Sunlight Foundation

WASHINGTON, DC – The Sunlight Foundation continues to trace the vested interests influencing members of Congress as they grapple with the proposed $700 billion bailout of the nation's financial industry. Sunlight's Real Time Investigations blog reveals that the in-house lobbyists and hired guns of eight major players in the financial crisis have themselves donated $380,000 in campaign cash to members of the Senate Banking Committee in the first six months of 2008. They've also given $144,000 to six key members of the House Financial Services Committee, including $63,500 to Rep. Barney Frank, the chairman.

Sunlight’s full analysis of contributions to Senate Banking Committee members is available here. Details on contributions to House Financial Services Committee members are available here.

Lobbyists are also showering Senate Banking Committee members with parties thrown in their honor. Fundraising invitations by the Sunlight Foundation’s Party Time project shows 109 parties planned for or featuring members of the committee this year, available here. A number of these parties list hosts who are lobbyists for the financial sector. The committee is now considering the $700 billion bailout legislation for the financial sector proposed by the administration.

Earlier this week, the Sunlight Foundation’s Party Time project released a list of 258 parties planned for members of the House Financial Services Committee, bringing the total number of parties planned for the two committees to 378.

Invitations for parties thrown for Senate Banking Committee members include:

• A fundraising luncheon in June for Sen. Richard Shelby, the ranking member on the committee, hosted by T. Timothy Ryan, Jr. the CEO of the Securities Industry and Financial Market Association. Shelby’s next election is not until 2010, but he has already raised $9.5 million during this election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Since 1989, Shelby has raised $4,240,502 from employees, their family members, and PACs from the Finance, Insurance & Real Estate sector out of a total of $20,741,533 — 20.4 percent of his total take
• A luncheon for Sen. Tom Harkin in June sponsored by the REALTORs PAC at the office of the National Association of Realtors. Harkin is not a member of the Senate Banking Committee; however, Sen. Christopher Dodd, who is listed on the invitation as a “featured guest,” is the chairman. Since 1989, Dodd has raised $13,163,356 from employees, their family members, and PACs from the Finance, Insurance & Real Estate sector out of a total of $43,344,186 — 30.3 percent of his total take
• An April reception for Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who is up for reelection this year. One of the hosts was former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, now a lobbyist at Park Strategies, whose clients include Freddie Mac. Dole has gotten 10.8 percent, or $3,285,529 of $30,528,042, of her campaign cash over the years from the financial sector
• A breakfast scheduled for this week for Sen. Jack Reed. The hosts were Robert Dibblee and Langston Emerson, both of whom lobby for the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts. Since 1989, Reed has raised $2,686,232 from employees, their family members, and PACs from the Finance, Insurance & Real Estate sector out of a total of $13,147,550 — 20.4 percent of his total take
• A reception in June for Sen. Tom Carper. The event was hosted by the PAC for DLA Piper, a firm with lobbying clients including as Aon Corp., Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis and Merrill Lynch. The invitation also lists Mac Bernstein and John Merrigan, who both lobby for the company. Since 1989, Carper has raised $2,097,718 from employees, their family members, and PACs from the Finance, Insurance & Real Estate sector out of a total of $8,306,428 — 25.2 percent of his total take.

*Campaign contribution data from the Center for Responsive Politics

“The solution to our crisis in government mirrors the solution to the financial crisis: greater oversight and more transparency, which is why Sunlight is making more information available to help citizens, bloggers and journalists correlate how the financial industries are influencing the very same members of Congress who will decide the fate of this historic bailout legislation,” said Ellen Miller, executive director and co-founder of the Sunlight Foundation.

Sunlight has called on Congress to publish the proposed bailout legislation as soon as possible, to give constituents and lawmakers themselves as much time as possible to examine the specifics of the proposal before its passage. Just as there is no official requirement that invitations to congressional fundraiser parties posted on our Party Time site be reported to the public, there is no rule mandating that legislation be publicly accessible before it is brought to a vote. Sunlight advocates for all legislation to be posted online for a minimum of 72 hours before voting can take place.

Sunlight has posted the legislative proposals from the Treasury Department and Senator Dodd, and will post the latest draft legislation to PublicMarkup.org as soon as it is made available, to give citizens a chance to weigh in on the proposal’s specifics.

"We cannot let Congress drop this bill, minutes before they call for a vote on it, neither allowing those who get to vote on it, nor the public, to view it," said Miller. “Any lack of transparency in consideration of this legislation would be especially ironic since lawmakers have blamed the current crisis on financial malfeasance that was hidden from public view.”

The Sunlight Foundation supports, develops and deploys new Internet technologies to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible to the American people. Through its projects and grant-making, Sunlight serves as a catalyst to create greater political transparency and to foster more openness and accountability in government. Visit SunlightFoundation.com to learn more about Sunlight's projects, including The Open House Project, EarmarkWatch.org and OpenCongress.org.

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