05/16/2015 Reality Checks: Shareholders - Lobbyists must be convicted vs. Stakeholders - Citizen Voters must vote with conviction

"We the People” can stop current trends in the United States of America (The Bosses and Law Enforcers): if we use our voices, writings, calls, social media postings, protests, and votes in fact based truth to change the grave situations in our Democracy!

"The Political One Percent" of the One Percent in 2014: Mega Donors Fuel Rising Cost of Elections In the 2014 elections, 31,976 donors — equal to roughly one percent of one percent of the total population of the United States — accounted for an astounding $1.18 billion in disclosed political contributions at the federal level." Readmore ›

Shareholder: the owner of one or more shares of stock in a corporation, commonly also called a "stockholder." The benefits of being a shareholder include receiving dividends for each share as determined by the Board of Directors, the right to vote (except for certain preferred shares) for members of the board of directors, to bring a derivative action (lawsuit) if the corporation is poorly managed, and to participate in the division of value of assets upon dissolution and winding up of the corporation, if there is any value.

 

Stakeholder: A person, group or organization that has interest or concern in an organization. Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the organization's actions, objectives and policies.

Lobbying and Disclosure Act of 1995:

"The Current Laws are 2 U.S.C. § 1601 and is legislation aimed at bringing a level of accountability to federal lobbying practices in the United States. The law was amended substantially by the HonestLeadership and Open Government Act of 2007. Under provisions which took effect on January 1, 2006, lobbyists are required to register with the Clerk of the Houseof Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate. Anyone failing to do so is punishable by a civil fine of up to $50,000. The clerk and secretary must refer any acts of non-compliance to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia."

True Lobbying Reform:

1. Like U.S. Security Clearance Laws: Elected and Appointed Officials will not work as lobbyists on behalf of shareholders for 10 years after leaving office. Any acts of non-compliance to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia will be properly referred.
2. Stakeholders are the only allowed lobbyists! Any acts of non-compliance to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia will be properly referred.
3. Entities with Shareholders are not allowed to lobby. Any acts of non-compliance to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia will be properly referred.

Disclaimer: We made every reasonable effort to get factual information from OpenSecrets.org which uses U.S. government and other databases. With the large amount of data to compile and review by both OpenSecrets and us we admit there are small errors which we declare to be the fault of the U.S. Government reporting agencies.

If you need more complete information about Influence issues go to OpenSecrets.org.

If you need specific data about your elected officials to OpenSecrets.org.

The scary and true reason why: democracy in the United States of America is on life support; because of plutocracy and oligarchy.

Private Contributions to Elections by Sector, 2013-2014

Rank	Sector	Amount	Total to Parties & Candidates	Dems	Repubs
1	Finance/Insur/Real Estate	$507,293,955	$344,462,927	37.4%	62.4%
2	Ideology/Single-Issue	$352,307,982	$234,117,472	50.1%	49.7%
3	Other	$269,772,347	$233,142,184	53.3%	46.3%
4	Misc Business	$228,470,048	$181,637,580	38.2%	61.5%
5	Lawyers & Lobbyists	$151,364,481	$140,347,046	65.2%	34.6%
6	Health	$141,183,350	$131,294,451	43.0%	56.8%
7	Labor	$140,673,002	$60,569,731	88.9%	10.9%
8	Communications/Electronics	$116,180,306	$90,669,840	59.9%	39.8%
9	Energy/Natural Resource	$114,892,278	$88,722,472	21.0%	79.0%
10	Agribusiness	$76,802,912	$64,138,661	24.9%	74.7%
11	Construction	$67,453,027	$59,761,486	28.4%	71.4%
12	Transportation	$60,893,210	$56,552,762	28.3%	71.6%
13	Defense	$25,312,610	$25,228,585	40.1%	59.8%

Do you think we have a chance of getting lawful approaches of legally mandated transparency by Congress according to the United States Constitution? Fast Track (TPA) is illegal!

Do you think we will get Fair Market Economic Approaches to trade agreements like the Founding Fathers Established in the United States Constitution and in the creation of federal agencies like the IRS?

Highlights of just Financial Sector Contributions, 2013-2014:

Top Accounting Firm Contributors, 2013-2014:

Contributor	Amount
Deloitte LLP	$2,520,694
Ernst & Young	$2,418,568
PricewaterhouseCoopers	$1,910,377
American Institute of CPAs	$1,365,253
KPMG LLP	$1,242,913

Top Banking Contributors, 2013-2014:

Contributor	Amount
American Bankers Assn	$2,993,835
Citigroup Inc.	$2,115,776
Wells Fargo	$1,946,994
JPMorgan Chase & Co	$1,943,281
Bank of America	$1,578,709
Independent Community Bankers of America	$1,357,950
Quicken Loans	$1,059,349

Top Hedge Fund Contributors, 2013-2014:

Contributor	Amount
Elliott Management	$13,596,822
Renaissance Technologies	$10,266,249
Soros Fund Management	$3,570,728
Citadel LLC	$3,542,655
Baupost Group	$3,528,500
Third Point LLC	$1,843,200
Equinox Partners	$1,777,469
AQR Capital Management	$1,336,700
Tiger Management	$1,234,800
Watershed Asset Management	$1,070,200

Top Insurance Company Contributors, 2013-2014:

Contributor	Amount
Blue Cross/Blue Shield	$2,501,207
National Assn of Insurance & Financial Advisors	$2,442,750
New York Life Insurance	$2,256,689
AFLAC Inc.	$1,840,900
Indep Insurance Agents & Brokers/America	$1,339,200
USAA	$1,311,607
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance	$1,281,307
Metlife Inc.	$1,200,118
Northwestern Mutual	$1,153,054

Top Private Equity and Investment Firm Contributors, 2013-2014:

Contributor	Amount
JW Childs Assoc.	$2,882,133
Bain Capital	$2,387,650
Blackstone Group	$2,067,857
Grantham, Mayo et al	$1,650,000
BLS Investments	$1,578,779
Windquest Group	$1,197,950
TPG Capital	$1,164,862

Top Real Estate Firm Contributors, 2013-2014:

Contributor	Amount
National Assn of Realtors	$14,067,694
Marcus & Millichap	$3,147,700
Crow Holdings	$1,685,680
AKT Development	$1,500,550
National Multi Housing Council	$1,454,750
National Assn of Real Estate Investment Trusts	$1,364,245
Western Rim Properties	$1,319,700
Land & Co	$1,125,700
McKinley Assoc.	$1,014,600

Top Securities & Investment Firm Contributors, 2013-2014:

Contributor	Amount
Elliott Management	$13,596,822
Renaissance Technologies	$10,266,249
Stephens Inc.	$4,188,200
Goldman Sachs	$4,160,024
Soros Fund Management	$3,570,728
Citadel LLC	$3,542,655
Baupost Group	$3,528,500
JW Childs Assoc.	$2,882,133
Bain Capital	$2,387,650
Trust Asset Management	$2,369,241
Sol Goldman Investments	$2,296,959
Blackstone Group	$2,067,857
UBS AG	$2,026,914
Third Point LLC	$1,843,200
Equinox Partners	$1,777,469
Kleiner, Perkins et al	$1,759,318
Morgan Stanley	$1,726,500
Carlyle Group	$1,652,176
Grantham, Mayo et al	$1,650,000
BLS Investments	$1,578,779