While former CEOs Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling decompose and pursue appeals respectively, Enron Corp. is sliding off the list of the top 100 campaign contributors of all-time. The 2008 numbers are tallied and Enron has slipped to number 98.

But here's what's pretty impressive: Enron has not given a nickel since the 2002 election cycle and has been in the top 100 campaign contributors since 1989, which is when the data started being collected. The company's influence peaked in the 2000 election where the company gave $1.8 million to Republicans and $0.7 million to Democrats.

Some other notables on the all-time list:

• That National Association of Realtors is number 3. Does that make you question the policies that led to the surge in home prices in the first part of the decade? It should.
  
• Citigroup (NYSE: C) recently received tens of billions of dollars in taxpayer help: and is the 15th biggest contributor of all-time. Just saying. . . In case you're wondering, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) is number 40 and General Motors (NYSE: GM) is number 73.
• Amway -- whose business model is controversial -- is number 90.

I'm a little bit sad to see Enron fading out of the Hot 100. Maybe someone should resuscitate the name and send in some cash, just to keep it alive as a symbol of in the intersection of fraud and campaign finance.

This post is part of our feature on Money Losers of 2008. See all 20.

Willard Mitt Romney, governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007, was the wealthiest of all the 2008 presidential candidates. When he formally announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president on February 13, 2007, the former venture capitalist was believed to have amassed a fortune worth as much as $250 million.

After the first fundraiser for his presidential campaign committee on January 9, 2007, Romney had already brought in $6.5 million, more than the amounts raised by any other Republican contender. Meg Whitman, CEO of eBay and a former colleague of Romney, signed on as a financial co-chair of his presidential campaign. And first quarter 2007 fund-raising information showed Romney leading the Republican field with more than $23 million, though that was less than funds raised by Democratic contenders Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the same period. Fund-raising results for the second quarter revealed that Romney had lent $8.9 million to his campaign from his personal funds, as well as that he had spent $20.7 million, more than any other Republican candidate. By the end of 2007, he had raised $88.5 million, but $35.4 million of that came from his own pocket.

Winning the money race, strategically outspending other candidates on advertising in the early primary states, and promising to donate his salary as president to charity (as he had done as governor) wasn't enough to secure Romney the nomination. He dropped out of the race after disappointing Super Tuesday results in February 2008, when opponent John McCain solidified his position as the party's frontrunner. Romney won only 11 state primaries and caucuses, 4.7 million votes, and 291 delegates. According to Federal Election Commission filings, all told, the campaign spent $113.6 million, $44.6 of which came from Romney himself.