Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., attends a meeting with Elton John after The Elton John AIDS Foundation and UNAIDS breakfast at the Russell Senate Office Building on July 24, 2012 in Washington, D.C. (credit: Michael Kovac/Getty Images for The Elton John AIDS Foundation)
WASHINGTON (CBSDC) – Several top Democrats have taken campaign contributions from Bain Capital, despite President Obama lashing out at Mitt Romney’s time there.
Open Secrets – a non-partisan organization – released on its website a list of 15 Democrats the private equity firm has donated to, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Sens. John Kerry and Al Franken.
Kerry has taken the most money from Bain Capital among his Democratic colleagues, a whopping $76,000 from 2007. Bain was easily Kerry’s top campaign contributor as next in line was Beacon Capital Partners, from which he received $51,500.
Pelosi – the former House majority leader – has received $10,000 from Bain since last year for her campaign. In total, Pelosi has received over $1,000,000 in corporate donations.
Bain has donated $15,000 to Franken – the former “Saturday Night Live” comedian turned Minnesota senator – since 2007.
Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill got $22,500 from Romney’s former equity firm for her campaign war chest.
Other Democrats who have received campaign contributions include Jack Reed, Richard Blumenthal, Sheldon Whitehouse, Michael F. Bennet, Mark Warner, and Mark Udall. Bain even previously contributed to the campaigns of former Rep. Anthony Weiner and Sen. Ted Kennedy.
Obama – who has attacked Romney’s time at Bain – has also received money from the private equity firm. According to The Hill, the president has received more than $80,000 from Bain employees since 2007.
During an interview with CBS News last month, Obama said it was “appropriate” to look at Romney’s record at Bain.
“When some people question why I would challenge his Bain record, the point I’ve made there in the past is, if you’re a head of a large private equity firm or hedge fund, your job is to make money,” Obama told CBS News. “It’s not to create jobs. It’s not even to create a successful business – it’s to make sure that you’re maximizing returns for your investor. Now that’s appropriate. That’s part of the American way. That’s part of the system. But that doesn’t necessarily make you qualified to think about the economy as a whole, because as president, my job is to think about the workers. My job is to think about communities, where jobs have been outsourced.”



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