Presidential Pipeline: Bush's top fund-raisers see spoils of victory

First of a series

Sunday, December 18, 2005

By Jim Tankersley, Joshua Boak and Christopher D. Kirkpatrick,

The Toledo Blade


President Bush's corporate champions see the spoils of his administration in coal. And timber. And credit-card payments, Afghan electric lines, Japanese bank transfers and fake crab.

America's business leaders supplied more than $75 million to return Mr. Bush to the White House last year -- and he has paid dividends.

Bush administration policies, grand and obscure, have financially benefited companies or lobbying clients tied to at least 200 of the president's largest campaign fund-raisers, a Toledo Blade investigation has found. Dozens more stand to gain from Bush-backed initiatives that recently passed or await congressional approval.