By Brad Friedman on 5/7/2010, 4:04pm PT  

Two quickie items from Public Citizen's latest DontGetRolled.org "e-newsletter about the movement to curb corporate influence in politics and restore our democracy," as brought to my attention by Ernie Canning today...

Stunning Statistic of the Week:

  • $75 million: The liability cap for BP for the Gulf oil spill, for damages such as lost wages and economic suffering
  • $5.6 billion: BP's first-quarter profits, a 135 percent increase over the first quarter of 2009

...
Election spending by third parties and special interest groups is up dramatically
Spending by independent and third-party groups on TV ads for seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate are nearly four times the amount from four years ago - $48 million vs. $11.2 million, reports the Campaign Media Analysis Group, an organization that tracks political spending. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is one of the big spenders, as is the conservative group Americans for Job Security.

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