Wall Street Special Interest Groups Are Spending Huge Sums to Thwart Financial Reform
“As the U.S. Senate prepares to vote as early as this week on legislation rewriting the rules for Wall Street, the financial industry is holding fundraisers for lawmakers at a rate of almost one every business day this month,” according to a May 17th Bloomberg article by Jonathan D. Salant.
As Bloomberg reported, the nation's largest banks ramped up their political contributions and lobbying expenses in the first quarter of 2010.
According to the article:
At least 20 Senators and Congressmen have scheduled fundraisers in May targeting the securities industry or hosted by lobbyists for firms such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc.
Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are hosting a $1,000-a-plate breakfast on May 20 for Senator Mike Crapo (Idaho, Republican), a member of the Senate Banking Committee.
Another a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser for Bob Corker (Tennessee, Republican), a Senate Banking Committee member, is being hosted by Tim Locke, a lobbyist for Bank of America, which owns Merrill Lynch.
U.S. Representative John Adler (New Jersey Democrat) is holding what is billed as a "financial services dinner" in Washington with a minimum contribution of $1,000. Adler’s spokesman, Ryan Carbain, did not respond to phone calls and e- mails from Bloomberg seeking comment.
Adler is one of five House Financial Services Committee members holding fundraisers in May seeking banking industry contributions, according to the article.
Another member, Travis Childers (Mississippi, Democrat) had a fundraising breakfast in Washington on May 13 with financial industry representatives that was attended by the panel's chairman, Barney Frank of Massachusetts.
"How hard are you going to be on somebody who's handing you money?" said Bill Allison, an editor at the Sunlight Foundation, a Washington-based watchdog group.
"The industry is trying to blunt the impact of Wall Street reform," said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director for the Boston-based U.S. Public Interest Research Group. "Their lobbyists will pay tribute in the form of campaign donations."
