Financial lobbyists and their power

It won't be news to anyone that the financial sector has major lobbying power in the US (or anywhere else). We recently noted the importance of the companies that interest us in corporate contributions. But hard evidence of this is not so easy to find. Here's an interesting blog that seems to provide harder-than-usual evidence.

These people looked at voting patterns that led to approval of the $700 billion bailout proposal. The relevant section states:

"The other crucial factor was the role of the financial sector. Congresspersons representing districts where the financial sector is a more prominent employer were far more likely to vote for the package in the first round and, if at first voting against it, also to eventually change their minds. This suggests that those constituents who were particularly vulnerable to the rejection of the bill, and to the market reaction after the first vote, were indeed able to make their concerns heard."

Again, this kind of influence is not really news, and this doesn't constitute any kind of "proof" of anything, but it's nice to see the numbers crunched from time to time. The rest of the blog is worth reading too.