House Finance Committee Members Took $62.9 Million From Industry Interests

Members of the House Financial Services Committee, which is playing a critical role in restructuring the nation's reeling financial, banking and housing sectors, have received nearly $63 million in campaign contributions from the industries they oversee.

A new analysis of campaign finance data by Public Campaign Action Fund, which provided an advance preview to the Huffington Post, shows that financial, insurance and real estate interests donated a combined $62.9 million to the 71 members of the House Financial Services Committee.

The hefty donations reflect the extent to which key companies and individuals of the financial sector have attempted to exert their influence on legislative debates even before the recent economic collapse. For good-government groups, the findings also raise a bevy of questions over just how neutral lawmakers have been in crafting solutions toward getting the financial markets and Wall Street on more stable footing.

"Wall Street and their allies on Capitol Hill should not write the rules that govern the financial, banking, and housing industries," said David Donnelly, national campaigns directory for Public Campaign Action Fund, in a prepared statement. "Their years of influence peddling, big money campaign contributions, and unaccountable rampant greed got us into this mess."

"Americans know that campaign contributions matter," Donnelly added. "Members of Congress will be held accountable for whether they side with Wall Street and the big banks or if they side with the rest of us to restore some stability and responsibility to the marketplace."

In its release, Public Campaign Action Fund notes that more than half a dozen trade organizations from these same industries were currently gearing up to defeat the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency -- a key component of the Obama administration's attempt to overhaul regulatory reform. With major policy overhauls like these set to be considered by Congress, campaign donations have, not surprisingly, ticked up. In the first quarter of 2009 alone, the financial, insurance and real estate industries donated $2.25 million to House Financial Service Committee members.

The top two recipients of contributions among committee members are Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), who received $3.62 million and Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.), who took in $3.12 million.

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Comments

[monicaangela]

But George Shultz, the 84-year-old grey eminence, has not retired, after setting up the Bush W. Administration. By the Fall of 2003, he had a new project, this time serving as the co-chairman of the economic taskforce for California gubernatorial candidate (and now would-be President of the United States) Arnold Schwarzenegger.

[monicaangela]

The second crucial, but little-known example of Shultz's importance is his role in putting together the team behind the Presidency of George W. Bush. According to author James Mann, who wrote the Rise of the Vulcans book about Bush's inner Cabinet, Shultz initiated a discussion with George W. in the Spring of 1998, whereby the future President sat down in Shultz's living room on the Stanford University campus, in order to be vetted (in effect) to run for President. At that meeting were Martin Anderson, the former advisor to both Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan; Abraham Sofaer, a former Shultz aide; John Cogan and John Taylor, two economics professors; and Stanford's provost, and Shultz protégé, Condoleezza Rice. After the "scholars" associated with the Hoover Institution indicated that they thought Bush would make a good Presidential choice, Bush invited Shultz, Rice, and Anderson down to Austin, Texas for a follow-up meeting in the Summer. Out of that meeting, which was joined by Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz, came the public decision for Bush to run for President.

By early 1999, Rice pulled together a broader group of foreign policy advisors, who agreed to be called the "Vulcans," at her suggestion. Also present, and effectively supervising them, were none other than Cheney and Shultz.

[monicaangela]

According to the first-hand testimony of then-Secretary of the Treasury John Connally, members of a working committee on the economic crisis urged Connally to take the crucial step of removing the dollar from its link to gold. This was the first move toward establishing the floating exchange rate which has been used by the synarchists to destroy the world economy in the three decades since. The most forceful advocate of the move was Shultz, a devotee of the fascist free-market economist Milton Friedman.

[vippy]

Welcome to Friedman's Capitalistic Utopia now. And don't dare to audit the FED.

[unite4change]

Let's get rid of any congressional member who have been in Washington for more than 2 terms in the Senate (12 years) and 6 terms (12 years) in the House.

Some congressional members are just to old and should retire. Since they been in Washington for so long, it is apparent they feel, they no longer have to answer to their employer, the American people.

[Antifascist-08]

You can throw them out or put term limits on people but the lobbyists will still be here. Thats the problem.

Something has to be done about the lobbying.

[vippy]

America still won't do that. This is a party loyalty thing. No matter how bad your own party is, you
will vote for them. Yet we really have only one party when it comes to their pocket books!
People have to suffer a heck of a lot more before they will stand up and defend themselves!

[Zech Ehnert]

Rome is burning.

[TeeLolly]

Well, now we know why all the "reforms" and efforts to repair the finiancial system benefit the bankers and the real estate developers instead of the ordinary people harmed by the crisis. Silly me, I thought Obama said there would be no plce for lobbyists if he were elected ...

[vippy]

Obama cannot do it alone. It is the House and Senate that dictates his policies. Fire them!

[Grannysue]

Someone needs to pass a law, it should be illegal to use the word "Ethics" and "Politican" in the same sentence again!

[mmgbizgirl]

There's the gridlock.

[sueinmn]

The Senate has long recognized that ‘‘public office is a public trust.’’ Senators hold office
to represent the interests of their constituents and the public at large. Members are assisted in these
efforts by officers and employees who are paid from United States Treasury funds. The public
has a right to expect Members, officers, and employees to exercise impartial judgment in performing
their duties. 38 The receipt of gifts, entertainment, or favors from certain persons or interests
may interfere with this impartial judgment, or may create an appearance of impropriety that
may undermine the public’s faith in government.

Federal law and Senate rules restrict the amount and source of outside income that Members,
officers, and employees of the Senate may accept. These limits represent an attempt to preclude
conflicts between the narrow interests of private employers and the broader interests of the general
public.

Doea a citizen have grounds to file ethics charges on these people?

[vippy]

The Declaration of Independence also states that WE, the people, have a right to overthrow our government if they don't do as we want them, too. But they all have forgotten this including us
people!

[sueinmn]

Ethics codes distinctly deny accepting gifts for personal gain. These are gifts to campaign finance to enhance their ability to campaign for re election with YES is personal gain!

[sueinmn]

Can we find out who, how much and when? Isnt that a "conflict of interest" and so an "ethics" violation?

[babyboomerorig]

These activities get more disgusting every year.

We "elected" these people into office to protect us...yah, us, the citizens of this country....we also elected them to do what's best for our districts and the country as a whole.

No more corporate donations of any sort to any publically elected official. Period, stop, whoa!

[davidsandiego]

Easy solution:

Ban Contributions from any member of the committees or subcommittees for any law they regulate on or will vote on positively or negative for the duration of their term up until reelection, this means from 2-3 years at least.

in other words: every member voting on healthcare this cycle would be banned from receiving money from: insurance, hospitals, pharma, etc.

make it about the people for the people.

but these weasels: D and R's wont ever vote on something like this, as they would be afraid to bring laws forward as they would be cutting the head of the golden goose!!!

[babyboomerorig]

Amen!

[SamKnause]

Excellent suggestion.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

Only $62.9 million?

Pikers.

[artgurrl]

All corporate money and bundling should be ban from our system. It's turning this country into a corporate run fascist system.