So when we were watching the documentary Sicko (directed by Michael Moore) I had a thought (oh great).  I wanted to know how much money the healthcare industry contributes to Congress annually.  I also thought it would be interesting to compare the differences in off-year elections to the Presidential election years.  With a little research I came across a great website that had the information I wanted to know. 

The Opensecrets.org website has charts and graphs that help explain how much money is contributed to political parties yearly.  Since we are studying healthcare the following link will take you to the health care portion of the website.  It is very interesting to see just how much money the health care industries contribute to politicians and parties. 

In the right hand column there is a dropdown box that will let you explore other sectors such as energy, defense, and so forth.  There is a wealth of information on this website that will help you better understand not only politics but the influence that both public and private industry has on elections, political parties, and recipients.  One cannot underestimate the influence of lobbyists in today's government either.

Pay close attention in particular to the charts on contribution trends and party split found here.  Very interesting to look at election years and contributions and how they seem to go up.  Also look at who receives more of the contributions-Republicans and Democrats.  Can you figure out why?