What are the most powerful Special Interests in the USA?

[Blue3]

What are the most powerful Special Interests in the USA?

Let's go with ranking the top 5-10.



For some examples:

Banks and other financial institutions
Pharmaceutical companies
Oil companies
Gas companies
Insurance companies
Agricultural companies (like Monsanto)
Electronics/Internet companies (like Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft)
Tobacco companies
Candy/Soda/FastFood companies
Military contractors & arms manufacturers
Automobile companies
Steel companies
Labor unions
Gay rights organizations
Environmentalist organizations
Media/newspaper/news organizations
Chamber of Commerce
National Rifle Association
AIPAC
etc.

[i4indyguy]

 Notably absent from your list (which was very good) would be AARP.

I would go with...

1)AARP
2) Wall street/financial industry
3) AIPAC
4) NRA
5) Teachers Unions
6) Fossil fuel extraction industry
7) Silicon Valley.

My reasoning for placing AARP, teachers unions, and AIPAC  so highly? There are very few special interests in Washington that do not have an opposite interest fighting against policy. It is also rare to see such an imbalance of voting power, fundraising clout, and public opinion that genuinely scares law makers.

For reasons religious and cultural, the united states has some 'special bond' with Israel. The influence of pro-Israeli policy concerns crosses bipartisan lines (jewish money on the left, Judeo-Cristian values on the right).  What opposes their interests? CAIR? Center for American Islamic relations? Please. 5% as powerful. If that.

I would say that wall street, the NRA, and the Fossil fuel industry have lost clout in recent years, though not because they are any poorer or less organized.  Both bankers (Sen Warren) the NRA (mass shootings) and FF (global climate change) have had to confront the rise of well funded opposition views.

Teachers unions still remain powerful, though only within the dems.
My reason for putting AARP #1 is that they have successfully chopped the entitlement reform agenda of at its knees. There have been absolutely no high profile politicians willing to discuss ANY changes to Medicare or SS without grandfathering in everybody within 15 years of retirement and benefits.   This is a phenominal win, that nobody talks about.  It also means any entitlement reform won't be helpful until it is FAR FAR too late.

[dead0man]

Top Organization Contributors


...nobody is going to have a problem with that at all!

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

Top Organization Contributors


...nobody is going to have a problem with that at all!

There's giving money and then there's successfully getting sympathetic policy passed.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The top two are the Military industrial complex / AIPAC and Wall Street.

[Asian Nazi]

Didn't you guys hear David Duke?  It's The Jews.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

1) Tie: Wallstreet & Grover Norquist
2) Hillary Clinton
3) Oil companies
4) Hillary Clinton
5) NRA
6) Hillary Clinton
7) AARP
8) Hillary Clinton
9) The Media
10) Hillary Clinton
11) Military Contractors
12) Hillary Clinton
13) Insurance Companies
14) Hillary Clinton
15) LGBT Groups
16) NARAL Pro-Choice America
17) Hillary Clinton

[This account no longer in use.]

1) Tie: Wallstreet & Grover Norquist
2) Hillary Clinton
3) Oil companies
4) Hillary Clinton
5) NRA
6) Hillary Clinton
7) AARP
Hillary Clinton
9) The Media
10) Hillary Clinton
11) Military Contractors
12) Hillary Clinton
13) Insurance Companies
14) Hillary Clinton
15) LGBT Groups
16) NARAL Pro-Choice America
17) Hillary Clinton

Impressive subtlety.

[Illiniwek]

Banks and other financial institutions
Tobacco companies
Military contractors & arms manufacturers
Chamber of Commerce
National Rifle Association

in some order.

[Vega]

Tobacco companies

They've been doing a really shoddy job at actually getting what they want done, though.

[dead0man]

Banks and other financial institutions
Tobacco companies
Military contractors & arms manufacturers
Chamber of Commerce
National Rifle Association

in some order.

While there are problems with just going off the list I posted, you can't ignore unions and their HUGE political contributions.  One of the two big teachers unions has more power than the NRA and all the tobacco companies combined.

[SATW]

AARP, NRA, AIPAC, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, Defense Contractors, Abortion groups (both sides), LGBT Equality pressure groups (Pro and Anti LGBT), Unions, Chamber of Commerce but there's some key ones missing.

The Armenian Lobby
Big Pharma
The Saudi Lobby (http://www.commondreams.org/views/2007/04/17/vast-power-saudi-lobby)
Healthcare companies
insurance companies
Trial Lawyers (conveniently left off by the left-leaning posters, of course)

[SATW]

Tobacco companies

They've been doing a really shoddy job at actually getting what they want done, though.

In regards to fighting against E cigs they've been somewhat successful, I feel.

[SATW]

The Car Dealership lobby is influential in states like North Carolina.
Uber and the Taxi Unions are also going at it constantly.

[SATW]

Notably absent from your list (which was very good) would be AARP.

I would go with...

1)AARP
2) Wall street/financial industry
3) AIPAC
4) NRA
5) Teachers Unions
6) Fossil fuel extraction industry
7) Silicon Valley.

My reasoning for placing AARP, teachers unions, and AIPAC  so highly? There are very few special interests in Washington that do not have an opposite interest fighting against policy. It is also rare to see such an imbalance of voting power, fundraising clout, and public opinion that genuinely scares law makers.

For reasons religious and cultural, the united states has some 'special bond' with Israel. The influence of pro-Israeli policy concerns crosses bipartisan lines (jewish money on the left, Judeo-Cristian values on the right).  What opposes their interests? CAIR? Center for American Islamic relations? Please. 5% as powerful. If that.

I would say that wall street, the NRA, and the Fossil fuel industry have lost clout in recent years, though not because they are any poorer or less organized.  Both bankers (Sen Warren) the NRA (mass shootings) and FF (global climate change) have had to confront the rise of well funded opposition views.

Teachers unions still remain powerful, though only within the dems.
My reason for putting AARP #1 is that they have successfully chopped the entitlement reform agenda of at its knees. There have been absolutely no high profile politicians willing to discuss ANY changes to Medicare or SS without grandfathering in everybody within 15 years of retirement and benefits.   This is a phenominal win, that nobody talks about.  It also means any entitlement reform won't be helpful until it is FAR FAR too late.

Those are the same Group, bro. But, there is a powerful Arab Lobby in the U.S. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/08/24/the-arab-lobby-in-america-alan-dershowitz.html (here's a good article on it.  I wouldn't go as far to say it's more powerful then the Israeli lobby (because it's clearly not...), but the Arab lobby most certainly is a thing.

As I stated the Saudi Lobby is pretty dang powerful, and it's a large chunk of the Arab Lobbying force. And that's the key to understanding the Arab Lobby. Arab-Americans don't really have a strong lobby (they have the Arab American Institute, AAI, but it's  not even close to being super big) but Arab countries do.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar being the three players that are around the most.

[Santander]

Women.

[SATW]

Also, unrelated, but AIPAC isn't the only Pro-Israel lobbying organization. There are multiple smaller ones, most on the hawkish side, but some on the left.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

The prison industrial complex is definitely up there.

[SATW]

The prison industrial complex is definitely up there.

^ Good one. Forgot about this one.

[tallguy23]

The top 3 are probably:

1. AARP (old people vote and defend their interests)
2. Financial industry (they have the moolah)
3. NRA (they will "shoot" you down if you vote against them)

[i4indyguy]

 CAIR? Center for American Islamic relations?

Those are the same Group, bro. But, there is a powerful Arab Lobby in the U.S. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/08/24/the-arab-lobby-in-america-alan-dershowitz.html (here's a good article on it.  I wouldn't go as far to say it's more powerful then the Israeli lobby (because it's clearly not...), but the Arab lobby most certainly is a thing.

As I stated the Saudi Lobby is pretty dang powerful, and it's a large chunk of the Arab Lobbying force. And that's the key to understanding the Arab Lobby. Arab-Americans don't really have a strong lobby (they have the Arab American Institute, AAI, but it's  not even close to being super big) but Arab countries do.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar being the three players that are around the most.

Ah, yes. I know. Perhaps i could have used the punctuation better.

[Orser67]

It's hard to say, because you have to compare:
1)Special intersests who are an integral component of one party,
versus
2)Special interests who have bipartisan power

Top 3 partisan lobbies:

1)NRA (Republicans)
2)Teacher's unions (Democrats)
3)Koch Bros. Network (Republicans)

Top 3 non-partisan lobbies:

1)AARP
2)Israeli lobby (although it's becoming increasingly more Republican)
3)Wall Street