Obama the Biggest Recipient of BP Money

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, President Obama has received the largest amount of BP political action committee donations out of all political candidates from the past twenty years.

Obama received $77,051 from the company. Obama's top twenty contributors by industry, however, didn't include the energy and natural resources sector.

"BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics," Politico's Erika Lovley reported. "Donations come from a mix of employees and the company’s political action committees — $2.89 million flowed to campaigns from BP-related PACs and about $638,000 came from individuals."

"Its lobbying focuses on tax incentives for oil and gas production, opposing mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions and following U.S. trade relations and policy in the Middle East. Through membership in a trade association known as the Organization for International Investment, BP has lobbied to gain exemptions from U.S. corporate law reforms," the Center reported.

"The Interior Department exempted BP's calamitous Gulf of Mexico drilling operation from a detailed environmental impact analysis last year, according to government documents, after three reviews of the area concluded that a massive oil spill was unlikely," according to the Washington Post. BP lobbied for those exemptions.

This just goes to show that the government is controlled by the super rich and their large companies, that there is only democracy for the rich under capitalism.