Financial Services Committee Members Drowning In Donations From Industries They Oversee

As attention turns to the House Financial Services Committee's attempts at increasing regulation on the financial industry, the Sunlight Foundation's Paul Blumenthal took a look at which industries are contributing the most to members of the committee.

According to Blumenthal's analysis of Center for Responsive Politics data, 27 committee members have received over a quarter of their contributions from the finance, insurance and real estate industries this year. Of those 27, 12 have received more than 35 percent of their contributions in 2009 from those sectors.

Sunlight put together a graph showing the money:

Ranking Member Bachus, a crucial decision maker on the committee, received 71% of his campaign contributions from the finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) sector so far this year. (These numbers run from January 1-June 30.) For his career, the Alabama congressman receives 45% of his contributions from the FIRE sector. Bachus leads the committee in his reliance on FIRE sector campaign contributions. Bachus has taking a position in opposition to most of the regulatory reforms. Bachus recently stated in a hearing, "this is absolutely the wrong time to be creating a new government agency empowered not only to ration credit, but to design the financial products offered to consumers."

As LobbyBlog reported earlier, the House Financial Services Committee is the subject of intense lobbying efforts as it takes up issues such as derivatives regulation, credit card interchange fees and the creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Agency to regulate consumer banking activities.

MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan, just after noisy interview with the Chamber of Commerce's Tom Donohue, saw fit to brandish a printout of Sunlight's chart at House Financial Service Committee chairman Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

Frank demurred on the question of whether committee members were influenced by campaign contributions, noting that the likes of Rep. Melissa Bean (D-Ill.) represent districts with lots constituents who work in the affected industries.

"It's not contributions, it's votes," said Frank. "They're motivated by the economic interests of their voter districts and the people who work there." He added: "Judge us by the final product."

Comments

[sabredance]

04:57 PM on 10/15/2009

Nice to see that neither Barney nor Brad Sherman are on the list of bribe recipients...

[Stock market]

10:40 AM on 10/15/2009

The wealth gap will widen to levels never before imagined while the middle class ceases. Our politicians need to do more to ensure equality.

good articles; http://bit.ly/1NkbAn

A person making 60,000 pays 20,000 of it in various taxes. A person making a million or more has a tax rate of 30% compared to 90% decades ago.

[truthmatterstoo]

05:33 AM on 10/15/2009

.Sell every share of stock that buys the ho's....cause you.know they'll be back for billions more after they.. break the bank again.....Get out while you can.

[rhubardpi]

03:42 AM on 10/15/2009

Drowning? Quick someone throw 'em a cement truck.

[oldngrumpy]

02:17 AM on 10/15/2009

If these representatives were judges they would have to recuse themselves from any case where they had received money or contribution from one of the principals. If we would apply the same standard to our lawmakers it would become counterproductive to contribute to them and the insanity would stop.

[americaforme]

01:28 AM on 10/15/2009

This is all such a joke, its also so boring to continue to bring up the point that our elected officals are sucked dry from lobbyist. They dont seem to care what the People think, or they wouldn't keep being bought out. We've been commenting on this so long it has turned my gray hair white. I think they must be laughing at us. Why should I waste my breathe, and energy, on congress who pays no attention the people's needs. If they dont change this lobby criminal behavior, America will never recover, I dont care if Wall Street is rolling in cash, the people are going down the tube. Is there one person who's not afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

[themodernleader]

12:20 AM on 10/15/2009

In unhinged capitalism all the wealth that is left concentrates in a few hands. Such economic power spills over into the political arena as our politicians of both corrupt parties are lavished with money that only corruption can purchase.
No campaign law can stop it. Only a peaceful revolutionary tax reconstruction from regresssive to graduated taxation can stop this bribery that is destroying our democracy. Edmund Burke was right when he argued that power in too few hands is power of tyranny and ruin.
We nave plenty of models including Andy Jackson, Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry Truman. If we are unsure, we must read the policies and procedure of these great leaders, then bring our laws up to date.

[iridium53]

08:44 PM on 10/14/2009

Fully bought and aid for.
And acting against the interests of their voting constituents - except for the executives of the companies.
The voters within those jurisdictions feel like fools, I'll bet.

[LightShadow62]

08:40 PM on 10/14/2009

It's time to remove all private funding from political campaigns.

[austin4]

08:19 PM on 10/14/2009

Hoo kers have nothing on Congress, they are about to put the girls out of business...

[rbchilds]

07:03 PM on 10/14/2009

Has anyone in congress ever heard of "Conflict of Interest".

[honeyrilla]

06:27 PM on 10/14/2009

I would say, we should judge the Committee members by the amendments they propose and by their final votes on proposed laws to improve the financial regulatory system. Everyone agrees that the regulators didn't regulate. But when it comes down to it, let's see how many of these folks receiving huge contributions from the financial industry are willing to improve and tighten the oversight of their contributors.

[SangZe]

06:20 PM on 10/14/2009

They call it "Business as usual." CHange? I doubt Obama can spell the word.

[JazzSax UT]

08:33 PM on 10/14/2009

Um... Obama isn't a king. He's the President. Congress is the entity that proposes and makes laws. It would be up to Congress to change this type of behavior.

[Veri]

05:46 PM on 10/14/2009

Bribery is enshrined in law in The United States. Politicians refuse to change the laws or to introduce an amendment to The U.S. Constitution in order to restrict your corporate masters. One poster below asks how this is not illegal? Because THE LAW, and The Supreme Court tells us so.

But it is bribery.

[rad21]

05:23 PM on 10/14/2009

"Waste, Fraud and Abuse" is what the politicians love to rail-against.

Is not Lobbying and Campaign Contributions, especially with tax-payer money (i.e corporations who receive tax payers money) and recipients of healthcare premiums (health-insurance and health-providers) a form of "Waste, Fraud and Abuse"?

Why do not politicians rail against these forms (lobbying and campaign contributions) of "Waste, Fraud and Abuse"?