WASHINGTON - In the span of a month, the nation's biggest banks and
investment firms have twice won passage of measures to weaken
regulations intended to help lessen the risk of another financial
crisis, setting their sights on narrow, arcane provisions and greasing
their efforts with a surge of lobbying and campaign contributions.
The financial industry has been methodical, drafting technically
complicated legislation that can pass the heavily Republican House with a
few Democratic votes. And then, once approved, Wall Street has pushed
to tack such measures on to larger bills considered too important for
the White House to block.
The
current efforts to undermine Dodd-Frank have been textbook lobbying. In
the first three quarters of last year, the securities and investment
industry spent nearly $74 million on lobbying - on 704 registered
lobbyists - according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That was on
track to easily beat out the $99 million spent in 2013.
Continue reading the main story
The
Securities Industry and Financial Market Association, Wall Street's
biggest lobbying group, had spent $5.8 million alone through September,
the last data available. The group spent $5.2 million in all of 2013.
Lobbying
expenditures by every specific industry group declined in 2014, except
for the finance, insurance and real estate sector. That sector increased
its spending by 2.5 percent.
As
of Nov. 16, Wall Street banks and other financial interests had spent
$1.2 billion on campaign contributions and lobbying combined, a total
that was on track to beat spending in 2010, when Dodd-Frank was being
considered in Congress, according to Americans for Financial Reform.
And
Wall Street has been a steady donor, particularly to members of the
House Financial Services Committee, where the legislation typically gets
started. During the last Congress, Representative Jeb Hensarling of
Texas, the Republican chairman of the committee, received donations on
13 separate occasions from political action committees run by Bank of
America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/14/business/economy/in-new-congress-wall-st-pushes-to-undermine-dodd-frank-reform.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
[/URL]
This post was edited on 1/14 11:55 AM by dherd
investment firms have twice won passage of measures to weaken
regulations intended to help lessen the risk of another financial
crisis, setting their sights on narrow, arcane provisions and greasing
their efforts with a surge of lobbying and campaign contributions.
The financial industry has been methodical, drafting technically
complicated legislation that can pass the heavily Republican House with a
few Democratic votes. And then, once approved, Wall Street has pushed
to tack such measures on to larger bills considered too important for
the White House to block.
The
current efforts to undermine Dodd-Frank have been textbook lobbying. In
the first three quarters of last year, the securities and investment
industry spent nearly $74 million on lobbying - on 704 registered
lobbyists - according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That was on
track to easily beat out the $99 million spent in 2013.
Continue reading the main story
The
Securities Industry and Financial Market Association, Wall Street's
biggest lobbying group, had spent $5.8 million alone through September,
the last data available. The group spent $5.2 million in all of 2013.
Lobbying
expenditures by every specific industry group declined in 2014, except
for the finance, insurance and real estate sector. That sector increased
its spending by 2.5 percent.
As
of Nov. 16, Wall Street banks and other financial interests had spent
$1.2 billion on campaign contributions and lobbying combined, a total
that was on track to beat spending in 2010, when Dodd-Frank was being
considered in Congress, according to Americans for Financial Reform.
And
Wall Street has been a steady donor, particularly to members of the
House Financial Services Committee, where the legislation typically gets
started. During the last Congress, Representative Jeb Hensarling of
Texas, the Republican chairman of the committee, received donations on
13 separate occasions from political action committees run by Bank of
America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/14/business/economy/in-new-congress-wall-st-pushes-to-undermine-dodd-frank-reform.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
[/URL]
This post was edited on 1/14 11:55 AM by dherd
