Bachmann, Ryan among top 5 House fundraisers
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House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, July 10, 2012, as the House Ways and Means Committee held a hearing on the implications of the Supreme Court's ruling that the individual mandate in the "Affordable Care Act" is constitutional, particularly as it relates to Congress' authority to lay and collect new taxes.
U.S. Reps. Paul Ryan, of Wisconsin, and Michele Bachmann, of Minnesota, are among the top five U.S. House candidates nationwide in money raised during the current two-year election cycle, according to midyear election filings.
Bachmann raised $14.8 million, and Ryan brought in $4.2 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
All of the top five fundraisers were Republicans. The other three were Rep. John Boehner, of Ohio, who raised $18.2 million, Rep. Allen West, of Florida, who pulled in $10 million, and Rep. Eric Cantor, of Virginia, who raised $6.3 million.
In addition to the $4.2 million he raised for his campaign, Ryan collected $4.3 million in 2011-'12 for his political action committee, Prosperity PAC, according to a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report (http://bit.ly/SLm7FP ).
Ryan, who is from Janesville, is raising far more money than he did during his first five House campaigns, when he raised an average of about $1.3 million per election. In this campaign he's on pace to top $5 million.
Mid-year election filings also show that Ryan has $5.4 million cash in hand, the most of any House candidate in the country.
Bachmann has $1.9 million cash on hand, and her political action committee, Michele PAC, showed receipts of $1 million in the 2012 cycle.
Ryan's fundraising reflects his popularity among conservatives and businesses nationwide. He has been widely talked about as a vice presidential candidate to run with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
Ryan attributed his fundraising prowess to his work on House budgets, in which he has pushed to cut federal spending and helped define the differences between the political parties on spending issues.
"It's all because of our message," Ryan said. "The country is so ready to be talked to like adults."
But just as Ryan has energized his base, he has also animated political donors on the other side.
His Democratic opponent, Rob Zerban, has raised more than $1 million, a substantial sum for a first-time congressional candidate. However, Zerban has a tenth of Ryan's cash on hand.
Zerban's communications director, Karthik Ganapathy, said he wasn't worried about the disparity.
"Our grass-roots campaign, powered by the support of more than 14,000 individual donors, is knocking on doors, making phone calls and gaining ground each day," he said. "Come November, we'll have the resources we need to win."
Bachmann is running against Democratic hotelier Jim Graves, who is also at a financial disadvantage. He recently loaned his campaign another $150,000, after previously giving his campaign $100,000.
Graves' campaign carried about $405,000 in cash into July.
Although Bachmann has proven to be a prodigious fundraiser, she also is dealing with deep debt from her unsuccessful bid for president.
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Jul 21, 2012 at 4:04 p.m.
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wislady- Sorry but the union guards were doing their jobs, that's why they were reinstated. Walker's private firm guards were not.You ask-"What does this have to do with fund raising"- nothing really- I just like people to know the truth about those they support. It pays to read more than just one style of political news.
Jul 21, 2012 at 3:32 p.m.
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And the reason.............the union guards were not doing their jobs.
Yes, he should have done it in a different way, but private firms can do the job at a lesser cost and do just as good a job.
What does this have to do with fundraising??
Jul 21, 2012 at 3:05 p.m.
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I was referring to the article link posted by yada at 6:37am. I'll paraphrase for you- Walker fired union security guards ( I believe in 2010) claiming that there was a budget crisis in Milwaukee. He replaced them with a private security firm that for over $1 million dollars. The security firm was derelict in their duties while working for Milwaukee but it worked out because the courts ruled in favor of the fired guards and they were reinstated at lost wages etc. Cost Milwaukee millions. Yes, this is the Governor who is going to "save" us.
Jul 21, 2012 at 1:23 p.m.
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analertcitizen
Exactly WHAT part of the articles on that link are you referring to?
I didn't see anything on that site relating to the corruption that was present when Walker took over as County Executive.
http://www.susmangodfrey.com/News/News-A...
How about the coverup by AG Lautenschlager in the Milwaukee County's disability program (DECA)?
Mayor Barrett has his own little coverup going on....no bid contracts. That is being investigated no with 2 companies who have filed suit.
Quit pointing fingers at one party, there is plenty of blame to go around.
Jul 21, 2012 at 1:12 p.m.
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Regarding Tammy Baldwin's fundraising, she's running for Senate, so that's a different ballgame.
Jul 21, 2012 at 11:12 a.m.
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Oblamer...No, your wrong. I am very successful and I did it with no help from Paul Ryan.
Jul 21, 2012 at 10:24 a.m.
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Wislady- The article that yada cited is 100%true. I remember when all of this was happening in Milwaukee. The entire debacle ended up costing Milwaukee millions of dollars. You may be right that he cited a "left wing" source but it is still true. Of course, a right wing news organization wouldn't print it even though it's pretty well known in Milwaukee.
Jul 21, 2012 at 9:43 a.m.
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So Paul, how much headway you been making on cleaning up Wall Street in your time in office?
Jul 21, 2012 at 7:33 a.m.
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yada
Center for Media and Democracy, funded by George Soros....left wing extremist group.
Jul 21, 2012 at 7:31 a.m.
Jul 21, 2012 at 6:50 a.m.
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Hey Paul, what have you done to help WI since you took office in 1999? Where's your excuses? Maybe some fuzzy math will help you. We have had 13 years of you and have went down hill during that time. JMO
Jul 21, 2012 at 6:37 a.m.
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http://www.prwatch.org/news/2011/02/1007...
Jul 21, 2012 at 6:30 a.m.
Jul 21, 2012 at 6:13 a.m.
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According to a google article Tammy Baldwin has raised over $6.6 million in this campaign cycle.
Jul 21, 2012 at 1:56 a.m.
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MONEY! Who cares how much money these people raise for themselves? If it was for charity I would. You know, Osama bin laden was wealthy and so was Saddam Hussein. How much money a person has raised or just has does not define who they are.
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:53 p.m.
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Michele Marie Bachmann is an opportunist raising money
by recklessly attempting to tarnish the reputations of good citizens.
She does not appear to care how much damage she does to others' lives by spreading lies about them
as long as it benefits her.
She is a textbook sociopath.
Jul 20, 2012 at 9:07 p.m.
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Very uncalled for remark, I didn't take you for a misogynist.
Jul 20, 2012 at 7:12 p.m.
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It just proves the point that when a conservative does better than a democrat the only tool left to the democrat is envy.
Jul 20, 2012 at 6:48 p.m.
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If we really think about it we do give them money do to the fact that companys get tax cuts & then give money to those running for office & us that pay our tax get the stick
Jul 20, 2012 at 5:37 p.m.
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I wonder how much money he is getting from senior citizens...???
NOT MINE.
Jul 20, 2012 at 4:47 p.m.
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I would never give money to any one running for office
Let the you know give it to them just like they always have
If those running for office were worth their salt they wouldnt have to spend so much money to get the job
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