Financial and housing industries paid lobbyists more than $42 million to defeat mortgage cram-down legislation.
Financial and housing industries paid lobbyists more than $42 million to defeat mortgage cram-down legislation.
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 industry that was working to defeat the provision. Indeed, as Jane Hamsher now reports, lobbyists received more than $42 million to defeat such legislation this year:
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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May 5th, 2009 at 11:50 amhttp://www.maxipaylasim.net/
A review of lobbying reports filed indicates that finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE)…
Wait just a minute there. Finance, Insurance & Real Estate?
You need big pharma’s drugs in there, too.
So what do we have now? Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, Drugs.
Lobbyists, you’re FIRED!
May 5th, 2009 at 11:55 amWhen President Obama proposed yesterday axing tax breaks for offshore corporations that ship jobs overseas, many people never realized how ballsy that really was. Because the corporations that would be the hardest hit happen to be his biggest campaign contributors and I have some eye-popping statistics to prove it.
Basically, the president gladly took their millions through their PACs and gave them the finger 105 days later.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:01 pmShouldn’t the headline read that the Finance, Insurance, Real estate companies spent $ 42 million to bribe enough congress people utilizing bagmen (Lobbyists who take a cut off the top) to steer the vote their way.
BTW aside to Sen. Durbin, for a bribe to work it must be a two way proposition. One to give it and one to receive it.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:03 pmDoes anyone have a list of the Democrats who voted against this legislation?
May 5th, 2009 at 12:05 pmThe corrupt politicians that lobbyists can just buy should be forced to wear a sign on their backs…
…FOR SALE, no ethics, no morals, no worries.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:07 pmThe blue dog Democrats are to blame for this bill not passing. They need to be targeted for replacement in the primaries.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:07 pm“Of the people, for the people, by the people”?….riiiiight!
May 5th, 2009 at 12:09 pmectoendomezo Says: I am ready..right now…to cease my credit card payment..
You do know you could have just “Not” used that credit card to begin with? That would have been a wiser and more honest approach.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:09 pmNAYs —51
Baucus (D-MT)
Bennet (D-CO)
Byrd (D-WV)
Carper (D-DE)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Johnson (D-SD)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lincoln (D-AR)
McCain (R-AZ)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Specter (D-PA)
Tester (D-MT)
And the rest of the Republis.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:14 pmWHO ASKED YOU?
May 5th, 2009 at 12:16 pmGood job, RC,
You’ve, once again, missed the point by a country mile!!
Wow, buddy – with contributions like that, you’ll have turned everyone here into righties in no time.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:17 pmSpeaking of crammed-down interests:
Protesters disrupt Senate health care hearing (link)
When one protester shouted “we want a seat at the table,” Baucus responded, “We want police.”
Capitol Police removed eight people.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:21 pmRealityCheck Says:
ectoendomezo Says: I am ready..right now…to cease my credit card payment..
You do know you could have just “Not” used that credit card to begin with? That would have been a wiser and more honest approach.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:29 pm========
And an even wiser approach is for you to go and get your frontal lobe checked out since your “Not” using it to begin with.
For crying out loud how damn foreclosures could have been stopped with 42 million $$$$$ of wasteful lobbying,This is a sick and twisted bunch of bankers,how much will they spend on lobbying the new credit card bill?Phuck these mothers and the horses they rode in on!!!!
May 5th, 2009 at 12:29 pmshould read how many foreclosures could have been stopped with 42 million $$$$.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:32 pmHey RC, the credit card companies could have simply refused the U.S-printed notes they used (a) as their taxpayer-funded bailouts and (b) to issue those credit cards in the first place.
In other words, the taxpayer funds the operations of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing just to have those notes issued to private corporations who, in turn, screw them over.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:34 pmWhat a bunch of whores. They’d sell their souls for another chance to be re-elected, and for what? To sell the same souls again?
Does anyone know of a website that shows exact contributions to each of these sell outs and connects the dots to the lobbyists and corporations and their employees?
PEACE
May 5th, 2009 at 12:34 pmTake the money of the equation, plain and simple. Lobby and campaign finance reform are attacking the root of the problem. We’ll have nothing but the completely self-interested until them, with politicians only doing just enough to tamp down complete rebellion.
What is the strategy to get laws made when our lawmakers don’t want to see them made?
May 5th, 2009 at 12:36 pmDeep Thinker Says:
Shouldn’t the headline read that the Finance, Insurance, Real estate companies spent $ 42 million to bribe enough congress people utilizing bagmen (Lobbyists who take a cut off the top) to steer the vote their way.
I believe it is more that these companies BOUGHT these people, lined their personal pockets, and put the rest into their campaign funds. The lobbyist now OWN the pols, and this has been on-going for decades!
May 5th, 2009 at 12:38 pm#4.
As if it was as easy as just not paying anymore and ignoring their phone calls.
The problem is that depending on the creditor they might hire a local lawyer who also runs a collection agency out of his office to collect the $695 unsecured loan you owe.
That lawyer then could get a judgement against you for over $2000 though your local court system that seems to have a habit of not being very good at informing consumers of court dates even though said consumer did respond to claim with requests for information that said lawyer did not provide.
That over $2000 can now be garnished from the consumers paycheck. That is if one has a job. They could also seize all the money in your checking/saving account if you have anything in those accounts.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:38 pmHere in Arkansas they have even begun arresting people and putting them in jail because of unpaid judgements for unsecured loans.
No joke.
Debtors prison.
In 2009.
amish_edison Says:
“Of the people, for the people, by the people”?….riiiiight!
Sadly according to the Supreme Court corporations hold the very rights afforded to “we the people”. They are free to lobby their representatives in Congress just as you have the right to do so. Of course I doubt that anyone here has 42 million lying around to blow on lobbyists and “we the people” are all but voiceless on the very issues that matter most to us. What infuriates me is that these finance, real estate and insurance companies hide practically all of their money in off-shore tax shelters. They take our money in interest payments, mortgage payments, insurance premiums and bail-out funds, move the money to a tax shelter (the most popular being the Cayman Islands where an estimated 75% of corps hide their money) and then use our money to lobby against our interests to a Government that they don’t even pay taxes to. Talk about representation WITHOUT taxation!They pay little to no US taxes yet retain the same rights an American citzen holds to lobby Congress. THIS is a large part of what is wrong with our Government. President Obama has determined himself to go after these tax havens and that’s a very good start. Making it unlawful for corporate tax dodgers to lobby Congress would be something I would also like to see.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:53 pm42 million will be dwarfed by the spending to defeat single payer health and EFCA. There’s voting and then there is money. Money always trumps votes in DC. Always…
May 5th, 2009 at 12:57 pmMegaloptera McWars Says:
——————————————————————————–
Speaking of crammed-down interests:
Protesters disrupt Senate health care hearing (link)
When one protester shouted “we want a seat at the table,” Baucus responded, “We want police.”
Capitol Police removed eight people.
People….KEEP FIGHTING FOR SINGLE PAYER. AS A CANADIAN, I CAN TELL YOU THAT YOU WILL BE FREE FROM CORP POWER. NO MORE HAVING TO TAKE CRAP JOBS JUST TO GET HEALTH CARE. NO MORE CO PAYS OR DEDUCABLES.
NO MORE BANKRUPTCY BECAUSE OF HEALH CARE. NO MORE HMO’S TELLING YOU WHAT DOCTOR TO SEE. GO ANYWHERE IN YOUR NATION AND BE COVERED BY HEALH CARE.
YOUR POLITICIANS WANT YOU TO BE AT THE CORP TIT AND ABIDE BY THERE WAY OF LIFE….CORPORATE SLAVORY!!!
I CAN TELL YOU, LIFE IS SO MUCH BETTER NOT HAVING ANY WORRIES ABOUT HEALTH CARE. THAT IS WHY NO US MEDIA WILL EVER TALK TO CANADIANS CITEZENS ABOUT THERE HEALTH CARE.
THE TRUTH WOULD HURT !!!! AND HURT YOUR CORP AND POLITICANS.
May 5th, 2009 at 1:06 pmFunny how Baucus (D-MT) feels so passionate about health care reform but doesn’t give a damn about keeping people in their homes?
May 5th, 2009 at 1:07 pmFor true leftists, Obama has been a total bust!
He’s escalated the war in Afghanistan, increased the cross-border bombings of Pakistan, hemmed and hawed about prosecuting war crimes, refused to actively lobby House members to make it easier for workers to organize (EFCA), and surrounded himself with bank industry reps who’ve committed $12.8 trillion to sinking financial institutions with no assurance that the money would be repaid.
Apart from a trifling bill on stem cells, Obama has done absolutely zero to confirm his bona fides as a liberal.
The truth is, Obama is neither liberal nor conservative; he’s simply an inspiring orator and a skillful politician who has no strong convictions about anything.
May 5th, 2009 at 1:13 pmmoondancer Says @ 25
Beat me to it. Good post
May 5th, 2009 at 1:14 pmMegaloptera McWars Says:
Thanks for the link about the protesters. I read the article at the link, then the two articles at politico.com and the WSJ (which were linked from the first link.) The protesters were members of Healthcare Now, Physicians for a National Health Program and Single Payer Action, which only the WSJ article mentiond.
According to politico: “I want you to know I care deeply about your views,” Baucus said.” According to the WSJ article: “That is a view which many have and which I respect,” Baucus said of single-payer health care. “The point of this and other hearings is to determine the best option.” Both of Baucus’ statements are lies, because he is flat-out against a single-payer system. Fock Baucus!
May 5th, 2009 at 1:15 pmLets see who trumps who in the 2010 mid terms!!! Making a list, checking it twice, making sure who is notty or nice.
Out with those who refuse change…and that includes you Obama!!!!! if a government plan in not enacted, your FIRED!!!
May 5th, 2009 at 1:19 pm28 – your ghilly suit is slipping – i can see your true colors all the way from over here.
nice try – now take on another id and try again. thanks for playing.
May 5th, 2009 at 1:20 pmNOLIESPLEASE may I ask how, as a Canadian, are you going to “fire” President Obama?
May 5th, 2009 at 1:22 pmWhen the economy started to slide, the first warnig sign was the housing market. Look where we are now. The one place where help should be given, the people who are loosing their homes…I could say shame on you…to the people who voted against this legislation to help…you could care less right? Unless you were paid to show a little shame. How much would that cost? How much would it cost to show a little remorse? It really is a shame for the whole world to see that what you have come to represent comes with a price tage…everything…
May 5th, 2009 at 1:26 pmThe public servants are doing a great disservice to their constituents and folks, look, we have to stop this, our congress critters are pets, pets to payola my friends.
May 5th, 2009 at 1:38 pmThey should start doing polls in these cronies counties and see what their constituents really want. This playing corporate whore is destroying democracy.
May 5th, 2009 at 1:40 pmBut looking at it from the side of the business:
$ 42 million is chump change for what they got for it.
May 5th, 2009 at 1:40 pmRecall that the FIRE sector also helped gut Glass-Steagall and supported Phil Gramms deregualtion legislation for the derivatives and Enron mess
May 5th, 2009 at 1:51 pmwhy the hell did the tag “cram down” stick???
“write-down” makes so much more sense…
who WOULD support “cram down” ANYthing…?
and, at $43m, did these FIRE industries even come out ahead?
such a scam…
May 5th, 2009 at 2:08 pmThe only way to kill the lobbist weight is the vote. 2010
May 5th, 2009 at 3:26 pmIn addition to the amount paid to their lobbyists (2 of whom are Wells Fargo employees), they donated the following amounts to Senators who voted no on the cramdown amendment:
May 6th, 2009 at 1:24 am$5,000 to “Montanans for Tester”
$3,000 to Collins for Senator
$3,000 to the Bennett Election Committee
$2,500 to the Grassley Committee
$2,500 to Texans for Senator John Cornyn
$2,500 to Friends of John Barrasso
You can read what else I found here. I’m absolutely disgusted with the Senate. Now that Wells Fargo didn’t pass the stress test, they’ll be looking to us for more money, even after buying the Senate to vote down the cramdown, the one thing that could actually stabilize the housing market.
Law makers should have to wear the logos of their ’sponsors’ just like Nascar drivers do.
Since they don’t, when the media interviews them, the reporter should disclose how much money they took from the relevant special interest before allowing the pol to discuss their position on the issue of the moment.
For money in politics, check out OpenSecrets.org.
Very enlightening.
PS Please stop giving the troll RealityCheck the attention that he so pathetically craves. His persistent stupidity is best ignored.
May 6th, 2009 at 2:37 amI THANK
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