The strange purchase date and price of Sandy Hook homes

Posted on February 14, 2014 by Dr. Eowyn

Some of those in the blogosphere who maintain or at the very least suspect that the official story of the Dec. 14, 2012 Sandy Hook massacre isn’t true, have raised the matter of the rather strange sale date and price of the homes of some of the victims. See, for example, this discussion on a Godlike Productions chat forum.
Their hypothesis goes something like this:
If the massacre, wholly or in part, were a contrived conspiracy — for example, a drill (or a drill that went very bad) — then the major participants or “players” in the elaborate charade would have to be paid off in some way or another.
Indeed, a year ago, in February 2013, I had noticed the same thing — that some of the homes of Sandy Hook victims all had an odd sale/purchase date of 12/25/2009, and an equally odd sale/purchase price of $0.
I had found that information on the website of Vision Government Solutions (VGS), a company that calls itself “a leading supplier of land parcel management software technology and services to local government organizations, enabling efficient assessment, billing, collections, mapping, and permitting.” One of the services provided by VGS is an online database of residential properties in nine states in the northeastern and eastern U.S., one of which is the state of Connecticut. If you know the address of a home in, say, Newtown, CT, you can look up the property’s value, present owner(s), and price history on VGS’s database.
At the time, in February of last year, puzzled by those strange 12/25/2009 sale date and $0 sale price of Newtown homes, I had sent this email to VGS:

Date: 02/05/13 01:43 PM
Subject: Feedback from the Newtown, CT page
Hello, While browsing real estate properties using this database, I noticed a number of homes have the same “date of sale” of 12/25/2009, and a “sale price” of 0 (zero). Please be so kind as to explain. How can a home be sold or purchased for $0?
Thank you,
Dr. _____

This was the response I received:

Feb. 5, 2013
Thank you for your inquiry Dr ____. In most instances of a sale price of $0 the reason would be because of a family sale where the house ownership is simply transferred. [In other words, no money actually changed hands.] The other reason for that to happen would be a town entering a parcel into their database for the first time they must puta first owner and a sale price. Often times they will put $0 as a filler price. The sale date of 12/25/2009 would be the same thing.
Kind Regards,
Chase Moltedo
Customer Support Representative
Vision Government Solutions
44 Bearfoot Road
Northboro, MA 01532

In addition to emailing VGS, I had also called the Assessor’s Office at Newtown, CT, and left a voice mail asking the same question about the 12/25/2009 sale date and $0 sale price.
An administrative assistant at the Assessor’s Office, Andrea Santillo, promptly returned my phone call. She said that the Newtown city government recently had switched to a new computer system and had not been able to enter the property data for all Newtown homes. So the computer used the 12/25/2009 and $0 as, respectively, a “filler” default sale date and price.
Ms. Santillo’s explanation seemed plausible, and so I did not pursue the matter any further. But that doesn’t mean I’d forgotten about it.
Flash forward a year. I decided to revisit this matter, and went back to VGS’s database. Lo and behold, the strange sale date and price are still there.
So I undertook a systematic investigation into the properties of every Sandy Hook (SH) victim, as well as those of certain non-victims, such as Gene Rosen, who had a prominent media presence in the days immediately after the massacre. What follows is my report on my findings, beginning with my methodology.

Methodology

1. From media accounts, I made a list of the names of all SH victims, including:

• The 20 school children who were killed, as well as the names of their parents.
• The 6 adults who were killed at SHES.
• Nancy Lanza, mother of alleged shooter Adam Lanza.

2. To that list, I added 6 more people who are not victims but had played significant roles in the aftermath of the massacre. They are:

• Gene Rosen, who live next to SHES and gave many TV interviews.
• Laura and Nick Phelps, parents of unharmed SHES students who gave media interviews and who bear a striking resemblance to professional “crisis actors” Jennifer Greenberg Sexton and Richard Sexton. (See “Remarkable resemblance of Sandy Hook victims and professional crisis actors“)
• The three members of Newtown’s governing body, the Board of Selectmen: Elin Patricia Llodra, William Rodgers, and James Gaston Sr. (Newtown does not have a mayor.)

3. Using two people search engines, Email Finder and Spokeo, of which I am a paid member, I found the addresses of the people on the list.
4. I then looked up the price history of those addresses on four websites:

• Vision Government Solutions.
• Trulia, a real estate website.
• Zillow, a real estate website. (Neither Trulia nor Zillow gives the names of property owners.)
• Connecticut Town Clerks Portal, a website of land records — including Newtown’s — which allows only those who have paid a fee to search its records. Interestingly, after I had paid for a 24-hour access to the site, I got this message about Newtown: “The mortgages, liens and probate certificates of the town of Newtown are not available online at this time.” 

FINDINGS

HOMES WITH STRANGE SALE DATE (12/25/2009) AND PRICE ($0):

1. Brian, 38, & Shannon Engel (parents of child victim Olivia Engel, 6):
   84 Berkshire Rd, Sandy Hook, CT 06482
VGS says Owner of Record: Brian Engel & Shannon Merlino
Ownership history:

•    Sold to Brian Engel & Shannon Merlino on 12/25/2009 for $0
•    Sold to Brian Engel & Shannon Merlino on 6/25/2004 for $272,00
•    Sold to Constance Chimileski on 1/20/2004 for $0

2. Robert Gay, 54, & Michele Hartman, 41 (parents of child victim Josephine Gay, 7):
    10 Nighthawk Lane, Sandy Hook, CT 06482
VGS says Owner of Record: Robert E. Gay & Michelle Hartman
Ownership history:

• Sold to Stephen & Gail Sonne on 1/16/2013 for $678,500
• Sold to Robert & Michele Gay on 12/25/2009 for $0
• Sold to Robert & Michele Gay on 3/7/2006 for $933,000
• Sold to Elite Builders Group LLC on 10/28/2004 for $300,000

Trulia’s price history on this property: 1/16/2013 $678,500; 3/7/2006 $933,000″.
3. Nicole & Ian Hockley (parents of Dylan Hockley, 6):
Rented 39 Yogananda Street, Sandy Hook, CT 06482
VGS says Owners are Elizabeth and Kenneth Pheasey who bought the house on12/25/2009 for $0.
Trulia’s price history: 4/30/2004 $725,000; 12/11/1998 $403,200; 8/17/1998 $105,500.
4. John Hsu & Donna Arnold, 46 (parents of Madeleine Hsu, 6):
Curiously, Spokeo says both Hsu and Arnold are “single”
    35 Narragansett Trl, Sandy Hook, CT 06482
VGS says Owner of Record: Long-Fong Hsu & Donna Arnold
Ownership history:

• Sold to Long-Fong Hsu & Donna Arnold on 7/16/2010 for $455,000
• Sold to Cherie Bragg & Michael Mastriano on 4/7/2009 for $0
• Sold to Cherie Bragg-Cebry on 6/15/2007 for $628,000
• Sold to Lawrence T. Card on 3/18/2003 for $487,000

5. Matthew, 41, & Jennifer Hubbard (parents of Catherine Hubbard, 6):
    10 Walker Hill Rd, Sandy Hook, CT 06482
VGS says Owner of Record: Kevin Casey & Priscilla Wright
Ownership history:

• Sold to Kevin Casey & Priscilla Wright on 7/24/2012 for $365,000
• Sold to Matthew & Jennifer Hubbard on 12/25/2009 for $0
• Sold to Matthew & Jennifer Hubbard on 8/1/2005 for $435,000
• Trulia has only these sale dates: 7/24/2012 $365,000; 8/1/2005 $435,000

6. Stephen, 49, & Rebecca Kowalski (parents of Chase Kowalski, 7):
Note: The Kowalskis had fashioned a very interesting charity poster to memorialize their dead son. See “Illuminati eye symbol in Sandy Hook charity poster“.
    6 Bennetts Bridge Rd, Sandy Hook, CT 06482
VGS says Owner: Stephen Kowalski
Ownership history: Sold to Stephen Kowalski on 12/25/2009 for $0
Trulia has only one sale date: 2/24/1994 $170,500
7. Scarlett Lewis (parent of Jesse Lewis, 6):
    6 Great Ring Road, Sandy Hook, CT 06482
VGS says Owner: Newtown Forest Association Inc
Ownership history: Purchased by Newtown Forest Association Inc. on12/25/2009  for $0.
Trulia has 2 sale dates: 8/17/1998 $260,000; 8/1/1995 $225,000
8. James S. Greene & Nelba Marquez-Greene (parents of Ana Marquez-Greene, 6):
    29 Buttonball Dr, Sandy Hook, CT 06482
VGS says Owner of Record: James S. Greene & Nelba Marquez Greene
Ownership history:

• Sold to James S. Greene Jr & Nelba Marquez Greene on 8/16/2012 for $0
• Sold to James S. Greene Jr on 8/3/2012 for $277,000
• Sold to Deborah A. Makl & David George Makl on 12/25/2009 for $0

Trulia has 2 sale dates: 8/3/2012 $277,000; 9/27/2001 $95,000.
9. Christopher & Lynn Zapf McDonnell (parents of Grace McDonnell, 7):
    4 Bresson Farm Rd, Sandy Hook, CT 06482-1566
VGS says Owner of record: Christopher & Lynn Zapf McDonnell
Ownership history: Sold to Christopher & Lynn Zapf McDonnell on12/25/2009 for $0.
Zillow has one sale date for this property: 3/24/2000 $453,000
10. Anne Marie Murphy, 52:
(Strangely, both Email Finder and Spokeo think Anne Marie Murphy is still alive, age 53)
    37 Great Ring Rd, Sandy Hook, CT 06482-1638
VGS says Owner of Record is Ann Marie Murphy
Ownership history: Sold to Ann Marie Murphy on 12/25/2009 for $0.
Trulia has only 1 sale date: 9/4/1998 $291,000
11. Robbie & Alissa Parker (parents of Emilie Parker, 6):
      13 Country Squire Rd., Sandy Hook, CT 06482
VGS says owner of record: Robert & Alissa Parker
Ownership history:

• Sold to Robert & Alissa Parker on 4/2/2012 for $359,900
• Sold to Robert & Linda Spolar on 12/25/2009 for $0

12. Dean A., 42, & Tricia L. Pinto (parents of Jack Pinto, 6):
      4 Cobblers Mill Rd, Sandy Hook, CT 06482-1458
VGS says Owner of Record: Dean A. & Tricia L. Pinto
Ownership history:

• Sold to Dean & Tricia Pinto on 12/25/2009 for $0
• Sold to Dean & Tricia Pinto on 7/29/2005 for $607,000
• Sold to Carl & Gail Coken on 12/11/2003 for $519,000

13. Veronique, 46, & Lenny Pozner (parents of Noah Pozner, 6):
(Curiously, Noah’s dad, Lenny, was not at his son’s open-casket funeral.)
      3 Kale Davis Rd. Sandy Hook, CT 06482-1537
VGS says Owner of Record: Veronique Pozner
Ownership history:

• Sold to Veronique Pozner on 3/17/2009 for $0
• Sold to Leonard & Veronique Pozner on 6/20/2005 for $470,000

14. Jeffrey W., 42, & Sandra Previdi (parents of Caroline Previdi, 6):
      44 Grand Pl, Newtown, CT 06470
VGS says Owner of Record: Eugene & Helen Previdi (Jeff’s parents)
Ownership history: Sold to Helen J. & Eugene A. Previdi Jr on 12/25/2009 for $0.
There is no Trulia price history on this property.
15. Jennifer Hensel & Jeremy Richman (parent of Avielle Richman, 6):
      41 Berkshire Rd, Sandy Hook, CT 06482
VGS Ownership history:

• Sold to Jennifer & Jeremy Richman on 4/21/2011 for $560,000
• Sold to from MaryJane Wheble on 12/25/2009 for $0

Trulia has 2 sale dates: 4/21/2011 $560,000; 8/19/1999 $360,000
16. Mary Sherlach, 56:
       33 Vintage Rd, Trumbull, CT 06611
VGS says Owner of Record: William D. and Mary J. Sherlach
Ownership history: Sold to William D. & Mary J. Sherlach on 4/30/93 for $0.
Trulia has 1 sale date: 4/30/1993 $307,000.
17. Benjamin, 40, & Cheyenne Wyatt (parents of Allison Wyatt, 6):
      83 Berkshire Rd, Sandy Hook, CT 06482-1427
VGS says Owner of Record: Benjamin & Cheyanne Wyatt
Ownership history:

• Sold to Benjamin & Cheyanne Wyatt on 12/25/2009 for $0
• Sold to Benjamin & Cheyanne Wyatt on 7/1/04 for $461,000

Trulia’s price history: sold 6/26/1998 $275,000; sold 12/27/1994 $242,500
18. Nicholas (“Nick”) & Laura Phelps:
       15 Walnut Trl, Sandy Hook, CT 06482-1148
VGS says owner of record: Zhiwen Ma & Weiyan Xia
Ownership history: Sold to Zhiwen Ma & Weiyan Xia on 12/25/09 for $0
Trulia’s price history: 2/5/2002 $337,500; 6/5/2001 $329,000; 8/24/1999 $247,300; 3/26/1999 $40,000
19. Eugene (“Gene”) Rosen:
       22 Riverside Rd, Sandy Hook, CT 06482
VGS says Owner Name: Eugene E. & Marilyn Rosen
Ownership history: Sold to Eugene E. & Marilyn Rosen on 12/25/2009 for $0
Trulia no price history on this property.
Zillow says “historical transaction data is not available for this home.”
20. E. (Elin) Patricia Llodra, 70:
Llodra is the First Selectman and head of Newtown’s 3-member Board of Selectmen who supervise the administration of the town. Like the other two board members (#21 and #22 below), Llodra was elected to a 2-year term (12/1/2011 to 12/1/2013), which means the three were in charge of Newtown at the time of the Sandy Hook massacre. All three were recently reelected to another 2-year term (12/1/2013 to 12/1/2015).
A year ago, when I looked up Ellin P. Llodra on people search engines, her address was listed as 90 Riverside Rd, Sandy Hook, CT 06482.
VGS a year ago and today says Owner of Record: Robert M. & Ellin P. Llodra
Ownership history: Sold to Robert M. & Ellin P. Llodra on 12/25/2009 for $0.
Trulia has no price history on this property.
But when I look up Ellin Llodra on people search today, her address is listed as 3 Primrose St., Newtown, CT 06470, which is the address of the Newtown Municipal Center, and is owned by the Town of Newtown, with a sale date of12/25/2009 and a sale price of $0.
21. William Rodgers (2nd member of Newtown’s Board of Selectmen):
      208 Hattertown Rd, Newtown, CT 06470
VGS says Owners: William & Moira Rodgers
Ownership history: Sold to William & Moira Rodgers on 12/25/2009 for $0
Trulia’s price history: 4/22/1992 $362,000
22. James Gaston Sr. (3rd member of Newtown’s Board of Selectmen):
      18 Main St., Newtown, CT 06470
VGS says Owner: Stephanie A. Gaston
Ownership history: Sold to Stephanie A. Gaston on 12/25/2009 for $0
Trulia’s price history: 10/2/1992 $262,500

HOMES WITH “NORMAL” SALE DATES AND PRICES:

1. Joel, 43, & JoAnn Bacon (parents of child victim Charlotte Bacon, 6):
12 Lyrical Ln, Sandy Hook, CT 06482
Owner of Record: Joel Bacon, JoAnn Bacon
Ownership History:

•     Sold to Joel & JoAnn Bacon on 8/20/2007 for $387,500
•     Sold to Jeffrey & Lisa Fox on 9/13/2004 for 350,000

2. Mark, 49 & Jacqueline Barden (parents of child victim Daniel Barden, 7):
35 Paugussett Rd, Sandy Hook, CT 06482
Owner: Mark & Jacqueline Barden

• Sold to Mark & Jacqueline Barden on 10/19/2007 for $450,000
• Sold to Catherine Austermann on 4/7/2004 for $452,500

3. Dawn L. Hochsprung (aka Dawn A. Lafferty), 48:
Spokeo says Dawn L Hochsprung is “in a relationship” w/ George Hochsprung, 71; lives at 11 Upper Cmns, Woodbury, CT 06798. VGS does not list Woodbury, CT on its online database. Trulia says 11 Upper Commons is a condo that was sold on Sept. 22, 2003 for $136,000.
Email Finder has a George Hochsprung, 71, at 4 Heather Ct, Woodbury, CT 06798. Trulia says 4 Heather Ct is a condo that was sold on Aug. 20, 2012 for $223,500.
4. Mark A., 43, & Cynthia Radley Mattioli, 42 (parents of James Mattioli, 6):
67 Great Ring Rd, Sandy Hook, CT 06482
VGS says Owner of Record: Mark & Cynthia Mattioli
Ownership History: Sold to Mark & Cynthia Mattioli on 8/3/07 for $585,000
4. Richard, 36, & Krista Rekos, 36 (parents of Jessica Rekos, 6):
5 Sweetbriar Ln, Sandy Hook, CT 06482
VGS says Owner of Record: Richard S. and Krista A. Rekos
Ownership history: Sold to Richard & Krista Rekos on 6/23/2010 530,000
5. Lauren Rousseau, 30:
Email Finder has a Lauren Gabrielle Rousseau, age 31
Address: 1 Osborne St, Danbury, CT 06810-5917
VGS says Owner of Record: Teresa B. Rousseau
Ownership history: Sold to Teresa B. Rousseau, age 63, on 6/15/1994 for $0
Trulia has no price history on this property.
6. Victoria Soto, 27:
Email Finder has a Victoria A. Soto, age 29, at 191 Sherman Ave # 1, Meriden, CT 06450-3353; and 126 Spring St, Meriden, CT 06451-5433. Meriden is 32.5mi (35 mins.) to the east of Newtown. SH school is now relocated to Monroe, CT, 6 mi south of Newtown.
7. David & Francine Wheeler (parents of Benjamin Wheeler, 6):
10 Lakeview Terrace, Sandy Hook, CT 06482
VGS says owners are David & Francine Wheeler
Ownership history:

• Sold to David & Francine Wheeler on 7/27/2007 for $365,000
• Sold to Michael Bloxam on 1/9/2004 for $162,500

Trulia has 3 sale dates: 1/9/2004 $162,500; 5/1/2000 $145,950; 9/2/1994 $85,000
8. Nancy J. Lanza, 52:
36 Yogananda St, Sandy Hook, CT 06482
VGS says owner is Nancy J. Lanza
Ownership history:

• Sold to Estate of Nancy J. Lanza on 2/1/2013 for $0
• Sold to Nancy Lanza on 2/8/2011 for $0

Trulia price history: 7/23/1998 $405,900; 7/30/1997 $99,500

TO DO THE PROPERTY SEARCHES ON VGS YOURSELF:

1. Go to Vision Government Solutions’ website: http://www.vgsi.com/vision/Applications/ParcelData/Home.aspx
2. Click “Connecticut” on left side of page. This will take you to:
3. Online Database for the cities of Connecticut:http://www.vgsi.com/vision/Applications/ParcelData/CT/Home.aspx
4. Scroll down until you see “Newtown.” Click “Newtown”.
5. This will take you to the Assessors Online Database for Newtown, CT: http://data.visionappraisal.com/NewtownCT/DEFAULT.asp
6. Click the box “Enter Online Database”.
7. You’ll be taken to the “Property Assessment Search / Newtown CT” page: http://data.visionappraisal.com/NewtownCT/search.asp
8. Type in the number and street name, then click “Search”.

TO CONCLUDE:

The homes of 15 of the 20 Sandy Hook child victims, 1-2 of the 7 adult victims, and all 6 of the Sandy Hook adult non-victims (the Phelps, Gene Rosen, the three Selectmen) have the mysterious sale date and $0 sale price.
At the very least, that is interesting. The three Selectmen are especially interesting because if the hypothesis is that the massacre was a contrived event, then Newtown’s highest governing body would have to be “in the know.”
Your guess is as good as mine as to what all those strange 12/25/2009 sale dates and $0 sale price mean. I’d appreciate input from readers of this blog who are in the real estate business and can shed some light of what the odd sale date and sale price mean.
For the links to all the posts we’ve done on Sandy Hook, go to our “Sandy Hook Massacre” page.
~Eowyn

The Best "Democracy" Money Can Buy: For Every Dollar Spent Influencing US Politics, Corporations Get $760 Back

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/16/2015  http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-16/words-greatest-investment-every-dollar-spent-influencing-us-politics-corporations-ge

The first time we read the recent analysis by the Sunlight Foundation in which it combed through 14 million corporate records, including data on campaign contributions, lobbying expenditures, federal budget allocations and spending, in order to determine the "rate of return" on lobbying and spending to buy political goodwill, we were left speechless.
To be sure, we had previously shown that when it comes to the rate of return on lobbying, the rates were simply staggering, and ranged anywhere between 5,900% for oil subsidies, to 22,000% for multinational tax breaks and even higher for America's legal drug dealers.


But nothing could prepare us for this.
According to the foundation's analysis, between 2007 and 2012, 200 of America’s most politically active corporations spent a combined $5.8 billion (with a B) on federal lobbying and campaign contributions. What they gave pales compared to what those same corporations got: $4.4 trillion (with a T) in federal business and support.
Putting that in context, the $4.4 trillion total represents two-thirds of the $6.5 trillion that individual taxpayers paid into the federal treasury. Said otherwise, by "spending: a paltry $6 billion to bribe the US government, or just a little more than what GM will spend on stock buybacks alone, US corporations are getting the direct benefit of two-thirds of US taxpayers' labor!
And here is the visual representation of this stunning finding: for every dollar spent on influencing politics, the nation’s
most politically active corporations received $760 from the government.

Which translates into an Internal Rate Of Return of, hold on to your hats folks, 75,900%!
Like we said, speechless.
* * *
Some more details from the Foundations' must read report:

Do political donors get something in return for what they give?

Four years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court suggested the answer to that question was no. Corporate spending to influence federal elections would not “give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption,” the majority wrote in the landmark Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision.

Sunlight decided to test that premise by examining influence and its potential results on federal decision makers over six years, three before the 2010 Citizens United decision and three after.

We focused on the records of 200 for-profit corporations, all of which had active political action committees and lobbyists in the 2008, 2010 and 2012 election cycles — and were among the top donors to campaign committees registered with the Federal Election Commission. Their investment in politics was enormous. There were 20,500 paying lobbying clients over the six years we examined; the 200 companies we tracked accounted for a whopping 26 percent of the total spent. On average, their PACs, employees and their family members made campaign contributions to 144 sitting members of Congress each cycle.



After examining 14 million records, including data on campaign contributions, lobbying expenditures, federal budget allocations and spending, we found that, on average, for every dollar spent on influencing politics, the nation’s most politically active corporations received $760 from the government. The $4.4 trillion total represents two-thirds of the $6.5 trillion that individual taxpayers paid into the federal treasury.

Welcome to the world of "Fixed Fortunes," a seemingly closed universe where the most persistent and savvy political players not so mysteriously have the ability to attract federal dollars regardless of who is running Washington.

It's not a "Republican" issue, nor a "Democrat" issue - it is a "Political" issue. Worse, it is a "Democracy" issue. Or lack thereof.

During the six years we studied, newly elected Democratic majorities took control in the House and Senate. Two years later, the White House shifted from Republican to Democratic control, and two years after that the GOP came back to take the House. The collapse of the housing bubble in 2007 led to massive bailout efforts by the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board, two massive stimulus bills and the loss of more than eight million jobs. Congress passed laws that overhauled health care insurance and financial industry regulation. Troops surged in Afghanistan and withdrew from Iraq. There were 16 separate “continuing resolutions” to fund the government, a debt ceiling standoff that caused a downgrade in the nation’s credit rating and a “super committee” to wrestle with the federal budget. As middle class Americans lost ground, the Fixed Fortune 200 got what they needed.

What they needed included loans that helped automakers and banks survive the recent recession while many homeowners went under. It included full funding and expansion of federal programs started in the 1930s that, year after year, decade after decade, help prop up prices for agribusinesses and secure trade deals for our biggest manufacturers. It included budget busting emergency measures that funneled extra dollars to everything from defense contractors to public utility companies to financial industry giants. The record suggests that the money corporations spend on political campaigns and Washington lobbying firms is not an unwise investment.

With a 75,900% IRR, we tend to agree.

The Fixed Fortune 200 come from a wide range of industries. There are a host of familiar names among them, like Ford Motor Company, McDonald’s and Bank of America, as well as some less famous, like MacAndrews & Forbes, the Carlyle Group and Cerberus Capital Management. (For the complete list, including what they gave and what they got, click here.) There are retailers and investment banks, construction and telecommunications firms, health insurers and gun makers, entertainment conglomerates, banks and pharmaceutical manufacturers, among others.



Overall, the Fixed Fortune 200’s PACs, employees and their family members gave $597 million to political committees and disclosed spending $5.2 billion on lobbying. They make this enormous investment in politics in large part because their businesses are inextricably entwined with government decisions — including spending decisions.

In short, government is the best "business partner" money can buy:

For example, the federal government issued contracts to purchase goods and services that totaled a little more that $3 trillion during the period; companies among the top 200 corporate political givers won $1 trillion of that, a third of the total. The Treasury Department managed $410 billion in loans and other assistance issued under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, created by Congress to cope with the 2008 financial crisis; of that amount, $298 million, about 73 percent, went to 16 firms among the Fixed Fortune 200. When the Federal Reserve took extraordinary measures in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, it funneled nearly $2.8 trillion through 29 Fixed Fortune firms. The companies that participated the most in politics got huge returns.

Of the 200 corporations we examined, we could sum the financial rewards for 179. Of those, 138 received more from the federal government than they spent on politics, 102 of them received more than 10 times what they spent on politics, and 29 received 1,000 times or more from the federal government than they invested in lobbyists or contributed to political committees via their employees, their family members and their PACs.

As for the other 21 companies on our list, while we could not quantify the financial benefits that some received, we were able to identify them. Some examples:

• Arch Coal lists the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the government corporation that’s the largest public electricity producer, as one of its three biggest customers. TVA does not release data on its coal purchases.
• Forest City Enterprises does not appear as a landlord in the Government Services Agency’s database of federal rental agreements, though its annual report notes that the U.S. government is the third-biggest customer for its pricey New York City office space.
• Occidental Petroleum has leases on federal land to extract natural gas, but the government does not release information on how much that gas is withdrawn or how much it is worth.
• And while the government has so far refused to release information on what retailers get the most purchases via food stamps, Wal-Mart went so far as to acknowledge in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that reductions in the now $78 billion-a-year Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — or food stamps — could have a significant impact on the company’s earnings, which totaled $476 billion in its most recent fiscal year.

Of the 200 companies analyzed for Fixed Fortunes, 28 are in what the money in politics research organization the Center for Responsive Politics classifies as the communications and electronics sector, 21 in healthcare, 13 in defense and aerospace, 13 agribusinesses, 11 in energy and natural resources, and 7 in transportation. The biggest sector, accounting for 48 of the 200, was finance, insurance and real estate, which is consistently the largest source of campaign funds for politicians cycle after cycle. Congress and the executive branch have paid particular attention to the industry, approving hundreds of billions in aid to help it weather the financial crisis. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve advanced trillions in credit, which the nation’s central bank hoped would trickle down through the rest of the economy.

And then there is the military industrial complex:

Weapons
manufacturers like Boeing and Lockheed Martin, both of which disclosed spending more than $10 million each year on lobbying, also made the list. So did McKesson, a pharmaceutical wholesaler that is the biggest vendor for Veterans Affairs, and the Carlyle Group, a wealth management firm started by former government insiders who invest in firms that have significant involvement with government, such as defense, telecommunications and health care.

But nothing, nothing, compares to the return that Wall Street got on their "investment" in government. And the biggest irony: some of the firms bribing, pardon, lobbying the US government and generating the greatest returns were not even American!

Companies with the biggest returns on their political investments include three foreign financial service and banking firms, UBS and Credit Suisse Group from Switzerland, and Deutsche Bank of Germany, all of which benefited from the Treasury Department’s taxpayer-financed rescue of American International Group. Investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as well as commercial banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup, Wells Fargo and Bank of America also received far more from government than they put into politics: They benefited from the bailouts of the financial industry undertaken by Treasury and the Federal Reserve.

Ironically, one thing the Fixed Fortune 200 did not do, for the most part, was take advantage of the "new opportunities" to spend on politics that the Citizens United decision afforded them.

The 200 corporate donors gave just $3 million to super PACs, with the bulk of that amount a single $2.5 million donation from Chevron to the Congressional Leadership PAC, a super PAC that’s been linked to House Speaker John Boehner. It's important to note, however, that contributions by these companies to politically active nonprofits (a category that includes the Chamber of Commerce) are impossible to track because of tax laws that allow those entities to shield donors.

And while one may be disgusted at the unprecedented crony capitalism and corruption that has taken over DC, the root of that frustration should be the very fabric of what passes for democracy in the US - a fabric that is now mutated beyond recognition in all three branches of government.

More than seven years after Washington passed the first measures to stimulate the economy as the housing bubble started to burst, more and more Americans are living on less and less, without as much savings and other assets to fall back on in hard times. Washington policies that have restored corporate profits and made the stock market boom have left much of the country behind. Perhaps that’s why a whole host of polls, from networks and news organizations and nonprofit groups, show large majorities of Americans, year after year, saying that the country is on the wrong track.

In its Citizens United decision, the court took for granted that “favoritism and influence” are inherent in electoral democracy and that “democracy is premised on responsiveness” of politicians to those who support them. We found ample evidence of that.

“The appearance of influence or access,” the court said, “will not cause the electorate to lose faith in our democracy.”

It appears that the electorate — who stayed away from the polls this year in droves — might not agree.

But don't worry: at least under Obama regime of daily choreographed distraction, gays and lesbians can legally marry, illegal immigrants will no longer be deported and women have never been more "equal" with men. Oh and the repeat invasion of Afghanistan is solely to punish a few head-cutting terrorists (who got their funding, training and weapons with the blessings of Qatar and the CIA).
And don't forget to bash that evil, evil regime in Russia where democracy is being trampled on a daily basis: the mainstream media which is also controlled by a handful of US billionaires, will have you know.
In fact, whatever you do just please ignore what is happening in the US right under everyone's noses.
And just in case what is happening is still unclear, here is the breakdown of the Top 25 contributors (full data set can be found as spreadsheet, html, or csv), or rather beneficiaries, of America's so-called "democracy."

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