It's no surprise that Comcast donates money to members of Congress. Political connections come in handy for a company seeking government approval of mergers, like Comcast's 2011 purchase of NBCUniversal and its proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable (TWC).

But just how many politicians have accepted money from Comcast's political arm? In the case of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which held the first congressional hearing on the Comcast/TWC merger yesterday, the answer is all of them.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) led the way with $35,000 from the Comcast federal political action committee (PAC) between 2009 and 2014, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) received $32,500, and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) received $30,000. These figures are the combined contributions from Comcast to the senators' campaign and leadership committees. (Schumer has recused himself from the merger hearings because his brother, a lawyer, worked on the deal.)

Out of 18 committee members, 10 Democrats and eight Republicans, 17 got money from Comcast's federal PAC, according to the database at OpenSecrets.org.

Just a one-time thing

Anti-Comcast Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) isn't listed as having received anything from Comcast's PAC, but that's apparently because the database didn't take into account money collected by Franken's recount fund from when he needed a vote recount to get elected to the Senate. Franken and Comcast spokespeople confirmed to Ars that a Comcast PAC did give $5,000 to Franken's recount fund in 2009. A Los Angeles Times story from 2010 also mentions the donation.

The LA Times story notes that Franken was using his opposition to the Comcast/NBC deal to raise more campaign funds. A Franken spokesperson told the newspaper at the time that there were no plans to return the donation, saying, "He campaigned pretty clearly that he was going to stand up to special interests."

The Comcast donation came through on Oct. 30, 2009, after the election recount was settled but while Franken was still paying off campaign debt. Comcast had previously given to Franken's opponent, Republican Norm Coleman.

Separately from Comcast's PAC, Franken has received $15,050 from Comcast employees since 2009. His popularity with Comcast's overlords have obviously gone downhill since the recount fund donation, though. He argued yesterday that the Comcast/TWC merger would stifle competition and lead to higher prices and worse service for consumers.

“There’s no doubt that Comcast is a huge, influential corporation, and I understand that there are over 100 lobbyists making the case for this deal to members of Congress and our staffs,” Franken said during the hearing. "But I’ve also heard from over 100,000 consumers who oppose this deal, and I think their voices need to be heard, too.”

Exercising its political rights

Comcast has a website describing its political activity, saying, "Comcast exercises its fundamental right and responsibility to participate in the political process... Political contributions are made from employee-funded political action committees ('PAC') that are sponsored by Comcast. The Comcast PACs are operated by a board of directors, chaired by the Executive Vice President. When permitted by law, political contributions are also made out of corporate funds."

Donations are given through PACs because "corporations are barred from direct contributions at the federal level by law," a Comcast spokesperson told Ars.

With data from OpenSecrets, here is a look at Comcast PAC donations to Senate Judiciary Committee members between 2009 and 2014 (Cruz, Hirono, and Flake were first elected to the Senate in 2012). These numbers are the sum of donations to each senator's campaign committee and leadership PAC (Franken's recount fund is not included).



Comcast PAC donations to Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats Chuck Schumer, New York: $35,000

Patrick Leahy, Vermont, Chairman: $32,500

Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island: $26,500

Chris Coons, Delaware: $25,000

Dick Durbin, Illinois: $23,000

Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota: $22,500

Dianne Feinstein, California: $18,500

Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut: $11,500

Mazie Hirono, Hawaii: $5,000

Al Franken, Minnesota: $0 Comcast PAC donations to Republicans Orrin Hatch, Utah: $30,000

Chuck Grassley, Iowa, Ranking Member: $28,500

John Cornyn, Texas: $21,000

Lindsey Graham, South Carolina: $13,500

Jeff Sessions, Alabama: $10,000

Mike Lee, Utah: $8,500

Ted Cruz, Texas: $2,500

Jeff Flake, Arizona: $1,000

Win some, lose some

Comcast's money has been well spent in some cases. Hatch argued yesterday that antitrust laws shouldn't advantage or disadvantage specific competitors.

"Some of my friends here today have never met a merger they've liked," Hatch said. "The markets for both video services and broadband Internet are both dynamic and innovative with new entrants and evolving technologies. Government regulators must be especially careful not to intervene unwisely in such technologically dynamic markets... Five years ago many believed that no one could compete effectively against the Bells. Today some suggest that no one will be able to compete effectively against cable in providing broadband."

Sen. Grassley's opening statement and questions to witnesses suggest that he isn't reflexively for or against the merger.

"Comcast and Time Warner control a significant amount of the cable infrastructure that Americans use to access high-speed Internet," Grassley said. "They control the cable lines that go directly into people’s homes. So there’s a lot of interest in what will happen if the two companies merge. Consumers want to know whether a combined Comcast-Time Warner will be in a better position to expand high-speed Internet access. What will Comcast-Time Warner do to their cable bills? Are prices going to increase? Will they have more content choices? People want to know what this will do to the industry. Will the merger inhibit growth and deployment of broadband services? Will it enhance competition with companies like Dish Network and Google Fiber? What are the downstream effects of the merger? What are the implications of the merger for open access and peering? Consumers care about their options, the quality of their cable access, and the price that they pay."

Grassley also asked Comcast whether it would charge smaller content providers more to be carried on Comcast's TV service after a merger. Comcast Executive VP David Cohen said not to worry. "Over the last decade our programming costs have gone up 98 percent while our cable rates have gone up at basically half that rate," he said. "It shows you the balance of power in the market, where programmers have more power at the negotiating table."

Cohen personally contributed to two Senate Judiciary Committee members last year, sending $1,000 to Cruz and $2,600 to Coons.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, one of the top recipients of Comcast cash, criticized the state of competition in the broadband market.

"In 1996, I voted against the Telecommunications Act in part because of concerns I had about the lack of competition in the cable TV market," he said. "Along with many consumers, I continue to be concerned. Similar questions are now being raised about the broadband industry, where consumers feel like they face large bills and inadequate choices." Leahy also questioned TWC about the golden parachutes that will give tens of millions of dollars to executives if the merger is approved. Klobuchar, who got $22,500 from Comcast's PAC, questioned the company about data caps, usage-based pricing, and its recent deal to charge Netflix for a connection to its network. "Why charge both Netflix and your consumers for this service?" Klobuchar asked Cohen. Lee, who received $8,500 from Comcast's PAC, was skeptical of the acquisition, saying the broadband market doesn't have enough competition. Comcast and TWC together would have nearly half of the country's high-speed Internet access customers, he said. (A New York Times story quotes merger critics saying the companies' share of 25Mbps and up service would top 50 percent.) Comcast argues that it would control less than 30 percent of the multi-channel video market after the merger. Blumenthal, who got $11,500 from Comcast's PAC, said he's worried a merged Comcast and TWC will overcharge rivals for sports programming, given that the two companies own 16 regional sports networks combined. Comcast employees open their wallets, too In addition to money from Comcast PACs, OpenSecrets tracks donations from Comcast employees. Here's a look:

Comcast employee donations to Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats: Chris Coons, Delaware: $44,200

Chuck Schumer, New York: $31,600

Dick Durbin, Illinois: $30,400

Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota: $23,123

Sheldon Whitehouse, Rhode Island: $22,331

Patrick Leahy, Vermont, Chairman: $15,250

Al Franken, Minnesota: $15,050

Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut: $14,000

Dianne Feinstein, California: $6,025

Mazie Hirono, Hawaii: $4,500 Comcast employee donations to Republicans: Orrin Hatch, Utah: $23,750

Chuck Grassley, Iowa, Ranking Member: $3,000

Lindsey Graham, South Carolina: $2,000

Jeff Sessions, Alabama: $0

John Cornyn, Texas: $0

Mike Lee, Utah: $0

Ted Cruz, Texas: $0

Jeff Flake, Arizona: $0

These can vary a lot depending on the state, although senators on average receive 51 percent of their donations from outside their states, according to Maplight.org, which also tracks campaign finance data.

Maplight analyzed Comcast's contributions to Congress between 2001 and 2012, finding that the company is one of the biggest corporate donors to members of Congress.

"House members of the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology received $853,525 from Comcast" in that time period, while "Contributions from Comcast to House members serving in the 109th, 110th, 111th and 112th Congresses total $6,678,446," Maplight reported. That subcommittee, which oversees the FCC, held a hearing on the Comcast/NBCUniversal merger in 2010 but hasn't announced plans for a hearing on the TWC deal yet. The House Judiciary Committee scheduled a hearing on the merger for May 8.

Comcast also spent $18.8 million on lobbying last year.

Congress won't actually decide whether Comcast and TWC get to merge. That will be up to the FCC and Justice Department. Still, "Congressional reaction will tend to influence how the agencies react," wrote Harold Feld, senior VP of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge.