Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Bob Casey’s recent fundraising quarter showed the Democrat collecting more in contributions from corporate PACs than in checks from Pennsylvania citizens.
Federal Election Commission filings show the Democrat pulled in about $75,000 in corporate PAC money, compared to about $70,000 in donations from Pennsylvanians.
That distribution, and the acceptance of corporate PAC money at all, is certain to be at odds with the stated rhetoric of many members of his own party.
According to a 2022 report from Roll Call, “More than 70 members [of Congress] say they are swearing off such [corporate PAC] contributions, indicating that a trend, almost exclusively among Democrats, that caught on during the 2018 election cycle has persisted. Despite the growth, the move has not led to the enactment of major campaign finance policy or legislative changes.”
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It cuts a sharp contrast with the commonwealth’s junior senator, John Fetterman, who pledged to abstain from taking corporate PAC money in his successful 2022 campaign.
A request for comment to the Casey campaign was not returned.
The fundraising haul from January through March showed Casey doing very well with pharmaceutical political action committees. Abbvie, Novartis, Eli Lilly, and drug wholesaler AmerisourceBergen are some of the companies in that category who contributed to the early part of Casey’s re-election efforts.
Although the Republican side of the field is still shaping up, the 2024 Senate contest is certain to be expensive. A report from OpenSecrets.com showed in the 2022 race, Fetterman raised about $75 million and Republican candidate Mehmet Oz raised close to $51 million. The Pennsylvania race was the second most expensive race in the nation that year.
Although Casey may not have sworn off corporate PAC money like Fetterman, he has had occasional sharp criticisms of the influence of corporate money in politics.
For example, in 2014, in reaction to the Supreme Court Citizens United decision, Casey decried the influence of corporate money on politics.
“I am pleased that the Senate voted today to proceed to debate the Democracy for All amendment. The Citizens United ruling significantly increased the power of corporate special interests by giving them the ability to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections,” Casey said in a press release.
“The ruling has allowed a handful of wealthy individuals and corporations to skew the national debate at the expense of hard working Pennsylvanians. Amendments to the Constitution should never be taken lightly but it is time to address the role of money in politics. This bill will help to level the playing field and put power back in the hands of the American people.”
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After trying to shove a New Jersey carpetbagger down our throats in the last Senate election (and failing BADLY), you want us to get upset that there’s money for Casey from out of state? …seriously?
And according to right-wingers who continue to support the Citizens United ruling and nominated all the judges who affirmed it, placing meaningful limits on political contributions would limit free speech. So what’s the problem there?
Are you going to write any articles about political money coming from tech elites like Elon Musk or Peter Theil? What about Leonard Leo? What about the absolutely insane revelations about money that Clarence Thomas ILLEGALLY took from his ruling class elite handler and then hid from public record?
Btw, I came on here because there were about 9,556,897,060 articles feigning indignation over Michael Zabel continuing to serve in the PA House (of course, bragging about grabbing women by the pu$$y is totally fine though and you can get away with it if you’re a celebrity and even become president). Well, Zabel has resigned under party pressure.
Where are all your articles about how Dems are actually holding their own accountable?
*crickets*
All of this lead to a few glaringly obvious, inescapable conclusions:
1) The right is totally disingenuous with its arguments and shouldn’t be trusted.
2) They believe the motto “Rules for thee but not for me”. Apparently party establishment bootlicking is more important to them than having a stable, fairly governed republic where the same rules apply to everyone.
3) B&L is the most biased “news” outlet in town and apparently think their readers are actually stupid enough to fall for this agitprop. Very sad and disrespectful to the people of Pennsylvania if you ask me.
No one cares. He’s a Democrat.
Democrats get a pass over and over. Find something that matters today. Not an issue that would have been relevant 20 years ago.
Our President can’t handle stairs. Our other US Senator is unable to contribute to his position and his campaign blatantly lied about his capacity to serve.
No one cares. They care that an overwhelmingly accomplished candidate was only living in the state for a year before the election.
No one cares that crime has skyrocketed as a direct result of progressive policies and anti american communist propaganda which the Democratic party platform has been built on the last 20 years.
Cicero – I am disgusted by the Republican party, but at least they want America and the West to succeed.
Please tell me what Casey has done in his 12 years in office other than voting along party lines. No moral concept or principles.