Be Careful When You Give Political Contributions-- You May Be Making Some Crooks Very, Very Wealthy

Early this morning, Anonymous Operative posted about the corruption inherent in our electoral system. It's no better on either side of the aisle and it has a tendency to keep quality people out of politics so that we wind out with criminal sociopaths like Steve Israel, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Michael Grimm, John Boehner, Rahm Emanuel, Tom DeLay, Steve Stockman, Eric Cantor and Joe Crowley.

But its key to remember that to Beltway operatives winning or losing isn't always what's uppermost in minds fixed on self-enrichment, This morning Roll Call san a story about how people running PACs and consulting firms have become very very wealthy raising money that purports to be for causes and candidates their targets believe in. They work the same way the DCCC and the NRCC work, separating the suckers from their cash and pocketing a chunk for their allies. "Recently released tax forms," reports Eliza Carney, "shed light on the big salaries that an elite corps of political organizers earned during the 2012 elections-- and those who made the most often boasted the fewest wins."

The new filings show that liberal groups, which in many cases outperformed their conservative counterparts, typically paid their executives less money. Liberal super PAC, nonprofit and labor salaries tend to land in the $250,000 to the (at most) $600,000 range, while many conservative organizers are pulling in at least a half-million, and several make into the millions over an election cycle. Findings from the new IRS 990 forms include:

Steven Law, the president of the American Crossroads super PAC and its tax-exempt affiliate, Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies, made $1.1 million during the election cycle. That includes $602,935 from Crossroads GPS in 2011 and $637,562 in 2012. Together the super PAC and the nonprofit spent more than $325 million on the election but had an underwhelming return on investment. According to the Sunlight Foundation, 1.3 percent of the super PAC’s money supported candidates who won and opposed candidates who lost in the general election. The Crossroads GPS return on investment was 14.4 percent.

Stephanie Schriock, the president of EMILY’s List, a political organization that supports female Democrats who back abortion rights, received a $263,194 salary for the entire 2012 cycle, according to Political MoneyLine data derived from FEC reports. The EMILY’s List super PAC Women Vote spent $7.7 million in the 2012 elections and had an 80 percent return on investment, according to the Sunlight Foundation.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue pulled in $5.5 million in 2012, making him one of the top-paid association executives in the nation that year. For the entire election cycle, Donohue made $10.4 million, according to the chamber’s 990s from 2011 and 2012. Said chamber spokeswoman Blair Latoff Holmes: “Tom Donohue leads the largest, most active and most influential trade organization in the world and our board compensates him accordingly.”

Rebecca Burkett, a little-known campaign consultant from Georgia, made more running Winning Our Future, the super PAC that backed losing GOP presidential nominee and former Speaker Newt Gingrich, than many of the nation’s leading labor union presidents make in a year. Burkett earned more than $500,000 during her tenure as the Gingrich super PAC’s chief organizer, according to Political MoneyLine. By comparison, Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union, which spent $23 million on the election, made $288,303 during the 2012 calendar year.

…The top GOP super PAC backing Mitt Romney, Restore Our Future, listed no salary lines or payroll recipients by name on its FEC public disclosures. This drew fire from watchdogs who complained that the super PAC shared vendors and even consultants with Romney, violating rules that bar coordination between candidates and the outside groups that back them.

At the center of those complaints was GOP fundraiser Steve Roche, who ran a fundraising firm called Podium Capital Group. As the super PAC’s top vendor, that firm was paid $7.3 million by Restore Our Future, according to the CRP. But how much of a cut went to Roche-- whether 2 percent or 12 percent, both within industry standards-- remains unanswered. Roche did not return a message seeking comment.

Moreover, Restore Our Future had no single executive in charge. It was run by a trio of consultants that included GOP election lawyer Charles Spies, its treasurer. His firm, Clark Hill, took in $746,425 from Restore Our Future, data from the CRP show. But Spies said that amount was paid to the firm as a whole, not to him individually.

As if things weren't bad enough, 4 of the worst-- worst as in voting all the time with Republicans against Democratic values-- House Democrats joined the dying Blue Dog Caucus this week. I guess the Wall Street-owned and operated New Dems just wasn't far right enough for Sinema and Barber. All 4 of these make a habit, a very consistent habit, of giving Boehner and Cantor the excuse to call their anti-working family bills "bipartisan." Here they are, from bad to worse, with their ProgressivePunch crucial vote scores for this cycle.

• Nick Rahall (WV)- 45.52
• Cheri Bustos (IL)- 44.62
• Kyrsten Sinema (AZ)- 33.33
• Ron Barber (AZ)- 25.20

If you contribute any money to the DCCC, whatever is left after they line the pockets of their consultant cronies, goes to characters like these four.

Now, what about Blue America, the PAC Digby, John Amato and I run. Digby's salary and expenses came to zero dollars; Amato's salary and expenses came to zero dollars; my salary and expenses came to zero dollars. The money contributed-- all of it-- goes to elect our candidates. None of us all at Blue America to profit from it. These are our House candidates so far this cycle and these are our Senate candidates. When you contributor to your favorite candidates, you have the option of also contributing to our PAC. When you do, that is money we use to buy TV, radio and newsprint ads as well as billboards and other means of getting out the word about our candidates.