Shills

Should citizens trust public officials to work in their interests? Dana Milbank (The Washington Post) presented some important information on the Senate Banking Committee's investigation of the investment banking meltdown. Milbank noted that Banking Committee members had received more than $20 million in campaign contributions from this sector, including:

Chris Dodd (D-$5,796,000)
Evan Bayh (D-$1,582,000)
Chuck Schumer (D-$6,162,000)

Inter Press Service (4-7-08) also reported that:

"Members of Congress invested nearly 196 million dollars of their own money in companies that receive hundreds of millions of dollars a day from Pentagon contracts to provide goods and services to U.S. armed forces, say nonpartisan watchdog groups." Congressional investors included John Kerry and Joe Lieberman.