AIG, the troubled insurance giant in which the government now has an 80 percent stake, donated $750,000 to help the Republicans fund their convention in St. Paul this summer. Freddie Mac, the government sponsored enterprise now in government receivership, gave $250,000 to the Democrats for their convention in Denver. The host committees of both parties have filed reports on their convention donors with the Federal Election Commission.
In total, the Denver host committee reported it raised $61 million, while the St. Paul host committee reported it raised $51 million.
-- Bara Vaida
While the names of many donors were made public by the host committees earlier this year, the amounts these donors gave wasn't available until the filing with the FEC.
Besides AIG, the GOP convention got hefty corporate donations from: Target, $3 million; Best Buy, $2.2 million; and AT&T, $1.4 million. Hedge fund manager Ray Dalio gave $2 million and even the Service Employees International Union gave $50,000. Three Indian tribes also donated to the St. Paul host committee: the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians and the Penchanga Band of Mission Indians both gave $100,000, while the Saginaw Chippewa tribe gave $25,000.
Interesting donations to the Democrats' convention were: National Education Association, $2 million; American Federation of Teachers, $1 million; ConocoPhillips, $375,000; and Lehman Brothers, $100,000. Various labor unions gave a combined total of at least $5.5 million to the Denver host committee.
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