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Small banks’ lobbyists win a big one with proposed increase in insured deposits
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Twin Cities Philanthropist Targeted in Ponzi Probe
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Ledgers Attorney Fights Insurance Company Over Death Claim
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Microsoft Pioneer Charles Simonyi Pays 30 Million to Orbit Space Again
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Facebook Chooses Former Aide to Alberto Gonzales As Top Lawyer
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Small Banks Lobbyists Win a Big One With Proposed Increase in Insured Deposits
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Bailout supporters received 51% more campaign contributions from financial interests (Muckety)
House members who supported the bailout package yesterday received a combined 51 percent more in campaign donations from the financial sector than those who opposed the plan, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics.
Hint: Click in map to explore connectionsStory continues below interactive map
Click to activate the interactive map (requires Java)MAP HINTS: Click expands a name. Control+Click centers map on a name. Solid lines are current relations. Dotted lines are former relations. For advanced tools choose Tools > Options from the menu at top. More help. Not seeing the maps? Please go here to check for the latest version of Java.The center examined contributions from the industries eager to see passage of the rescue plan, and found found a wide gap in donations between supporters and opponents, particularly among House Democrats.
Our Muckety map shows supporters who were also among the top recipients of donations this election cycle from financial, insurance and real estate interests. Many hold top positions on influential committees, such as ways and means, appropriations, taxation, financial services and budget.
However, the top recipient of such donations in this election cycle has been Rep. Ron Paul, who has received $1.3 million in contributions but opposed the bailout.
Mark Udall of Colorado, another top recipient, with nearly $762,000 in contributions, also voted against the measure.
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Citigroup buys Wachovia’s banking assets
FDIC Chair Sheila C. Bair has overseen another shot-gun wedding – this time between Wachovia Corporation and Citigroup.
Citigroup agreed to pay $1 a share, or about $2.2 billion for Wachovia’s banking operations, according to media reports, in the latest deal brokered by federal officials as a result of the distressed mortgage market.
Hint: Click in map to explore connectionsStory continues below interactive map
Click to activate the interactive map (requires Java)MAP HINTS: Click expands a name. Control+Click centers map on a name. Solid lines are current relations. Dotted lines are former relations. For advanced tools choose Tools > Options from the menu at top. More help. Not seeing the maps? Please go here to check for the latest version of Java.Bair’s FDIC was a major player, agreeing to absorb losses from Wachovia above $42 billion and receive $12 billion in preferred stock and warrants from Citigroup – making U.S. taxpayers a stakeholder.
She stressed that the storied Charlotte bank did not fail, like Washington Mutual, which was seized by the authorities after suffering a run on deposits last week.
“This morning’s decision was made under extraordinary circumstances with significant consultation among the regulators and Treasury,” Bair said in a statement. “This action was necessary to maintain confidence in the banking industry given current financial market conditions.
“There will be no interruption in services and bank customers should expect business as usual,” she said.
Wachovia will remain a public company, retaining its asset management and retail brokerage businesses, including the Evergreen franchise and the A.G. Edwards brokerage division.
The New York Times points out that the deal further concentrates Americans’ bank deposits in the hands of just three banks: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup. Together, those three would be so large that they would dominate the industry, with unrivaled power to set prices for their loans and services.
Wachovia had been hurt badly by its 2006 purchase of Golden West Financial, a California lender specializing in so-called pay-option mortgages. The bank also faced mounting losses on loans made to home builders and commercial real estate developers.
In June, Wachovia’s board ousted G. Kennedy Thompson, the bank’s longtime chief executive, and replaced him the following month with Robert K. Steel, a former top lieutenant of Henry M. Paulson Jr. at both Goldman Sachs and the Treasury Department.
Steel arrived in New York to handle the negotiations in person this weekend, along with David M. Carroll, the bank’s chief deal maker. At 8:15 am. Saturday, at the Seagream Building offices of Sullivan & Cromwell on Park Avenue, Citigroup took their first peek at Wachovia’s books with Chief Executive Vikram Pandit personally overseeing the negotiations, according to media reports.
Top officials at the FDIC and the U.S. Treasury were also major participants, pressing the parties to move quickly.
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John McCain has a long, complicated relationship with gambling interests
In a lengthy piece today, The New York Times details John McCain’s extensive connections to the casino industry and Indian gaming.
As a member and former chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, it’s not surprising that McCain would have many supporters in industry.
Hint: Click in map to explore connectionsStory continues below interactive map
Click to activate the interactive map (requires Java)MAP HINTS: Click expands a name. Control+Click centers map on a name. Solid lines are current relations. Dotted lines are former relations. For advanced tools choose Tools > Options from the menu at top. More help. Not seeing the maps? Please go here to check for the latest version of Java.Yet in 2008, both Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton rank higher in campaign donations from Indian gaming organizations. According to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics, Clinton ranks second among congressional recipients (after Bill Richardson), with contributions totaling $82,375. Obama ranks 12th, with $56,100.
McCain isn’t on the list of top 20 recipients, having received $5,000.
The center’s analysis found that Indian tribes and the National Indian Gaming Association, the tribes’ chief lobbying group, have given $7.3 million this year to federal candidates and their parties.
The gambling industry as a whole has contributed $12.7 million. Giving in the larger sector has been led by MGM Mirage, whose chairman, J. Terrence Lanni, is a close friend of McCain and a bundler for his campaign. Lanni has raised more than $500,000 for McCain’s presidential bid this year.
After co-authoring the Indian gambling act and helping to fashion much of the legislation governing the gaming industry, McCain appears to distanced himself from the tribal casinos. In 2000, he was the top congressional recipient of their donations, taking in $39,400. This year, he has accepted $5,000.
As the Times reports, McCain stopped taking tribal donations after the scandal surrounding Jack Abramoff and his lobbying activities for Indian tribes.
However, less overt connections continue. The Times notes: “In his current campaign, more than 40 fund-raisers and top advisers have lobbied or worked for an array of gambling interests – including tribal and Las Vegas casinos, lottery companies and online poker purveyors.”
Campaign staffers told the Times that McCain was “justifiably proud” of his record on Indian gaming.
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