Subject: [big campaign] Release, backgrounder on Grassley fundraiser
From: David Donnelly <[email-masked]>
To: "[email-masked]" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:28:21 -0400
List-Id: <bigcampaign.googlegroups.com>

PUBLIC CAMPAIGN ACTION FUND
 
For immediate release            For more info:
Monday, June 22, 2009            David Donnelly, 617-899-1084
 
GRASSLEY FUNDRAISER HOSTED BY MORTGAGE, INSURANCE LOBBYISTS AND PAC
 
Special interest fundraiser comes after Grassley voted against bill opposed
by hosts to allow bankruptcy judges to renegotiate mortgages
 
Washington, DC  Lobbyists and political action committees from the
mortgage, insurance, and financial industries are hosting a fundraising
event for Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) this afternoon just steps from the
U.S. Senate. Sen. Grassley recently backed the industry and opposed
legislation to allow judges to renegotiate mortgages. The fundraising event
drew strong criticism from Public Campaign Action Fund, a campaign finance
watchdog organization.
 
³Sen. Grassley appears to be cashing in from the mortgage bankers for his
recent vote to prevent bankruptcy judges from renegotiating the terms of
mortgages in order to prevent foreclosures to keep people in their homes,²
said David Donnelly, national campaigns director of Public Campaign Action
Fund. ³The lobbyists and PAC hosting this event have made it clear that they
will continue to fight against the types of financial market reforms now
under discussion in Washington.
 
³In the weeks to come, will Sen. Grassley again listen to them and their
campaign money, or to constituents back home who are hurting because of the
failures of Wall Street, the banks, regulators, and Congress?²
 
On April 30, Grassley voted against legislation that would have allow
bankruptcy judges to renegotiate the terms of mortgages as part of
bankruptcy proceedings. The Mortgage Bankers Association led the successful
charge against the legislation, which led sponsoring Sen. Dick Durbin
(D-Ill.) to say of the banks ³frankly they own the place.²
 
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Sen. Grassley has raised
nearly $2.8 million from the finance, insurance, and real estate sector over
his career for his campaign and leadership political action committee.
 
The hosts of the fundraiser include representatives of the Mortgage Bankers
Association, the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America, AFLAC PAC, and a
lobbyist, Smith W. Davis, whose clients include Moody¹s, the Private Equity
Council, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Davis is the head of the
financial policy practice at powerhouse lobbying firm Akin Gump.
 
A background document on each host and Grassley¹s fundraising is available
online at http://www.campaignmoney.org/finance/grassley.
 
Public Campaign Action Fund is a national nonprofit organization that works
to advance comprehensive public financing of campaigns and to hold elected
officials accountable for the favors they give to special interests.
 
###

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