Congratulations to Sen. Richard Burr and Rep. Sue Myrick, who are being recognized and honored today as loyal servants of Wall Street. Well, maybe “honored” isn’t the right word. The Campaign for America’s Future has released a report that lists members of Congress who voted for the Wall Street bailouts but against financial reform — which was designed to rein in the financial institutions that drove the economy into a deep hole. The report also reveals how much money those lawmakers have received from Wall Street. The list, derived from data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics, includes 90 members of Congress, including 21 GOP senators, 60 GOP representatives, and 9 Democratic representatives.
So, guess who made the Top 10 in total dollars collected from Wall Street? Yep, our own Richard Burr — already renowned as a devout puppet of whatever corporation hands him money — tied for 8th on the Wall Street Stooge Honor Roll. Burr, reports writer Zach Carter, scored $1.5 million in Wall Street cash this year alone. Burr also tied for 10th place in the Congressional race for career-long Wall Street donations, having raked in $3.3 million during his 15 years in Washington.
The biggest wads of money went to senators, but that didn’t stop House member Myrick from cashing in, too. She received $93,600 from Wall Street this year alone, and has snagged $1.2 million from them during her Washington tenure (which makes Myrick’s change of heart about term limits a little more understandable).
Other Carolina members of Congress being “honored” today for their slavish devotion to Wall Street are Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), who received $1.1 million this year, and $2 million during his career; Rep. Howard Coble (R-NC), $23,400 this year, $502K career; Rep. Gresham Barrett (R-SC), $20,400 this year, $806K career; Rep. Henry Brown (R-SC), $35,700 this year, $494k career; and last but not least, Rep. Joe “You lie!” Wilson (R-SC), $155,500 this year, $580K career. Congrats all!
This article appears in Sep 28 – Oct 4, 2010.
This video basically sums up Richard Burr!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Afb8AlR1ztc
So the Republican Party is full of greedy and corrupt hypocrites that will do everything in their power to screw their country over just to make a buck… new news is new.
It’s funny that these are the same people that throw the word patriot around so freely like it means anything coming out of their mouths.
We all know that the most ethical, principled politicians are the Democrats (sarcasm). Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters anyone?
People need to pay attention and realize that BOTH sides of the aisle are corrupt and out to grab more power. Vote for people who have a set of core values and beliefs and who will stick to them no matter what. Vote out the life-long politicians who can be bought by corporations and lobbyists no matter if they have a D or R after their name.
I agree that anyone who continues to argue that “my guys are good” or “your guys are bad” is part of the problem. Obviously this report, organization, and author fit that mold. I would challenge you Mr. Grooms to visit the FEC website and compare the list of donors for Burr and Hagan. The amounts will be different due to their campaign cycles but you would find many names are the same on both lists. I took that step in challenging the party I thought represented me, will you?
Sure both sides of the aisle are corrupt, but it takes the kind of rampant disregard for facts only an ignorant conservative can summon up to somehow convince themselves that 81 is equal to 9.
The Republicans have made quite a pretty penny pandering themselves to the least intelligent and informed segments of American society, congrats SP and BV on being a part of it.
Wes,
What part of what I said led you to believe I was or endorsed Republicans? Much to the contrary, I think the R’s are much more to blame because they are not a true second party. The D’s are the bigger gov’t, control over the masses party, and the Republican establishment simply disagree on what the gov’t should force on you.
The real bankers’ pawn is Mel Watt. Watt gutted the Fed reporting requirements from the so-called financial “reform” bill, including the “Audit The Fed” provisions that had 300 sponsors in the House Of Representatives. Apparently Charlotte’s Stepin Fetchit doesn’t want you to know what kind of deals Bernanke and his crew are making with trillions of OUR dollars.
Watt’s largest contributors included American Express, Wachovia, Bank of America and the American Bankers Association. Altogether the financial industry donated over $217,109 to Watt, which was over 35 percent of the overall contributions he received.