Campaign Contributions

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that the Lewin Group, a health care research consulting firm, is owned by Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth Group. Research by Lewin has been a staple talking point of Minnesota’s Republicans — who tout the group as “independent” and “non-partisan” — in their opposition to a health reform package currently being debated [...]

The office of Rep. Keith Ellison says a Thursday report by the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute is “shameful.” The institute’s blog, Smart Politics, examined contributors to Ellison’s campaign, noting that a number of those were out of state — and implying many were Muslim.

National businesses and banks have been feeding Norm Coleman major sums of cash this last quarter, despite the fact that corporations and, especially the financial sector, are withering in a crippling economy and asking taxpayers for bailouts. According to a story in L.A. Times last week, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce spent $30 million on lobbying in the third quarter of this year, more than twice as much as it spent for the same purpose in the previous quarter. And a chunk of that change is going to Minnesota senator Norm Coleman.

It’s still not clear why Michele Bachmann used her congressional status to try to leverage a presidential pardon for someone who does not even live in her district. At this point, the only apparent connection between Frank Vennes Jr. and Bachmann as a congressperson is the $27,400 Vennes and his wife, Kimberly, have donated to Bachmann’s campaign funds since 2005, making the couple among Bachmann’s largest individual contributors. Vennes’ brother and his wife, Greg and Stephanie Vennes, have donated an additional $8,400 to Bachmann since 2005.

Read the letter, inside.

In 2007, Rep. Michele Bachmann sent President Bush a letter recommending he pardon a man who is a major contributor to her campaign even though he lives outside of her district. Last Thursday, Bachmann withdrew that letter, written on behalf of Frank Vennes, after FBI, IRS and U.S Postal Inspection officials seized numerous items from Vennes’ home in connection with the ongoing investigation of Vennes’ business associate Tom Petters.

The Sunlight Foundation has put together a fascinating animated graph that tracks the political donations from the finance, insurance and real estate sectors and to which party the money has gone. Utilizing Google Motion Chart and 20 years worth of data gathered by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, the chart seeks to demonstrate how [...]

It’s called a “bundle,” and it’s a wad of campaign cash collected by a supporter’s friends, family members and associates and delivered in one lump sum to the candidate as a gift from the supporter. According to a story today on Capital Eye, at OpenSecrets.org, McCain’s 69 bundlers have donated at least $11.4 million to [...]

On Thursday housing-advocacy group ACORN and Sharon Young, a St. Paul resident facing foreclosure, presented a giant (literally and figuratively) check to Sen. Norm Coleman. “This check shows how Senator Coleman’s votes against foreclosure assistance for my family have been bought and paid for by the mortgage industry,” Young said in a statement.

Young is facing [...]

Records show McGuire and wife gave exclusively to GOP candidates

Cross-posted at Vox Verax.

Dr. William McGuire, long-time CEO of UnitedHealth, headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, will retire under pressure by December 1, 2006, following an investigation of the backdating of the company’s stock options. According to MPR, “McGuire is one of the country’s highest paid executives, having [...]