A Disadvantaged Class? The Corporate Speech Index | CommonDreams.org

A Disadvantaged Class? The Corporate Speech Index | CommonDreams.org

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What may not be quite so obvious is how extraordinary are the resources that corporations can mobilize as against what is now spent on elections.

Consider these juxtapositions --

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Total amount spent on federal elections in the 2008 election cycle: $5.285 billion [2]

Amount spent by Obama campaign in the 2008 election: $730 million [3]

Average amount raised by incumbent Members of the House of Representatives in the 2008 election: $1.356 million (challengers: $335,101) [4]

Average amount raised by incumbent Senators in the 2008 election: $8.741 million (challengers: $1,152,146) [5]

Exxon profits 2007-2008: $85 billion [6]

Top-selling drug, Lipitor, revenues, 2007-2008: $27 billion [7]

Goldman Sachs bonus and compensation expense for 2009: $16.2 billion [8]

Value of Lockheed's defense contracts in 2008: $15 billion [9]

The amount spent on cigarette advertising and promotion by the five largest cigarette companies in the United States in 2006: $12.49 billion [10]

Microsoft cash on hand: $33.4 billion [11] ...