Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Sweethearts of the Tea Party elected to Congress last November have quickly become water carriers for heavy duty lobbyists and special interests. And they are cashing in like the veterans. So much for their promises of integrity or changing the system; if anything, these guys are even deeper in the pocket of Wall Street and other corporate interests than their predecessors. Here’s how the first of a multi-part investigation into the dealmakers begins: “On a wintry mid-March afternoon at a sparsely attended meeting of a House Financial Services subcommittee, a handful of legislators heard testimony on five bills that would repeal or replace parts of last year’s sweeping financial services reform legislation . . . . The commonality among the five bills? They were all sponsored by freshman Republican legislators holding coveted committee spots, who were showered with campaign donations from financial industry groups immediately after the November elections, according to an analysis by The Fiscal Times and the Center for Responsive Politics.” Another part of the series examines the close correlation between special-interest donations and the committee a member of Congress serves on. It’s no wonder that Americans believe lobbyists and corporations have way too much power, according to a recent Gallup poll.