Post by unlawflcombatnt on May 17, 2010 10:38:14 GMT -6
America's hypocritical Bankrotocracy hasn't changed in the slightest. Financial industry $$ are flowing into legislators' pockets at a record rate.
We don't just have the best government that money can buy.
We have the best government bankers can buy.
from Preview Bloomberg:
Flood of Cash to Congress
Is Unabated as Banks Seek Influence
By Jonathan D. Salant
Mon, May 17, 2010
"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 1 every business day this month.
Some members of Congress have criticized Wall Street one month only to ask the industry for money the next.
[For example], U.S. Representative John Adler, a New Jersey Democrat, demanded accountability from Wall Street in an April 29 statement.
This week, he’s holding what is billed as a “financial services dinner” in Washington with a minimum contribution of $1000.
At least 20 House and Senate lawmakers have scheduled fundraisers in May targeting the industry or hosted by lobbyists for banks such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc., according to Democratic and Republican party committee schedules sent to prospective donors. The events allow lobbyists to mingle with lawmakers as the Senate debates sweeping new regulations for the industry.
“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....
Help From Chairman
Adler, 50, who supported House Democratic legislation in December that will have to be reconciled with a Senate bill, is 1 of 5 House Financial Services Committee members holding fundraisers in May seeking banking industry contributions....
Another member of the House committee, Representative Travis Childers, a Mississippi Democrat, had the panel’s chairman, Barney Frank of Massachusetts, at a fundraising breakfast in Washington on May 13 with financial industry representatives....
$1,000-a-Plate
Lobbyists for New York-based Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are among those hosting a $1,000-a-plate breakfast on May 20 for Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho, a Republican member of the Senate Banking Committee....
One of the hosts of a $1,000-per-person Washington fundraiser on May 18 for another Senate Banking Committee member, Bob Corker of Tennessee, will be Tim Locke, a lobbyist whose clients include Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America Corp....
‘Blunt the Impact’
Congress is moving to pass legislation to redesign the architecture for federal regulation of the financial industry, including provisions to set up a consumer protection agency and regulate derivatives that have drawn opposition from banks.
Supporters of stronger regulations say industry-sponsored fundraisers are designed to help water down the legislation.
“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.”....
The nation’s largest banks increased their political giving and lobbying expenses during the 1st 3 months of the year as the Senate took up the measure that passed the House.
6 of the top 10 U.S. banks by assets, including Goldman, ramped up donations to lawmakers from their political action committees. Goldman and Bank of America were among 7 that spent more on lobbying between January and March than they did during the same period a year earlier."
We don't just have the best government that money can buy.
We have the best government bankers can buy.
from Preview Bloomberg:
Flood of Cash to Congress
Is Unabated as Banks Seek Influence
By Jonathan D. Salant
Mon, May 17, 2010
"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 1 every business day this month.
Some members of Congress have criticized Wall Street one month only to ask the industry for money the next.
[For example], U.S. Representative John Adler, a New Jersey Democrat, demanded accountability from Wall Street in an April 29 statement.
This week, he’s holding what is billed as a “financial services dinner” in Washington with a minimum contribution of $1000.
At least 20 House and Senate lawmakers have scheduled fundraisers in May targeting the industry or hosted by lobbyists for banks such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc., according to Democratic and Republican party committee schedules sent to prospective donors. The events allow lobbyists to mingle with lawmakers as the Senate debates sweeping new regulations for the industry.
“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....
Help From Chairman
Adler, 50, who supported House Democratic legislation in December that will have to be reconciled with a Senate bill, is 1 of 5 House Financial Services Committee members holding fundraisers in May seeking banking industry contributions....
Another member of the House committee, Representative Travis Childers, a Mississippi Democrat, had the panel’s chairman, Barney Frank of Massachusetts, at a fundraising breakfast in Washington on May 13 with financial industry representatives....
$1,000-a-Plate
Lobbyists for New York-based Goldman Sachs and Citigroup are among those hosting a $1,000-a-plate breakfast on May 20 for Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho, a Republican member of the Senate Banking Committee....
One of the hosts of a $1,000-per-person Washington fundraiser on May 18 for another Senate Banking Committee member, Bob Corker of Tennessee, will be Tim Locke, a lobbyist whose clients include Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America Corp....
‘Blunt the Impact’
Congress is moving to pass legislation to redesign the architecture for federal regulation of the financial industry, including provisions to set up a consumer protection agency and regulate derivatives that have drawn opposition from banks.
Supporters of stronger regulations say industry-sponsored fundraisers are designed to help water down the legislation.
“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.”....
The nation’s largest banks increased their political giving and lobbying expenses during the 1st 3 months of the year as the Senate took up the measure that passed the House.
6 of the top 10 U.S. banks by assets, including Goldman, ramped up donations to lawmakers from their political action committees. Goldman and Bank of America were among 7 that spent more on lobbying between January and March than they did during the same period a year earlier."