Context:
Rep. Jamaal Bowman loses New York primary to pro-Israel George Latimer, most expensive primary race ever
this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2024
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Yes, but those figures are very broad and primarily involve activities related to public relations, tourism and trade agreements. AIPAC is different.
Not only does AIPAC directly involve itself in US elections, it is not registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which puts tighter scrutiny on where the money comes from and how it is spent.
Sure, but even in other categories AIPAC is far from a top-player from what I understand.
Here are the numbers for the 2022 cycle, since 2024 isn't done yet I found 2022 more relevant.
Here is the section for the "Pro-Israel" Interest Group, which includes other groups than AIPAC. It still totals 44m$ for 2022.
Here is the page for Lobbying -> Single Issue category, for 2022. Here also, "Pro-Israel" is far from a top player. The "Human Rights" category, which many say is pretty much opposite of what Israel's governement is doing these days, outspends them 16 to 1.
So everything I've seen so far really doesn't push me to believe that they have such a massive influence that OP or whoever that Cenk Uygur guy is can honestly say "AIPAC controls everything". Unless someone can show me there are numbers that are not taken into account in OpenSecrets (and then, if that's the case, give me a comparison in how other groups use those alternative channels), then this is basically antisemitism ("Jews control the world") from OP and Cenk, currently upvoted at +200.
You said "sure" but then went straight back to the Opensecrets rankings... You're glossing over the point.
AIPAC receives it's donations from inside the US, from pro-Israel Americans. Because the group is funded by private donors rather than the Israeli government or a foreign group, it does not need to be registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, so less oversight is given to where the money comes from and how it is spent.
What other foreign nation lobbying group donates $14M to the opponent of a congressman and pays for attack ads against him to hurt his chances in an upcoming election? It's unprecedented.
Also, it's worth noting that AIPAC takes money from anybody who is Pro-Israel, whether they be Jewish or not. There more Zionist Christians that Jews in America, in terms of pure numbers.
Sorry for the delayed answer.
I fail to see how using OpenSecrets is a problem. Be it private donors or foreign groups/governements, all the money is (officially) there, is that not so?
Because in the comment you are answering to, the comparisons are done also against groups funded by private donors. Which should also not be registered under the act. And again, those other groups massively outspend the pro-Israel ones.
I have honestly no idea? But from my understanding, any other random lobbying group could also do the same, if they had an interest into it. Hell, maybe they do already but there has been no reporting on it because it's less interesting if it's the NRA or Lockheed-Martin?