Democratic Hypocrites In Senate Do Lobbyists Bidding Especially When Spouses are Lobbyists
Lobbyists still rule and "former" lobbyists are even ensconced in the current administration in complete disregard to campaign rhetoric.
From Jane Hamsher at Firedoglake: "One of the key votes against "cramdown" in the Senate came, surprisingly, from Byron Dorgan of North Dakota. According to an FEC lobbying report filed by the American Council of Life Insurers, Dorgan's wife Kimberly worked for them as a lobbyist to defeat the measure during the first quarter of 2009 (PDF).
"The Amercan Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) represents 373 insurance companies. Headed by former Oklahoma governor Frank Keating, they account for 93 percent of the U.S. life insurance industry's total assets."
I always thought that former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle was a hypocrite (and his life after Capitol Hill as a "lobbyist" shows that) but during his tenure, his wife, Linda, was (and is) a lobbyist for the transportation industry.and has been described as a major lobbying force and one of the most influential professsional lobbyists in the capital.
Don't these hypocrites have any shred of integrity or ethics? No, because this is exactly how Washington operates.
Lobbyists dispensing corporate money maintain control and ownership of Capitol Hill.
From ThinkProgress: "Last week, the Senate voted 45-51 to defeat a proposal to change bankruptcy law and allow bankruptcy judges to cram-down mortgage payments. As Pat Garofalo has explained, cram-downs help homeowners by enabling these judges “to lower mortgage payments for those who owe more than their home is worth and have exhausted all other options.” Prior to the vote, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) — who sponsored the amendment — took the floor and decried the powerful banking industryreceived more than $42 millionto defeat such legislation this year: that was working to defeat the provision. Indeed, as Jane Hamsher now reports, lobbyists
A review of lobbying reports filed indicates that finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) interests paid over $42 million to lobbyists who worked to defeat mortgage write-down in bankruptcy (cramdown) in the first quarter of 2009, as well as other anti-consumer legislation such as capping credit card interest rates.
Sixty organizations filed lobbying reports for the first quarter of 2009 indicating that they had paid lobbyists to work on the issue (see chart). Because lobbying reports don’t break down how much money was devoted to lobbying on a specific issue it’s not possible to break down a total spent on cramdown alone, but lobbying against H.R. 1106, H.R. 200 and S. 61, the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act was a priority for those organizations and lobbyists listed.
"According to Durbin, between now and 2012, 8 million homeowners may lose their homes in foreclosure."
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