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Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

Wall Street Donated $41 Million to Supercommittee Members

Author:     MIKE LUDWIG
Source:     Truthout.org
Publication Date:     Monday 26 September 2011
 Link: Wall Street Donated $41 Million to Supercommittee Members
Stephan:   Further evidence of the legalized bribery that now dominates the entire Congressional process. You'd think people would be ashamed but, hey, it's all legal. Mussolini, who surely ought to know, defined fascism as corporatism where corporations and the state are one. How are we not becoming a fascist country?

Wall Street has given $41 million in campaign contributions to the members of the Congressional ‘supercommittee’ charged with finding $1.5 trillion worth of deficit reduction measures, according to a report released today by two watchdog groups.

The finance, insurance and real estate sector spent $3.7 billion on lobbying and campaign contributions from 1999 to 2008, according to the report, and the 12 members of the bipartisan Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction have all reaped the benefits.

‘Wall Street bought the deregulation that led to our economic collapse and the American public has paid the price,’ said Nick Nyhart, president and CEO of Public Campaign, the group that co-authored the report. ‘The supercommittee should not give Wall Street and big banks another free ride because of their campaign cash.’

Congressional veterans Sen. John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana) top the list, having each received about $6 million in contributions from the financial sector during the course of their careers in Washington. The top GOP recipient on the committee, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Arizona), has received $5.2 million from the sector.

Donations from the political action committees and executives of Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo – banks that received $95 billion […]

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