Hundreds of Political Action Committees (PACs) have contributed to Tom Reed. These PACS collect money from many donors and distribute some of it to many recipients. I picked one PAC to study –“What a Country! PAC.” Here is what I learned:

• WHAT A COUNTRY! PAC
• Location: ATHENS, GA 30605
• Affiliate: Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla)
• Contributes only to Republicans
• Spent 60% of expenditures on administration and fundraising.
• Contributed $3000 to Tom Reed
• The largest contribution to “What a Country! PAC” was from reality interests.
• Many contributors to What a Country! also contributed directly to Tom Reed or indirectly through other PACs. For example, Honeywell International contributed $7500 directly to Tom Reed and also contributed $10,000 to “What a Country! PAC.”

One thing is clear–these contributors have no interest in local politics, these contributions are to secure Tom’s concern for their specific interests. Money is laundered thru a befuddling network of PACs. Rather than Lincoln’s ideal, they represent government of, by, and for special interests–“pay to play.”

HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE TOM REED FOR CONGRESS GENERALDC04/23/2018$2,500.00

HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE TOM REED FOR CONGRESS PRIMARYDC11/17/2017$2,500.00

HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE TOM REED FOR CONGRESS PRIMARYDC02/28/2017$2,500.00

https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?cycle=2018&strID=C00571646

https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?two_year_transaction_period=2018&data_type=processed&committee_id=C00464032&min_date=01%2F01%2F2017&max_date=09%2F17%2F2018