Follow the money, a fact about advocacy

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why, many Democrats, fawn over every word that "The Brady Campaign" prints, why we so willingly slit our own political throats over what such a republican ran "outfit" like they are..

I got to thinking about the Brady Campaign's money trail, and I went to the opensecrets website just to see what I could find...

I found this...

http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00113449

Notice, not a SINGLE INDIVIDUAL DONOR gave more than $200 to them.

And they ONLY gave $500 dollars to political candidates.

So, lets see now, they bring next to NO voters to the table, by taking up their fight, we loose elections, we get insignificant amounts of cash from them, and they have a Republican leadership....

I just don't get why so many Democrats follow Sara's pied piper to their political destruction.


Now, lets go over to the NRA section of Open secrets..

http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00053553

I see that the NRA, has contributed 23% of their total amount given to Democrats, even this amount DWARFS the Brady's teeny tiny amount (frankly, I have a bit more money in my wallet than the Brady's gave to us total) But what is even more telling is when you look at the individual donations of more than $200, these folks, reached into THEIR OWN WALLETS, and sent the money to the NRA. Undoubtably, these people feel strongly about the issues at hand. It is obvious, that far more people feel strongly about their civil right to own a gun, than those that wish to take that right away....I don't see ANY of the anti-gun individuals opening their wallets.

Contrast these numbers, with Brady's big fat zero (from individuals as seen above)... And notice, just on the first pages alone...that their is lots of middle class folks...yes their are lawyers, doctors, and real estate agents and such...but look at some of these doners "occupations".

http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgave.php?cmte=C00053553&cycle=2008

MACHINE OPERATOR

INDUSTRIAL TOOLING/MECHANIC <--- gave twice as much as Brady did to ALL Democrats...

CITY OF LA/TRUCK DRIVER <---Also gave twice as much...

CINCINNATI INCORPORATED/MANUFACTUR

M.A. MORTENSON COMPANY/LABORER <--- gave more to the NRA, than Brady gave to ALL democrats....

SELF EMPLOYED/ART TEACHER <---also gave more than Brady gave to ALL Democrats....

SELF EMPLOYED/FARMER

CITY OF CARBONDALE IL/POLICE OFFICE <---Also gave more than Brady did total..

NATIONAL GUARD/SOLDIER

HOMEMAKER

MIDDLE ISLAND SD 12/TEACHER

Now for the 20,000 question.....why are some of us working so hard, to alienate these folks, especially, when Rupublican Sara Brady don't bring jack shit to the table??

i think many can argue though that to try to pass gun control is the right thing to do...but there are more pressing issues now that we need more dems for so gun control should be dropped

if they dropped gun control completely they could probably get 90% of their agenda through- but instead some try to pick up gun control and get 0% through

Read that list of NRA supporters....much of it would benefit greatly from Democratic policies...

Teachers...Laborers, farmers, machine operators... ALL TRADITIONAL DEMOCRATIC SUPPORTERS

But because some follow Republican Sara Brady's cries and moans, they are NOT supporting us...instead they are sending their money to the NRA.

But at least a quarter of Democrats are getting some of that money.

are affecting many more citizens then gun violence- we need dems to focus onthose issues and stop playing politics with guns

The Brady bunch doesn't have a PAC iirc so it's tough to compare them to NRA in that regard.

As harmful as the Brady Campaign is to Democrats, don't fool yourself into thinking the NRA is a friend of the Democratic Party.

(typo fixed)


You noticed you were looking at ***2008*** donations?

I did.

I see that the NRA, has contributed 23% of their total amount given to Democrats

Gosh. I wonder whether the NRA is trying to influence the outcome of the Democratic nomination race ...


Let's try 2004 -- for figures that reflect a complete year when an election had actually HAPPENED when the numbers were totalled.


Brady (my guess would be that the Republican was Michael Castle ... yup; damn, I'm good):
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgave.php?cmte=C00113449&cycle=2004

(99% to Democrats, 1% to Republicans)
Individual donors gave 124 large ($200+) contributions to this PAC in 2003-2004.

NRA:
http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?strID=C00053553&cycle=2004

(15% to Democrats, 85% to Republicans)
Individual donors gave 1105 large ($200+) contributions to this PAC in 2003-2004.

But whatever. I, for one, am not taking your point.

You suggest that party policy should be for sale?


Something quite interesting you left out:

http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pac2pac.php?cycle=2004&cmte=C00053553
Donations from the NRA pac to other pacs -- 1.5% went to Democrats:

2004 Joint State Victory Cmte $50,000
Republican National Cmte $30,000
National Republican Senatorial Cmte $30,000
National Republican Congressional Cmte $15,000
National Republican Congressional Cmte $15,000
US Smokeless Tobacco $9,950
Alliance for the West
(Affiliate: Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho)) $9,900
Together for Our Majority
(Affiliate: Thomas M. Reynolds (R-NY)) $8,450
Americans for a Republican Majority
(Affiliate: Tom DeLay (R-Texas)) $8,000
Blue Dog PAC $7,950
Storm Chasers
(Affiliate: Steve Buyer (R-Ind)) $7,450
New Republican Majority Fund
(Affiliate: Trent Lott (R-Miss)) $5,000
Republican Party of Tennessee $5,000
Bluegrass Cmte
(Affiliate: Mitch McConnell (R-Ky)) $5,000
Bob Barr Leadership Fund
(Affiliate: ex-Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga)) $4,950
Republican Party of Illinois $4,950
Rely on Your Beliefs
(Affiliate: Roy Blunt (R-Mo)) $4,500
America's Foundation
(Affiliate: Rick Santorum (R-Pa)) $4,000
Vision for Tomorrow Fund $4,000
Glacier PAC
(Affiliate: Max Baucus (D-Mont)) $3,500
American Conservative Union $3,000
Principles Exalt A Nation PAC
(Affiliate: Mike Pence (R-Ind)) $2,500
Black America's PAC $2,500
Midnight Sun
(Affiliate: Don Young (R-Alaska)) $2,500
American Prosperity PAC
(Affiliate: Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif)) $2,000
Heart PAC
(Affiliate: Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan)) $2,000
Senate Majority Fund
(Affiliate: Jon L. Kyl (R-Ariz)) $2,000
Missouri Republican State Cmte $1,950
American Success PAC
(Affiliate: David Dreier (R-Calif)) $1,000
Every Republican is Crucial PAC
(Affiliate: Eric Cantor (R-Va)) $1,000
National Conservative Campaign Fund $1,000
Congressional Leadership Fund
(Affiliate: Chris Cox (R-Calif)) $1,000
Promoting Republicans You Can Elect
(Affiliate: Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio)) $1,000
Volunteer PAC
(Affiliate: Bill Frist (R-Tenn)) $1,000
Majority Initiative-Keep Electing Repubs
(Affiliate: Mike Rogers (R-Mich)) $1,000
Northern Lights PAC
(Affiliate: Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)) $1,000
Tallatchee Creek Inc
(Affiliate: Jeff Sessions (R-Ala)) $1,000
Republican Party of Minnesota $1,000
Senate Victory Fund
(Affiliate: Thad Cochran (R-Miss)) $1,000
Campaign for America's Future
(Affiliate: Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah)) $1,000
Stearns, Cliff $1,000

Brady (100% Democratic):

Cmte for a Democratic Majority
(Affiliate: Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass)) $1,000
HILLPAC
(Affiliate: Hillary Clinton (D-NY)) $250

Now ... is your point that all those machine operators and truck drivers DIDN'T KNOW that 98.5% of the money they gave to the NRA pac was going to get funnelled to Republican candidates and pacs? So they didn't give money to the NRA with THE INTENTION that it get funnelled to Republican candidates and pacs?

Maybe you should be telling them ...

that republicans are better for this country


i dont know im not god

Apart from the utterly bizarre content of your post, you posted it w/in two minutes of when I posted what you were replying to.

That wasn't even time to read it.

I assume you intended to reply to the opening post.

no i meant to post to your post....guess you need better reading glasses

The ones that enable me to read and absorb a large volume of information in one minute flat, and then make me think that what I've typed in reply to it is somehow ... meaningful.

I think I'll live without 'em, ta.

Can you cite any evidence to back this up? Tell me one thing that has gotten "better" in the last 8 years. Is it possible that your myopic obsession with a single issue has been a huge mistake? Look, gun control is a part of the Democrats' platform. You don't have to like it, but you'd best learn to deal with it. And if you cast your votes based solely on a candidate's stance on gun control (or based solely on any one hot-button issue), you are a fool.

it could be that republicans are better for this country


i dont know im not god

I assure you, you don't need to be a god to know that the Republicans are not better for this country.

Unless you like war for oil, our tax dollars funding trillion dollar welfare projects for Iraq, endless power grabs and intrusions on liberty in the name of the "war on terror", and pandering to corporations with no vested interest in the welfare of the United States.

Then I guess Republicans could be better.