The Super Congress
succeeded in creating a ton of jobs for lobbyists. Looks like it's also
lucrative for its members.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) has raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions since his appointment to the deficit-reduction supercommittee in August.
Camp raised $705,000 in the third quarter of 2011, more than $475,000 of it after receiving an appointment to the supercommittee on Aug. 10, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission. [...]
Camp’s fundraising haul marked his third best quarter since the beginning of 2009.
He raised a whopping $940,000 in the second quarter of this year, spanning the months April, May and June. He collected $780,000 in the third quarter of 2010.
The biggest chunk of his contributions came from the health care industry, which provided "at least $55,000" since his appointment to the Super Congress. Contrast that with Sen. John Kerry, who pledged to stop fundraising for his own campaign after his appointment, and who has kept that pledge, according to Public Campaign.
The group has been tracking the fundraising of the Super Congress members, and in an e-mailed press memo, details what they've found so far:
- Health care money poured in for Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.). Upton raised at least $115,240 from health interests in the third quarter of the year. He received $60,900 from energy interests, including $45,000 from oil and gas industry donors.
- The much-noted fundraiser for Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) hosted by a finance industry lobbyist raised little money. Becerra faced criticism when the Investment Company Institute (ICI) touted his position on the supercommittee in a fundraiser invite. On August 31st, the day of the fundraiser, Becerra received $500 from the “chief government affairs officer” of the Investment Company Institute. Also that day he received $5,000 for two executives of Lord Abbott and Company, an ICI member, and $1,000 from a lawyer for the Capital Research and Management Company. A lobbyist representing the Investment Company Institute, Pat Raffaniello, also made a $500 donation. A $7,000 fundraiser for all the hype it received? It wasn’t worth it, for Becerra anyway.
- Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) took in substantial finance sector money. Hensarling raised $442,304 in donations of $200 or more in the third quarter. About a quarter of that, or $119,650, came from financial industry PACs. Eighty-four percent of the total contributions came in amounts of $1000 or more. (Public Campaign is continuing to code these contributions.)
- Rep. Jim Clyburn (R-S.C.) [sic, that should be (D-SC)] and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) received significant PAC contributions. Assistant Minority Leader Clyburn raised over $300,000 in the third quarter. Two-thirds of that, or $199,313, came from political action committees (PACs). Nearly half of the $153,279 Van Hollen raised in the third quarter came from PACs. (In addition, Van Hollen transferred $101,000 from the Van Hollen Victory Fund to his campaign account. That number is not reflected in the total above).
- Senators Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.) raised $249,000 and $139,341, respectively. Analysis of these reports is ongoing.
Reports from the other members, Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio), aren't yet available. For the next quarter of fundraising, these members might keep in mind that we're all watching, and that the outrage America is expressing out in the streets isn't just about Wall Street.