CREDIT INDUSTRY CONTRIBUTED $63 MILLION TO CONGRESS TO BUY INFLUENCE

September 22, 2002

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In a campaign contribution analysis released last week, Common Cause found that while lobbying Congress to approve bankruptcy legislation, credit card interests gave more than $63 million to political candidates and parties. A seven-year review of FEC records showed that Republicans and Democrats alike benefited from the donations that came mostly from a small number of major banks, consumer lenders and credit card companies. The Common Cause analysis shows that Republicans received nearly two-thirds of the donations
given between 1995 and 2001 at nearly $41.5 million, while Democrats took in close to $21.5 million. The 23 House and Senate Judiciary Committee conferees negotiating the bill fared especially well, collecting more than $2 million from creditor interests between Jan. 1, 1995 and June 30, 2002, the study showed.

To view the full report, go to http://www.commoncause.org/moneyinpolitics/img/091902bankruptcy_study.pdf