Debt Free

J.P. Morgan Chase, the nation’s third largest financial institution, calls Jamie Dimon CEO. Mr. Dimon doesn’t throw too much at political campaigns, but what he does give goes exclusively to Democrats. In 2005 & 2006 he made two Democratic campaign contributions. Both were to Melissa Bean for congress. They totaled $3,900. These were the extent of his political contributions.

On the other hand, Bill Weldon, head of consumer products conglomerate Johnson and Johnson has a penchant for Republican giving. He’s given exclusively to Republican causes the past 4 years (and before). Since 2002, Mr. Weldon has contributed $14,500, spread among the RNC, the Bush presidential campaign and, Mike Furgeson’s (R, NJ) congressional campaign.

As befitting his title of World’s Richest Man, Bill Gates of Microsoft is a huge donor. His political contributions trended Republican, but he really spread it around pretty well to both parties. He donated a little over $25,000 to various Democratic candidates’ campaigns between 2002 and the present. Not wanting to leave Republicans out, he gave a shade over $23,000 to numerous Republican campaigns. So far, a win for the Democrats, but Mr. Gates gave the Republicans the lead by giving liberally (??) to the Republican Joint State Victory Committee, to the tune of $25 K. He also gave a nice sum to his company’s PAC, as is the norm for CEO’s. The Microsoft PAC rated $15,000 from Bill since 2002.

Next time you’re popin’ a Viagra for a swingin’ time with the wife, you should know that it was all made possible by Jeffery Kindler, CEO of Pfizer Corp. Appropriately enough, Kindler is a Democratic donor. With the exception of a $1,000 he gave in 2003 to help Orin Hatch get reelected, he’s given only to the Donkey party. Since his 2003 Hatch contribution, he’s given a little over $10,000 to various Democratic candidates. He also gave, again, to his company’s PAC, although they must not rate very highly with him, as his contribution only amounted to $583.

Another CEO who believes giving is good, George David, United Technologies CEO, spreads it around quite a bit. He even gave more than Bill Gates to various campaigns and committees, but unlike Gates, he trended Republican with his campaign contributions. He donated $22,000 directly to Republican candidate’s campaigns, while giving Democrats and additional $21,000. His largest donations were to PACs and committees, however, with $25,000 going to United technologies PAC and a hefty $50,000 going to the RNC. He must want a few Democrats to remain in Congress however, because he gave a token $1,000 to the Committee for a Democratic Future in 2002.

So there you have it. The latest installment in “How the Hell Do the Big CEOs Think Anyway?” I’ll finish all this up in a later post, hopefully still in time for the mid-term elections.