Monday, January 27, 2014

Okay. So, Where Did Merck's Political Action Committee Send All Its Money -- In 2013?


Need something warm, cozy and. . . romantic. . . to curl up with, and read, all about -- on this frigid night for the bulk of the nation?

Well, have I got just the thing for you!

If you click this link, you will be able to see the full html file of Merck's 2013 FEC LD-203 Form. It was filed about two hours ago, now, by Whitehouse Station.

That LD-203 lists, by name and dollar amount donated, every political campaign to which the Merck Empoyees' PAC donated money, last year. The full legal name of the filing entity is the "Merck & Co., Inc., Employees Political Action Committee". Enjoy!

To be clear, this LD-203 is sort of the converse of the lobbyist spending (on Form LD-2), I detailed here, and later updated, here. And here's an educated guess at what the rate of return has been, on that $50 million spent, just over the last five years (hint: it was astronomical). [Still, don't get your knickers in a twist about it, just yet. There will be a more complete, and detailed analysis in the next few days -- right here -- about the positions taken by the representatives listed as receiving money, on the just-filed LD-203.]

We will be up early here, tomorrow, scouring the Pfizer 2013 year end earnings release and call -- for hints about Merck's overall 2013 trendlines -- come abut a week from now. Stay warm!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very sad considering that Merck was also #1 in layoffs:

http://www.fiercepharma.com/special-reports/top-10-largest-pharma-layoffs-2013


When it comes to pharma layoffs, Merck ($MRK) is a repeat chart-topper. After leading the layoffs list in 2011 with announced cuts of 12,000 to 13,000, Merck once again claimed the No. 1 spot this year with the news that it would shed 8,500 positions from its R&D and commercial operations. The R&D cuts come not long after Merck brought on new research chief Roger Perlmutter, who previously held the post at Amgen ($AMGN).


Condor said...

Indeed. We have noted that sad truth before here -- but you are quite astute to link the two... Thank you for doing so -- do stop back!

Namaste