Following Frank’s Money
FRANK FEC
New Bedford Standard-Times
Ayesha Aleem and Haley Shoemaker
Boston University Washington News Service
Nov. 5, 2009
WASHINGTON – Health care and climate change may be among the major issues before Congress. But with his approaching reelection bid, the financial sector is a high priority for Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.
As chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Frank plays a key role in legislation that regulates the financial services and banking industry. As of Sept. 30, Frank’s 2010 reelection campaign had received more than $200,000 from individuals and political action committees associated with the financial industry—insurance, securities and investment companies—according to OpenSecrets.org, the Web site of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan organization that tracks money and politics.
In the first nine months of this year, Frank had already raised approximately $1.1 million, the highest amount among House members in the Massachusetts delegation, according to his campaign’s third-quarter filing with the Federal Election Commission.
FMR Corp., which owns Fidelity Investments, is one the largest contributors to the congressman’s campaign committee, contributing $22,650 from individual employees and $2,500 from the Fidelity political action committee, according to OpenSecrets. Companies cannot contribute to political candidates, and so they set up political action committees to which their employees may contribute.
Contributions associated with Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. make up the third-largest group. Individual employees donated $7,500 and the Liberty Mutual political action committee gave $10,000.
“Chairman Frank is a local congressman and someone we are proud to support,” Liberty Mutual spokeswoman Adrianne Kaufmann said in a statement.
However, the top donor to the congressman’s campaign committee was ActBlue, an independent organization based in Massachusetts that raises funds for Democratic candidates. Contributions totaling $26,450 were made to Frank through ActBlue, according to OpenSecrets. ActBlue provides individuals with online fundraising tools to contribute to Democratic candidates, Adrian Arroyo, the organization’s deputy communications director, said.
Insurance companies are the single biggest source within the financial industry of donations to Frank’s war chest. The insurance sector contributed approximately $120,000 from individuals and company political action committees, according to OpenSecrets.
For example, the political action committees of Georgia-based Aflac and the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America donated $5,000 each to Frank.
“We believe that it is important to be a part of the government process and to make them aware of who we are and how we are different from major medical insurance,” said Laura Kane, vice president of external relations at Aflac, the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States.
Supplemental insurance, as the name suggests, is additional insurance that provides coverage in excess of a person’s primary insurance policy.
Since being elected to office in 1980, Frank has enjoyed relatively easy reelections and that is not likely to change in 2010. Frank’s challengers, as listed on the Federal Election Commission Web site, are Republicans Earl Henry Sholley and Keith Messina. Through Sept. 30, Sholley raised almost $17,000 and Messina raised $600, according to their filings with the Federal Election Commission. Tarah Donoghue, communications director of the Massachusetts Republican Party, said that the party is unsure whether a primary will be held.
“The conservatives from Rush Limbaugh through all the right-wing Republicans have spent a lot of time attacking me, and I have had to spend some money to refute these inaccurate acts,” Frank said. “So for example, recently with my campaign money, I sent out a mailing to my district responding to these acts. Because even if the candidate himself doesn’t have money who is opposing me, if I don’t refute these lies, then they stick.”
One of the main reasons for raising large sums of money is to counter efforts from independent organizations like so-called 527 groups that can threaten an incumbent’s position, said Harry Gural, press secretary for Frank. These are tax-exempt organizations created primarily to influence nominations, elections and appointments or to defeat candidates for public office.
Frank has already spent more than $900,000, mostly for operating expenses such as staff salaries, candidate travel and fundraising expenses, as indicated on the Federal Election Commission Web site.
He has also contributed $300,000, through five separate payments, to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, according to the most recent commission filing.
“As chairman of a major committee, I am expected by the Democrats in the House to give $500,000 to the Democratic Congressional Committee,” Frank said. “When I solicit my funds, I tell people much of the money you give me I will be giving to other people.”
As a chairman, Frank said, he is able to raise more money than some other Democrats.
“I want there to be a Democratic majority. It makes a tremendous difference,” Frank said. “For four years, Republicans were in control of the committee that I serve on, and I was very frustrated.”
In the past three years, with Democrats in control, “we’ve got much more done,” he said.
Frank said he does not accept funds from the top 10 companies that receive federal aid under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Citigroup, Bank of America and American International Group (AIG) are the top three companies in this group.
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