In recent weeks, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Tenn.) has been the point man, along with his cronies on the 
far right, in attacking the auto industry bailout and more importantly, attacking on American workers. This got me to thinking, who financed this guy? A bit of research at OpenSecrets.org revealed a disturbing discovery. But first, I want to share with you a refresher on old Mitch.
As noted in the Los Angeles Times a few weeks ago:
Senate Republicans from some Southern states – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. Bob Corker ( R-Tenn.) and Sen. Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala.) representatives from states that subsidize companies such as Honda, Volkswagen, Toyota and Nissan – tried to force the UAW to take reductions in wages and benefits as a condition for supporting the auto industry bailout bill. When the UAW refused, those senators torpedoed the bill. This double standard did not apply to the bailout of the financial industry where high payrolls are the norm.
Lest we forget, the bride of Frankenstein is Elaine Chao, the current Labor Secretary, whose feats of hostility toward working people will go down in the record books of morally corrupt cabinet officials. The McConnell-Chao legacy is one that nobody should forget.
So who financed this monster? The list is long, in the thousands actually. But it’s worth noting a few names that caught my eye while perusing the list of contributors on OpenSecrets.org.
Executives at the Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. (NYSE: AMG] – an asset management company with equity investments in a diverse group of growing, boutique investment management firms – have donated a substantial sum to the Senator from Tennessee.
Darrell Crate (Executive VP & CFO), Sean Healy (President & CEO) and John Kingston (Executive VP & General Counsel) combined have given $11,500 to McConnell over the last election cycle. This excludes $4600 that was contributed by Mssrs. Crate and Kingston that was subsequently returned.
In total, AMG executives gave $85,162 in reported contributions in the 2008 election cycle with all but $400 of that total given to republicans.
What distinguishes these contributions from others is the fact that one of AMG’s affiliates is Systematic Financial Management, a Teaneck, N.J. investment manager serving, among others, the union pension fund community. No doubt, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a Systematic client, along with many other union pension funds using Systematic’s services, appreciate how their fees are being spent.
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