STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 12 June 2012

[Demeter]

73. Members of Senate Banking Committee Will Question Their Top Donor: JP Morgan Chase

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/960032/members_of_senate_banking_committee_will_question_their_top_donor%3A_jp_morgan_chase/#paragraph3

Of the 22 members on the Congressional hearing charged this week with questioning JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon over his bank’s $2 billion trading loss, 7 members, including the Chairman and a ranking member, have JPMorgan as one of their top five political contributors.

As AlterNet reported, Tim Johnson, the Senate Banking’s chair, has JPMorgan as his single largest contributor (from 2005-2010). But there’s more to the story. Six other members on the supposed watchdog committee enjoy sizeable contributions from JPMorgan as well (numbers from 2007-2012), totaling $351,582.

They include:

- Richard Shelby (R-AL) — $72,950 (Ranking Member)
- Jack Reed (D-RI) – $29,850
- Robert Corker (R-TN) – $61,000
- Michael Crapo (R-ID) — $33,982
- Jon Tester (D-MT) – $45,000
- Mark Warner (D-VA) – $108,800

What’s more alarming, the entire Congressional panel is fraught with political donations from the “Securities and Investment” industry. The grand total? $13,423,762.

They include:

- Tim Johnson (D-SD; Chairman) – $350,652
- Richard C. Shelby (Ranking Member) – $819,788
- Jerry Moran (R-KS) — $138,000
- Roger Wicker (R-MS) — $285,016
- Jack Reed — $421,200
- Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) — $2,765,764
- Robert Menendez (D-NJ) — $481,651
- Sherrod Brown (D-OH) — $166,100
- Jon Tester — $360,190
- Mark Warner – $1,414,929
- Jeff Merkley (D-OR) — $353,767
- Michael F. Bennet (D-CO) — $1,126,674
- Kay Hagan (D-NC) — $315,045
- Jim DeMint (R-SC) — $227,133
- David Vitter (R-LA) — $211,040
- Mike Johanns (R-NE) — $138,904
- Patrick Toomey (R-PA — $1,028,078
- Mark Kirk (R-IL) — $1,639,497
- Bob Corker — $782,621
- Mike Crapo – $397,713

How can we expect a fair outcome when the Congressional committee charged with holding Dimon accountable is bought and paid for by his bank and industry?