Here's the kind of transparency report that annoys me because it seems to come with a point of view attached.
The House Financial Services Committee voted yesterday to give regulators the authority to break up large financial firms that create too much systemic risk, in an effort to prevent future financial crises. The vote passed by a 38-29 margin, but three Democrats joined with all Republicans voting no. Those three Democrats--Melissa Bean (D-IL), Dan Maffei (D-NY), and Gregory Meeks (D-NY)--received an average of $99,483 from banks' PACs in the last two years, 119% more than the average of $45,358 received by the 38 Democrats voting for tougher regulation.
Comparing the averages implies that the financial industry exerted a disproportionate influence over the three Democrats voting against the regulation.
But the top three Democratic members who voted for the legislation collected more than $435,ooo from the banks PACs, versus only $298,000 for the three Democrats voting against. Committee Chair Barney Frank and bill co-sponsor Paul Kanjorsky together took more PAC money than the breakaway three.
And when you look at the total dollars paid out by the industry to the top 15 recipients — which includes all three "no" voters — the 12 Democratic supporters of tougher regulation among that group collected almost $1.126 million. The other "yes" voters got another $1.384 million.
It's just possible the three Democrats voted the interests of their districts or their consciences. Looking at the money alone doesn't tell us that, but the analysis makes a dark inference.
As for the Republicans, we don't know how much they got. The analysis doesn't tell us the average amount that "bought" the GOP votes.
