OpenSecrets.org has many, many resources for anyone interested in following the money as Washington policymakers craft their solution to the shakeout that continues on Wall Street. Here's a guide to what we at the Center for Responsive Politics have for you online:
* Overviews of federal campaign contributions and lobbying by the finance, insurance and real estate sector
* Within that sector, we have similar data for the two industries getting the most attention right now: the securities and investment industry (contributions, lobbying) and commercial banks (contributions, lobbying)
* How much have members of Congress received from these industries? OpenSecrets.org can show you: securities/investment, banking. Play around with the dropdowns and slider menu to change the timeframe or see totals to specific members of the House and Senate.
* Which companies are the biggest contributors within these industries and how do they split their money between Democrats and Republicans? Banking. Securities/investment.
* For the biggest givers in American politics, which would include most of the major investment firms and commercial banks in the news right now, OpenSecrets.org has detailed "Heavy Hitter" profiles. You can review their contributions and lobbying over time and see how much they've contributed to particular politicians. Here's the full list, and here's direct access to Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Bank of America and American International Group (AIG).
* Don't forget Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We have a list of politicians who've received contributions from their PACs and employees. And we have profiles of contributions and lobbying by the mortgage banking industry.
* In addition to all that's linked above, we've posted a number of other analyses in our Capital Eye blog over the last couple of weeks. You can find these posts here.
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