{"id":25721,"date":"2023-03-31T20:41:15","date_gmt":"2023-04-01T03:41:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=25721"},"modified":"2023-03-31T20:41:18","modified_gmt":"2023-04-01T03:41:18","slug":"these-are-the-u-s-senators-who-have-taken-the-most-money-from-the-nra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/03\/31\/these-are-the-u-s-senators-who-have-taken-the-most-money-from-the-nra\/","title":{"rendered":"These Are the U.S. Senators Who Have Taken the Most Money from the NRA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u00a0March 28, 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Katie Couric Media<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Share<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pro-gun group\u2019s grip on the GOP holds tight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A familiar routine is already playing out after the horrific shooting<\/a> at an elementary school in Nashville: Politicians are calling for thoughts and prayers, and insisting we must find a way to prevent this unfathomable bloodshed from happening again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is, many of those elected officials have gotten into their prestigious positions thanks to the gun lobby, and their campaigns have pocketed millions of dollars from groups whose sole purpose is blocking the kind of meaningful legislation that could potentially curb this violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Open Secrets, a nonpartisan, independent and nonprofit research group that tracks money in U.S. politics, compiled a database of the senators who have taken the most cash from the National Rifle Association<\/a> as of the 118th Congress. As you\u2019ll see below, the numbers are pretty staggering. Here\u2019s a look at the top 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senators Who Get Funding from the NRA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Mitt Romney, Utah: $13,645,387<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Thom Tillis, North Carolina: $5,611,796<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Joni Ernst, Iowa: $3,688,078<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Marco Rubio, Florida: $3,303,355<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Todd Young, Indiana: $2,902,182<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Bill Cassidy, Louisiana: $2,864,547<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Ron Johnson, Wisconsin: $2,624,228<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Tom Cotton, Arkansas: $1,973,201<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Ted Budd, North Carolina: $1,828,893<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Josh Hawley, Missouri: $1,391,548<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The database contains information on all the current members of Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other influential lawmakers made the list: Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, who has directed much of the GOP\u2019s congressional strategy over the last several years, ranked 11th. According to Open Secrets, McConnell has accepted $1,329,699 from the NRA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s also worth noting that many of these senators are from states that have been seriously affected by mass shootings. Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn came in 12th with $1,306,130.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NRA occupies an interesting place in the debate about guns in the United States. It\u2019s widely regarded as the most influential firearm-related group in the country, and it spends serious money (an estimated $250 million in 2020 alone<\/a>), but its membership numbers are murky. Leadership has boasted for many years that the organization has around five million members, but investigations into its tax filings<\/a> have indicated the total number of members hasn\u2019t been so consistent and likely peaked around 2007.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action<\/a>, recently spoke to Katie<\/a> about the NRA\u2019s waning influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was once the most powerful, most wealthy special interest that\u2019s ever existed, and last year, they attempted to declare bankruptcy <\/a>and failed,\u201d Watts said. \u201cA lot of really interesting facts about the corruption of the organization became very clear, around misusing its members\u2019 dollars, spending money on lavish vacations and personal wardrobes, spending very little money on training and safety. They are a lobbying organization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet, even if the NRA is<\/em> fading, the iron grip of the gun lobby hasn\u2019t loosened. Watts says that\u2019s because NRA talking points have been adopted by \u2014 and expanded by \u2014 extremists who continue to push the envelope in terms of inserting firearms into the very fabric of American culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBack when I started Moms Demand Action, I think we thought that once we defeated the NRA \u2014 and they\u2019re pretty powerless at this point \u2014 that we will have won,\u201d Watts said. \u201cAnd what we have seen is that this extremist agenda has actually been co-opted by right-wing groups in this country, and is part of their own policy platform now, separate from the NRA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the NRA\u2019s lingering power, 71 percent of Americans believe gun laws should be tighter<\/a> \u2014 and this includes almost half<\/em> of Republicans, according to a poll by the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0March 28, 2023 By Katie Couric Media Share The pro-gun group\u2019s grip on the GOP holds tight. A familiar routine is already playing out after the horrific shooting at an elementary school in Nashville: Politicians are calling for thoughts and prayers, and insisting we must find a way to prevent this unfathomable bloodshed… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[338],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25721"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25721"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25723,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25721\/revisions\/25723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}