$: an update [revised]

As of most recent bank statement, received today:
$10 to DSCC (sent c/o Senator Jeff Bingaman, 5 Nov 2007): not cleared

$10 to Nancy Pelosi for Congress (sent via Pelosi's congressional office, 5 Nov 2007): not cleared

$10 to DSCC (via Harry Reid, 5 Nov 2007): not cleared

$2.29 to DCCC, 11 Dec 2007: not cleared

$2.71 to DSCC, 11 Dec 2007: CLEARED

$25 to Martin Heinrich for Congress, 14 Dec 2007: CLEARED

$25 to Udall for Us All, 14 Dec 2007: CLEARED

$25 to Richardson for President, 14 Dec 2007: CLEARED

$25 to Chris Dodd for President, 18 Dec 2007: not cleared

The "not cleared" folks are a bit off-putting - I try to keep my check register current. Uncleared checks - particularly those more than two months old - are a pain!

All of these contributions were accompanied by "brilliant advice." In most cases, the point of the correspondence was, in fact, the "brilliant advice" - the $ was included only to encourage someone to read the "brilliant advice." In two cases - $ to Dodd & $ to Richardson - the contribution was a "thank you" for a specific action. For Dodd, it was to thank him for blocking telecom immunity. I can't recall what Richardson did that merited a $ reward.