Sunday, October 31, 2010

Barney Frank, The Fat Fox Guarding the Hen House

More Fun Facts from OpenSecrets.org, This time from Massachusetts' 4th Congressional District Race featuring 30 year incumbent, Barney Frank vs. newcomer Sean Bielat.

Below you'll see that the people sending the most money to Frank are those who work in and/around the very same industry he regulates.

The counter-intuitive truth about regulations is that they most help those who are the richest players in the regulated industry. How's that work? Because the cost of compliance acts as a barrier to entrance to start-ups.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure Barney doesn't really want his liberal constituents understanding who pulls his strings.







Top Industries

2010 Race: Massachusetts District 04

Most members of Congress get the bulk of their campaign contributions from two main sources: the industries that make up the economic base of their home district and the Washington-based interest groups that pay more attention to the member's committee assignments in Congress. In addition, most Democrats receive substantial sums from labor unions.

From this table, you can get a flavor of which are the top industries giving to the candidates running for Congress in your district. Do the industries match your local economy, or are they more Washington-based? If the latter, the candidate may have divided loyalties on issues where the interests of their cash constituents conflict with those of the voters who elected them.

Barney Frank (D)

IndustryTotal
Securities & Investment$251,958
Insurance$227,449
Real Estate$213,750
Lawyers/Law Firms$170,714
Retired$123,771
Misc Finance$102,750
Democratic/Liberal$71,837
Commercial Banks$70,800
Casinos/Gambling$61,400
Lobbyists$56,800
Accountants$42,950
Business Services$35,750
General Contractors$30,350
Misc Unions$27,500
Finance/Credit Companies$24,000
Health Professionals$23,080
Misc Manufacturing & Distributing$22,900
Education$22,150
Printing & Publishing$21,700
Hospitals/Nursing Homes$21,190

Sean D. Bielat (R)

IndustryTotal
Retired$46,750
Securities & Investment$35,600
Lawyers/Law Firms$21,826
Misc Finance$12,850
Real Estate$11,950
Misc Business$10,500
Health Professionals$7,050
TV/Movies/Music$6,800
Commercial Banks$6,450
Civil Servants/Public Officials$6,150
Business Services$6,150
Computers/Internet$3,500
Printing & Publishing$3,400
Accountants$3,100
Education$2,500
Insurance$2,500
Chemical & Related Manufacturing$2,250
Misc Manufacturing & Distributing$2,000
Oil & Gas$1,750
Pharmaceuticals/Health Products$1,650

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