Bribery: pro-NSA Congressional voters got twice the defense industry campaign contributions


(Chart: Maplight)

A detailed analysis on Maplight of the voting in last week's vote on de-funding NSA dragnet spying found that the Congresscritters who voted in favor of more NSA spying received more than double the defense industry campaign contributions of their anti-NSA-voting rivals. They were the winners in the industry's $13M donation bonanza leading up to the 2012 elections.

The remarkable thing is how cheaply these empty suits sold out their vow to uphold the Constitution. On average, the pro-spying side got $41,635, while the anti- averaged $18,765 — a difference of $22,870.

Of the 26 House members who voted and did not receive any defense financing, 16 voted for the Amash amendment.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) voted against the measure. He ranked 15th in defense earnings with a $131,000 take. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) also voted against Amash. Pelosi took in $47,000 from defense firms over the two-year period.

Ninety-four Republicans voted for the amendment as did 111 Democrats.


Lawmakers Who Upheld NSA Phone Spying Received Double the Defense Industry Cash [David Kravets/Wired]