, Monsanto also contributed $5.3 million to committees in Washington state focusing on Initiative 522, which would have required the labeling of genetically modified organisms.
Who exactly benefited from Monsanto contributions? Read more below the fold.
The report states that Monsanto's political contributions to candidates grew by 58% from 2008 - 2012, not including its contributions to ballot measure committees, perhaps as a result of growing opposition towards GMO products in general.
Just wait until they put out a report analyzing 2013 contributions!
Missouri, bastion of progressive politics, raked in over $140K in 2012 from the agriculture behemoth, followed closely by Illinois!
Monsanto favors Republicans, but that doesn't mean they don't want influence in Democratic caucuses as well:
They also appear to be more concerned with buying influence then buying elections—$490,000 was contributed to winners, $39,000 to losers, $3,000 to people who withdrew, and $84,000 to people not even currently up for election:
Should we continue to allow these big-moneyed, very interested organizations to influence and control our public policy decisions, or should we try to promote the idea that corporations aren't people and they don't share our political rights?
