This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Concerning the letter by Mike McManus in which he stated that large political donations by individuals to the two major political parties were equal, with Democrat George Soros donating the most: he is flat wrong. According to the Federal Election commission, donations of $200 or less in 2012 to Democrats was 50 percent of their total $733 million while donations of $200 or less to Republicans ran at 23 percent of their total $480 million.
Of the top donors to political PACS 7 out of 11 donors gave to Republican candidates. Sheldon and Miriam Adelson stood at the top with over $30 million, Bob Perry second at $17.2 million, and Robert Rowling third with $6.1 million. All Republicans. The right-wing Koch brothers were fifth with over $4 million dollars donated to Republican candidates. George Soros, who McManus named as the largest donor, was not even in the top 11. He gave around $2 million to Democratic causes. Republicans raised nearly double that of Democrats from those who gave $5,000 or more.
These figures make it very clear that the Republican party is the party of wealthy donors. And as Republicans rejoice at the recent case on allowing unlimited donations by individuals, we can clearly see Republicans know this will open the floodgates for more large donations from the rich to Republican candidates. McManus complains of a liberal bias of the Tribune, while I see they are merely giving their readers factual news and not the propaganda of an entity like Fox News. Utahns like McManus need to get informed.
Kent W. Price
Salt Lake City