Talking about money

Jonathan Kaplan -- The Hill:

Hollywood celebrities and prominent corporate executives have poured thousands of dollars into the campaign of former Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Texas) to knock off Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas).

Screenwriter and producer Norman Lear, director Rob Reiner, actress and singer Barbara Streisand and musician Don Henley have written checks to Lampson, according to politicalmoneyline.com, a website that tracks campaign contributions.

Reiner and Streisand kicked in $1,000, and Lear and Henley sent Lampson $4,200.


...

Lampson also has scooped up money from the chief executives of major corporations. Andrew Rappaport, a major investor and philanthropist, and his wife, Deborah, donated $2,100 each. Lawrence Tesler, CEO of Yahoo; Arnold Hiatt, CEO of the Stride Rite Foundation; and Richard Thalheimer, CEO of the Sharper Image; and George Zimmer, CEO of Men’s Wearhouse, wrote $1,000 checks to Lampson.

Former politicians, such as, Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), have helped out as well.

Daschle directed $10,000 from his leftover campaign chest to Lampson, and Sen. Dennis DeConcini (D-Ariz.), Rep. Vic Fazio (D-Calif.) and Rep. John LaFalce (D-N.Y.) each sent $1,000 checks. President Clinton's first chief of staff, Mack McClarty, gave $500.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) have contributed $10,000 each from their leadership PACs, and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) has donated $5,000.

Leonard Nimoy also donated to Lampson, I saw on Lampson's list. I guess Mr. Spock doesn't like DeLay.

I think it's fair to say that one of the left's big goals this election cycle is to defeat DeLay. So it's not too much of a surprise to see Hollywood donating to Lampson.

Meanwhile, DeLay's camp claims that:

60% of DeLay's money is from TX, 40% from outside
30% of Lampson's money is from TX; 70% percent from outside

I didn't check those numbers (you think I want to sit around with a spreadsheet?), but they looked about right after I flipped through the campaign finance reports.

I feel fairly confident that we will see these numbers again in a television screen nearest you.