Will Rogers reportedly once said “politics has become so expensive that it takes a lot of money even to be defeated.” Between his campaign — which has raised at least $283 million to date — and the more than $90 million raised for his “independent” super PAC, calling the amount going to elect Mitt Romney “a lot” would be an understatement. While Romney will owe the top donors and bundlers to his campaign a great personal debt of gratitude even if he loses in November, should he win, those who bankrolled his campaign will likely expect access and influence.

A ThinkProgress review of the top donors to Restore Our Future Inc. and top “bundlers” (supporters who volunteer to collect large bundles of campaign contributions for the former Massachusetts governor) identified by USA Today and the Sunlight Foundation, finds eight have done the most for Romney’s campaign. Each has raised large sums for the campaign and also contributed at least $500,000 to the pro-Romney super PAC.

They are:

1. Ed Conard of New York, NY. Romney’s former partner at Bain Capital, Conard headed Bain’s New York office and led the firm’s controversial acquisitions of large industrial companies. Conard is perhaps best known for his 2012 book Unintended Consequence:Why Everything You’ve Been Told About The Economy Is Wrong in which actually makes the case that American needs more income inequality and defends off-shoring of American jobs. He has claimed that “predatory lending and Wall Street greed did not cause the collapse of the housing market.” He has donated at least $1 million, to date, to Restore Our Future.

2. John A. Paulson of New York, NY. The billionaire founder of Paulson and Co., among the world’s largest hedge funds, gained about $4 billion as the subprime mortgage market melted down in 2007. While he earns more in an hour than the average American earns in a year, he pays a lower tax rate, thanks in part to the hedge fund “carried interest” loophole. He has donated at least $1 million, to date, to Restore Our Future and let the Romney campaign hold an April fundraiser at his Manhattan townhouse.

3. Paul E. Singer of New York, NY. The billionaire manager of Elliott Management Corp., another major hedge fund, has been a persistent critic of the Dodd-Frank financial reforms and Federal Reserve Bank monetary policy. A major funder for right-wing media, the mainstream press has dubbed him a “vulture capitalist” for his controversial record of buying up debt from developing nations at a discounted price and then suing for full repayment. Fortune called him “a passionate defender of the 1%” and noted that he is viewed by many as “an intellectual with the tenacious spirit necessary to help them turn back the clock on regulation and resist higher taxes on the wealthy.” Singer is chairman of the the anti-regulation Manhattan Institute and has donated heavily to the Club for Growth. In one regard, his support for Romney is ironic, given that Singer is a strong supporter of marriage equality and his openly gay son married in Massachusetts in 2010 — despite Romney’s unyielding attempts to revoke that right from same-sex couples. He has donated at least $1 million, to date, to Restore Our Future.

4. Joseph W. Craft III of Tulsa, OK. The billionaire head of Alliance Resource Partners LP, a major coal producer, is the lone person on this list who did not make his or her fortune in investment banking or hedge-fund management. The coal industry has strongly opposed environmental protection standards that would hurt coal companies’ bottom lines and the pro-deregulation Romney campaign has hit the Obama administration repeatedly for what it calls a “war on coal.” Romney has proposed increasing production and consumption of dirty energy sources. Alliance owns and operates the Dotiki Mine in Providence, Kentucky, where two miners were killed in a roof collapse in April 2010. Alliance had been cited for 840 safety violations in the 16 months preceding the Dotiki collapse. He has donated at least $1,000,000, to date, to Restore Our Future and also has given $1,250,000 to Karl Rove’s American Crossroads.

5. William Laverack, Jr. of New Canaan, CT. The chairman and chief executive officer of Laverack Capital Partners, a privately-held investment firm, is also a senior advisor to Tiger Infrastructure, another private equity group known for investing sectors like power and natural resource infrastructure. The New York Times reported in February that his initial contributions to Restore Our Future appeared to hidden from public view. Tiger Infrastructure’s website highlights its investment priorities including “monopolies with sustainable competitive advantage underpinned by regulation, contracted revenues or barriers to entry.” He has donated at least $750,00 to Restore Our Future, to date.

6. Kelly Loeffler of Atlanta, GA. The vice president of investor relations and corporate communications at IntercontinentalExchange, she helps lead a company that provides online marketplaces for investors to trade futures, energy contracts, and financial derivatives. The company has lobbied extensively on Dodd-Frank implementation, focusing on derivative rules. Before that, she held a similar position for Crossroads Investment Advisers, a private equity firm. She co-owns and co-chairs the Atlanta Dream, a WNBA franchise. Should Romney win Georgia, Loeffler will also serve as a Romney elector from that state. She has donated at least $500,000 to Restore Our Future, to date.

7. Warren A. Stephens of Little Rock, AR. The billionaire head of Stephens Inc., an investment banking firm, has been an outspoken opponent of government regulation of business and Wall Street. He has complained that “CEOs literally cannot keep up with the changes in regulation and the behavior of the regulators” and has endorsed legislation to make it harder for government to regulate industry. He has called proposed increased taxes for billionaires like himself “just not a good idea,” putting him in line with Romney, who has proposed lower taxes for the richest Americans. He has donated at least $500,000, to date, to Restore Our Future.

8. Stephen M. Zide of Old Greenwich, CT. The Bain Capital Private Equity managing director, is another former colleague of Romney’s. Zide reportedly is on the board of a Bain-purchased company that is laying off 170 employees and off-shoring jobs to China. He has donated at least $500,000, to date, to Restore Our Future.

The bundler data is based on a USA Today review of political fundraiser invitations. The Romney campaign has, steadfastly refused to disclose the identities of its campaign bundlers — except for a small list of registered lobbyists who bundle, as required by federal law. President Obama, on the other hand, voluntarily discloses all of its major bundlers, as did President George W. Bush (R) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and in their 2000, 2004, and 2008 races.

Sensata Technologies, an Attleboro, Massachusetts-based sensor manufacturer, is mostly owned by Bain Capital. As the company prepares to replace workers at an Illinois plant by offshoring jobs to China, soon-to-be laid off workers have been protesting both Bain Capital and the corporate values instilled by the company’s former CEO, Mitt Romney.

Several protesters descended on Sensata’s headquarters Thursday. A local paper reported that “about two dozen people, including six Sensata workers and supporters from Illinois, held signs and chanted: ‘We are from Freeport, we are united, we don’t want a Romney Economy.’” Protesters have asked Romney to intercede on their behalf, thus far to no avail.

During Tuesday’s presidential debate, Romney sought to deflect the politically embarrassing investment and argued that Obama too is invested in companies that outsource American jobs:

OBAMA: When he talks about getting tough on China, keep in mind that Governor Romney invested in companies that were pioneers of outsourcing to China, and is currently investing in countries — in companies that are building surveillance equipment for China to spy on its own folks. That’s — Governor, you’re the last person who’s going to get tough on China.

…

ROMNEY: Just going to make a point. Any investments I have over the last eight years have been managed by a blind trust. And I understand they do include investments outside the United States, including in — in Chinese companies.

Mr. President, have you looked at your pension? Have you looked at your pension?

OBAMA: I’ve got to say…

ROMNEY: Mr. President, have you looked at your pension?

OBAMA: You know, I — I don’t look at my pension. It’s not as big as yours so it doesn’t take as long.

ROMNEY: Well, let me give you some advice.

OBAMA: I don’t check it that often.

ROMNEY: Let me give you some advice. Look at your pension. You also have investments in Chinese companies. You also have investments outside the United States. You also have investments through a Cayman’s trust.

It is true that both Romney — who owns millions of dollars worth of Bain investments — and Obama — whose under $100,000 Illinois state pension plan holdings do mean both have some investment in Sensata. But that detail is quite misleading: Illinois state pensioners each have an average of about $11 invested in Sensata — hardly a significant stake. Romney, on the other hand owns hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of Sensata through his foundation and millions of dollars worth of the part of Bain that owns the bulk of the company.

More importantly, Obama never ran Bain. The protesters are not suggesting Romney’s holdings in Sensata are the problem. They are protesting the profits-over-people approach Romney brought to Bain, as he invested in companies that have been called “pioneers in outsourcing.”

Biotechnology firm Monsanto Company, which currently owns most of the patents for America’s staple crops, is already cozy with American lawmakers. A new Nation report, however, indicates that “a very old friend in a very high place” may usher in the corporation’s most prosperous years yet.

The Nation’s investigative report has uncovered how Mitt Romney personally helped Monsanto shed its string of toxic chemical-related scandals and reinvent itself to dominate American agriculture. Monsanto, an early Bain & Company client, was so impressed with Romney that they started bypassing his superiors to deal with him directly. Romney’s close relationship with then CEO John Hanley prompted his boss to create Bain Capital to keep Romney from leaving and taking their largest consulting client with him.

From 1977 to 1985, Romney helped navigate Monsanto through very rocky waters. The agribusiness was flooded with lawsuits after Congress banned the toxic coolant PCBs, a Monsanto product that has been linked to cancer and neurological disorders. At the same time, Monsanto’s Agent Orange toxin, used to defoliate jungles in the Vietnam War, was linked to the contamination of millions of Vietnamese and American soldiers and had been dubbed “the largest chemical warfare operation” in human history.

Tom Philpott at Mother Jones dug up a 2002 article describing Monsanto’s attempts to hide its toxic waste disposal even after managers discovered fish “spurting blood and shedding skin” within 10 seconds of the PCB dump:

Monsanto Co. routinely discharged toxic waste into a west Anniston [Alabama] creek and dumped millions of pounds of PCBs into oozing open-pit landfills. And thousands of pages of Monsanto documents—many emblazoned with warnings such as “CONFIDENTIAL: Read and Destroy”—show that for decades, the corporate giant concealed what it did and what it knew.

Faced with costly litigation, Monsanto relied on Romney to create their new public image — one that did not involve poisoning soldiers or dumping chemicals in rivers:

Dr. Earl Beaver, who was Monsanto’s waste director during the Bain period, says that Bain was certainly “aware” of the “PCB and dioxin scandals” because they created “a negative public perception that was costing the company money.” So Bain recommended focusing “on the businesses that didn’t have those perceptions,” Beaver recalls, starting with “life science products that were biologically based,” including genetically engineered crops, as well as Roundup, the hugely profitable weed-killer. “These were the products that Bain gave their go-ahead to,” Beaver contends, noting that Romney was a key player, “reviewing the data collected by other people and developing alternatives,” talking mostly to “the higher muckety-mucks.”

These “life science products” are now Monsanto’s calling card and have allowed the company to completely dominate the agriculture world in spite of its dark past. Still, Monsanto continues to attract controversy, as several Occupy Monsanto protests plague their facilities this week. Their new line of genetically modified seeds and chemicals are unleashing even more problems, including a new crop of “super weeds” and “super pests” that have risen up in the pesticide arms race.

Romney was simply doing his job by helping Monsanto reinvent itself. Financially speaking, he succeeded immensely. However, he’s signaled that he would lift up the agricultural giant even higher should he become president; for one thing, his Agricultural Advisory Committee is packed full of Monsanto lobbyists and partners. As the 2012 Farm Bill seems destined to languish until after the election, Romney would undoubtedly approve the “Monsanto rider” tucked into the House bill that would render the USDA impotent in blocking unsafe or untested products, forbid outside studies of Monsanto products’ safety, and exempt itself from environmental law. It would also allow Monsanto to rush clearance of its not-yet-approved “Agent Orange corn,” designed to resist that same defoliant that led the company to pay out a $180 million settlement to 52,000 contaminated troops during its Bain years.