Wall Street Spent At Least $251 Million Lobbying Last Year

[Mad Scientist]

From CNN:
Banks open up their wallets to influence Congress - Aug. 2, 2010

The financial industry has spent $251 million on lobbying so far this year as lawmakers hammered out new rules of the road for Wall Street, according to the latest lobbying reports compiled by a watchdog group.The financial sector spent more than any other special interest group from April through the end of June -- a whopping $126 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics' latest estimates. Wall Street banks, as well as insurance and real estate firms, hiked the amount they spent on lobbying by 12% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year.

But remember, Obama supports and stands behind the common man. Except for his cabinet which is mostly banking sector types.

 

[Oddball]

Just words....

 

[Toro]

Government of the bankers, by the bankers, for the bankers.

 

[Oddball]

It's almost as though Aldrich, Piatt, Warburg, Davison, Strong and JP Morgan planned it all out ahead of time.

 

[xsited1]

From CNN:
Banks open up their wallets to influence Congress - Aug. 2, 2010

The financial industry has spent $251 million on lobbying so far this year as lawmakers hammered out new rules of the road for Wall Street, according to the latest lobbying reports compiled by a watchdog group.The financial sector spent more than any other special interest group from April through the end of June -- a whopping $126 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics' latest estimates. Wall Street banks, as well as insurance and real estate firms, hiked the amount they spent on lobbying by 12% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year.

But remember, Obama supports and stands behind the common man. Except for his cabinet which is mostly banking sector types.

Obama and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner only want what's best for Americans. God Bless them.

 

[washamericom]

It's almost as though Aldrich, Piatt, Warburg, Davison, Strong and JP Morgan planned it all out ahead of time.

prophetic.. the double standard has become the hallmark of the democrat..... don't forget rockefeller and harkness

 

[Oddball]

 

[washamericom]

god i miss the st. louis post dispatch days

 

[boedicca]

It's almost as though Aldrich, Piatt, Warburg, Davison, Strong and JP Morgan planned it all out ahead of time.

Indeed!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7auQEXTWomA]Jekyll Island[/ame]

 

[Skull Pilot]

The New Jersey teachers union spent over 6.5 million to oppose Christie and that was just one state.

We can extrapolate the total of all teachers unions to be pretty equal to the lobbying efforts of any private sector group.

I wonder how many teachers jobs could have been saved for that 6.5 million.

 

[ClosedCaption]

So, wait...Wall street lobbying is bad. Is that what you are saying because I cant believe I'm agreeing with you

 

[Mad Scientist]

The New Jersey teachers union spent over 6.5 million to oppose Christie and that was just one state.

We can extrapolate the total of all teachers unions to be pretty equal to the lobbying efforts of any private sector group.

I wonder how many teachers jobs could have been saved for that 6.5 million.

$6.5 million times 50 states = $325 million!

 

[Mad Scientist]

So, wait...Wall street lobbying is bad. Is that what you are saying because I cant believe I'm agreeing with you

Yes. Our elected government is supposed to be there for US, not a lobbying group, no matter what the cause.

If our elected representatives need information on the issues they can talk to us directly via Town Hall meetings, or e-mail or other web meetings. In fact, thanks to technology they don't even need to meet in D.C. anymore, they can discuss and vote on measures via the internet. (Yes, there IS such a thing as secured communication lines)

That would put them back in touch with the electorate and get them out of that "Inside the Beltway" mentality.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

Glad to see all of our TARP money went to good use....

 

[johnrocks]

Fine, get government out of all that it need not be in;from agriculture subsidies to welfare;foreign,corporate and domestic; and we won't have these reasons to bitch so much about special interests lobbying government.

Look at the others that do it.

Top Ten Lobbying Organizations and look who is number one.....American Association of Retired Persons

Top 10 lobbying groups. Explore the offcial sites of the top lobbying groups.

 

[boedicca]

The list is inaccurate.

Unions, especially Public Employee Unions are some of the biggest "lobbyists" of Big Government.

In 2008, total union soft and hard funding for Dem candidates and issues was $400M.

The efforts extend far beyond just the AFL-CIO.

It's also important to underscore the presence of the American Trial Lawyer Association - one of the biggest Wealth Siphoners in history.

 

[johnrocks]

The list is inaccurate.

Unions, especially Public Employee Unions are some of the biggest "lobbyists" of Big Government.

In 2008, total union soft and hard funding for Dem candidates and issues was $400M.

The efforts extend far beyond just the AFL-CIO.

It's also important to underscore the presence of the American Trial Lawyer Association - one of the biggest Wealth Siphoners in history.

Perhaps, I tried going to Open Secrets but couldn't, it said it was experiencing high traffic and technical difficulties.


I'm just saying to call out one group isn't right when all special interests lobby; I support many of them like the NRA and Gun Owners of America.

 

[boedicca]

Open Secrets doesn't contain complete info. It tracks FEDERAL campaign activity. Unions spent heavily on state and local elections - and provided a lot of Free Labor campaigns (and as we've seen recently in WI, it's not a leap to believe some of it was while they were being paid by their government entitites).

 

[Toro]

It's almost as though Aldrich, Piatt, Warburg, Davison, Strong and JP Morgan planned it all out ahead of time.

The Warburgs/Morgans/Rothschilds have been planning this for centuries...

 

[boedicca]

And here's a source for part of it (and note, still just Federal):

A group of labor unions and activist organizations said they will spend more than $400 million to help elect Democratic candidates to the White House and Congress this fall.

The separate efforts will focus on identifying and registering Democratic voters and getting them to the polls.

The AFL-CIO and other large national labor unions will spend a total of about $300 million, according to the organizations, which announced their plans yesterday.

The liberal group MoveOn.org said it would spend $30 million, and several smaller organizations said they would spend tens of millions of dollars registering minority, low-income and younger voters, who tend to vote disproportionately for Democratic candidates.

Dozens of other organizations and their subsidiaries plan to spend at least an additional $100 million combined. Those groups include abortion-rights organizations such as NARAL Pro-Choice America, Emily's List and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, as well as environmental-protection advocates such as the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife and the League of Conservation Voters....

Groups Unveil Plans to Bankroll Democrats - WSJ.com


Of special note is ACORN's $35M, which is from money extorted from taxpayers.