Sox First

Who are BP's preferred politicians? Take a look at the campaign contributions and you will see that President Obama heads the list.

Paul Barton at CNC News reports that the Center for Responsive Politics has found that BP has given $6.2 million to nearly 1OOO candidates for federal office over the past 20 years and the biggest slice of the money went to Obama. He got $77,000 from BP, most of it coming during his run for the White House.

Maybe that shouldn't be surprising given that Obama was raising more money than anyone else. But then, equally as concerning is the amount of money BP has funneled into Congress, particularly members of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

Elizabeth Wynne Johnson at Capitol News Connection says campaign contributions from BP are likely to become an electoral liability the congressional races.

There is no doubting the political power of Big Oil and with BP, it's an old story. Those who bother reading history might recall that BP's original name was the Anglo-Persian Oil Company which later became the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company which later morphed into BP. That company made big money out of the 1953 coup in Iran that came about with the aid of the CIA and the Eisenhower administration. That coup installed the oil industry's corporate-friendly shah as the leader of Iran. That set the stage for the Iranian hostage crisis and the widespread anger against Britain and America that continues and grows in the Middle East today.

BP helped create the tensions in the Middle East that are destabilizing the world today. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is part of the same story.

• Corrupt bank bailouts
• Campaign contributions and share price
• BP's greenwash campaign
• The Supremes suck up to big business