All about the Benjamins

Money and politics -- they go together like bread and cheese, burgers and fries, Laverne & Shirley. And now it's easy to see who is getting the green, and from whom. The Center for Public Integrity launched a fun site called The Buying of the President 2008 where you can, among other things, access the campaign finance records of the major presidential candidates, see who is handing out the big bucks, and read an anecdotal history of money in American politics called the Hannah Project.

Fun facts gleaned from the site:

In the general election campaign of Kennedy v. Nixon in 1960 both sides spent a combined $24 million, which would be the the equivalent of $160 million in today’s dollars.

Nearly $190,000 flowed into Republican Mike Huckabee’s war chest overnight after his victory in the Iowa caucuses, according to before-and-after tallies on the campaign’s website. (Guess it didn't help to get him New Hampshire.)

Mike Gravel has only three major campaign consultants and staffers to Obama's five gazillon. (That's hyperbole).

The site is a helpful clearinghouse of FEC filings of the campaign, but you do have to hunt around to find them. And I would have liked to see more on donors. As it was just a few of the biggies are listed.