Lawrence Journal-World opinion section

To the editor:

Three recent news articles caught my eye. On April 16, the Washington Post listed the 50 top political contributors, their professions and party affiliations. The next day, the KC Star ran an op-ed piece from Nicholas Kristof (NYTimes) about corporate welfare. The third, in the April 18 Journal-World, I’ll get to in a moment.

First, Kristoff: For every dollar the 50 largest corporations paid in taxes between 2008 and 2014, they got back, in federal loans, guarantees, and bailouts — drum roll please — $27. Pretty good return, $1 makes $27. But, apparently it cost them something — lobbyists. You have to spend money to make money, but once again, not a bad return. For every lobbying dollar spent, these top 50 got a return of $130 in tax breaks and $4,000 in loans, guarantees and bailouts.

The Washington Post wrote that the top 50 political contributors, totaling $249 million came largely from the ranks of hedge fund managers, banking/insurance, and the oil and gas industry. Thirteen are Democrats, one is independent,and 36 identify as Republicans.

The third article reports that 900 people were arrested in D.C. “who are protesting the influence of money in politics.” The organizing group, Democracy Awakening, counseled protesters to “bring $50 cash in anticipation of fines and arrests.”

What a waste! Doing “Top 50” math, if the protesters had spent their money on lobbyists, each $50 investment would return $200,000 in government benefits.