Last night, members of the American Bankers Association (ABA) held internal meetings to plan their strategy and the group planned to send teams of lobbyists to Capitol Hill. One of the most powerful lobbying groups on Capitol Hill, the association regularly presses Congress for regulatory relief and industry tax breaks.
The list of clients that the American Banking Association is lobbying to Virgil Goode and other members of Congress for include these familiar names (in 2008 alone):
1. Freddie Mac: $4.5M
2. Fannie Mae: $3.0M
3. JP Morgan Chase: $2.5M
4. Merrill Lynch: $2.2M
5. Goldman Sachs: $1.7M
6. Morgan Stanley: $1.6M
7. Arab Bank: $150,000
When asked about his position on the $700B bailout, Goode added his two cents (also paid for by lobbyists): "Details of the overall bailout bill changed frequently as the lobbying intensified, said Rep. Virgil Goode, R-5th."
http://www.mgwashington.com/in...
Here are the facts on Virgil Goode's influence from the American Bankers Association:
1. Virgil Goode has received $41,000 in PAC money form the ABA. http://www.opensecrets.org/pol...2. The ABA is the 4th largest PAC contributor to Goode. The largest reported is MZN. http://www.opensecrets.org/pol...
3. His reelection campaign has already received $10,000 from ABA. http://www.opensecrets.org/pol...
4. Virgil Goode is one of the top 4 recipients of ABA PAC money in the entire state of Virginia. http://www.opensecrets.org/org...
5. The Appropriations Committee, which Virgil Goode is a member of, is one of the most heavily lobbied committees in Congress and its members have received over $174,000 in PAC money. http://www.opensecrets.org/org...
"The failed economic policies of the Bush-Goode years rear their ugly head yet again," said Perriello in his press release. "This is another financial crisis that Virginia's middle class families cannot afford."On the jobs front, Perriello attributes the loss of jobs in Southside to Congressman Goode's attention to corporate interests, "Southside has lost over 10,000 jobs on Congressman Goode's watch. It's not surprising that when you take $1.5 million in campaign contributions from the special interests, you protect giant corporations again and again while middle class families pay the price."