The fattest cat of them all is Terry Kohler, head of Windway Capital Corp. and highly unsuccessful political candidate. Kohler's $578,000 in GOPAC contributions buy him more congressional access than a man of his political savvy might otherwise expect (and this doesn't count wife Mary's hefty $137,300). Kohler's father and grandfather were both governors of Wisconsin, but Kohler himself wasn't so lucky: In the 1980s he lost elections for governor, U.S. Senate, and even county land surveyor. After losing the 1982 governor's race to Democrat Anthony Earl, he attacked Earl for appointing "queers" to his administration: "Those people are sick," he opined. Upon returning from a trip to South Africa in 1988, Kohler reported that blacks there "have no sense of being less, of being a minority, of being downtrodden." Three years later, Kohler had to apologize for claiming that it would be a mistake to extend the vote to blacks in South Africa.

Owen and Susan Roberts ($324,513). Owen Roberts is chairman and wife Susan is executive vice president of the consulting firm Capital Formation Counselors. They made a good first impression on Newt when they invited him to a get-together with economist W. Edwards Deming. After the meeting, Newt wrote a thank-you note humbly stating that the Roberts had "changed history."

Richard and Virginia Gilder Jr. ($310,000). Richard Gilder has been described as a "supply-side investment whiz." He's the founder of a PAC called the Political Club for Growth, whose treasurer, Lisa Britton Nelson, is GOPAC's executive director. One of the major concerns of club members is reducing the capital gains tax. Of course it's not for their own sake. "We're already wealthy," Gilder once said. "We formed the club because of what we think is good for America." (Newt's vision of what's good for America is still evolving, but it definitely involves people who say, "We're already wealthy.")

Roger Milliken, co-owner of Milliken and Co., a large textile company, ($255,000). In 1990, Newt took time out from blustering about free trade to support a bill favored by Roger Milliken that limits textile imports. Newt also devoted more than 20 minutes to Milliken's company during an Oct. 16, 1993, seminar on "Commitment to Quality," failing to note that Milliken had been dumping money on him. During a lecture in his college course last year, Gingrich played an "educational" videotape about Milliken, Inc. that gushed, "In carpeting, Milliken offers its customers a choice of over 1,000 colors and patterns in almost any lot size with a delivery schedule of just seven days."

Mrs. Delores Schwan ($239,905). Delores is the widow of Marvin Schwan, founder of Schwan's Sales frozen food distributors. The company has a chilly relationship with the FDA, which eager-to-please Newt is aiming to gut. After all, it's agencies like the FDA that make for embarrassments like the one Schwan's Sales suffered last year when a salmonella outbreak was traced to the company.

Phillip and Elizabeth Gelatt ($230,300). The Gelatts run the Northern Engraving Company, which has a history of pollution "problems," including at least one Superfund site. For good measure, they also gave the Gingrich campaign committee $4,000.

Jesse and Sylvia Thompson of Charlotte, N.C. ($200,000 through 1993, and an additional $20,000 in 1994). They also gave $7,000 to Gingrich's campaign committee, and Jesse attended Arianna Huffington's $50,000-a-head February soirée for the right-wing TV network with the silly name, National Empowerment Television.

Fred and Ruth Sacher, of Sacher Real Estate ($196,000). A longtime supporter of conservative causes, Fred Sacher contributed $400,000 to the Nicaraguan contras. For his help, Sacher received a note of thanks from selfless humanitarian and recent senatorial wannabe Ollie North. Sacher: "My Dad used to say, 'What we've got to do is just get those corrupt, dirty Democratic crooks out and put in some nice, clean Republican crooks.'" Well, two out of four ain't bad.

K. Tucker and Karen Andersen ($182,000). The pair belongs to Richard Gilder's Political Club for Growth (you know those meetings are exciting) and gave $8,450 to Newt's campaign committee during the last three elections, $50,000 in Republican soft money in the 1993-94 election cycle alone, and an undisclosed amount to Newt's Progress & Freedom Foundation (see ethics charges).

Dr. Robert and Nancy Krieble round out the Fat Cat Top 10 with their $172,624 in contributions. Robert Krieble is the founder of the Krieble Institute, and a board member of the conservative Heritage Foundation and of Paul Weyrich's Free Congress Foundation. Concerning his contributions to Gingrich, Krieble once told the press, "I'm buying the man." For only $172K? What a bargain! You should see what Terry Kohler paid.