Union Power

By far the largest political spender for the 2007-08 election cycle was the National Education Association, with more than $56.3 million in contributions, reports the Education Intelligence Agency, which keeps an eye on the teacher unions: "Just to put this in perspective, America's two teachers' unions outspent AT&T, Goldman Sachs, Wal-Mart, Microsoft, General Electric, Chevron, Pfizer, Morgan Stanley, Lockheed Martin, FedEx, Boeing, Merrill Lynch, Exxon Mobil, Lehman Brothers, and the Walt Disney Corporation, combined."