john-thune telecom net-neutrality insurance pharma att comcast verizon class-analysis
related: _John Thune Master Profile
donors: PhRMA · (Telecom industry — AT&T, Verizon, Comcast) · (Insurance industry)
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The Telecom-Insurance-Pharma Donor Architecture
Money
John Thune’s corporate donor base reveals the gap between the “South Dakota values” brand and the actual interests his office serves. ISPs (AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Sinclair) have contributed $928,000+ over his career — making him one of the highest Senate recipients of telecom money. Insurance industry: $233,500 in PAC contributions plus $127,600 from individuals ($361,100 total in 2022 cycle alone). Pharmaceutical CEOs donated $35,000+ in a single month (February 2022): Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla ($5,800), Gilead CEO Daniel O’Day ($5,800), Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks ($2,900). NextEra Energy: nearly $300,000 since 2016 (largest single corporate donor). Finance sector: Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Blackstone, Capital Group. The agricultural state senator’s top donors are telecom, insurance, pharma, energy, and Wall Street — not farmers.
Net Neutrality: The $928,000 Policy
Thune has been described as “one of the telecom industry’s policy protagonists” on net neutrality. His record:
- Opposed Obama-era FCC net neutrality rules (2015)
- Voted against Congressional Review Act resolution to restore net neutrality
- Led 40+ colleagues opposing Biden FCC’s reinstatement of net neutrality rules (2024)
- Criticized “heavy-handed net neutrality scheme”
- Proposed “bipartisan legislative approach” instead of FCC regulation — a framing that delays action indefinitely while ISPs operate without rules
The $928,000+ in ISP donations purchased a senator who frames deregulation as moderation. The “bipartisan” alternative he proposes has never materialized in 10 years of promises — because the absence of regulation IS the policy his donors want.
Insurance and the ACA
Insurance PAC contributions ($233,500) and individual insurance donors ($127,600) fund a senator who calls the ACA a “failed program” that “drives premiums up.” As Majority Leader, Thune stated the Republican health plan would “bring insurance premiums down” and “get us away from giving money to insurance companies” — while his donor base IS the insurance companies.
Contradiction
Thune’s anti-ACA rhetoric frames insurance companies as the problem (“giving money to insurance companies”) while those same insurance companies fund his campaigns ($361K in 2022 alone). The rhetorical trick: attack the subsidy structure (which helps consumers buy insurance) while protecting the deregulatory environment (which lets insurers charge what they want). The insurance donors fund the senator who opposes the regulations that constrain them.
The Pharma CEO Month
In February 2022, Thune received $35,000+ from pharmaceutical company CEOs in a single month. The donors included the CEOs of three of the world’s largest drugmakers. The timing preceded Senate negotiations on drug pricing provisions in what became the Inflation Reduction Act. Thune opposed the IRA’s drug pricing provisions — which allowed Medicare to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies for the first time.