John Paulson's Washington Money Trail

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2010/04/john-paulsons-washington-money-trail

Pajamas Media has posted an article I wrote about the political contributions and lobbying expenditures of John Paulson and his firm Paulson & Co. Paulson and his firm, who were not charged in the SEC case against Goldman Sachs, had, as this FutureOfCapitalism.com reader pointed out, "a HUGE incentive to make sure the underlying mortgages actually defaulted. No grace periods, no working out the terms, no excuses for late checks, etc. Paulson needed default in the technical and legal sense; not delinquent or non-performing, but default as defined in the actual mortgage."

Not exactly what you'd expect Democrats, who have been calling for foreclosure prevention, to make as an ally. Yet, as the Pajamas Media article reports:

Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, who as chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs is in a position to have some say on any foreclosure relief provisions passing through Congress, received contributions of $4,800 in April 2009 and $2,300 in March 2010. In February 2009, Mr. Paulson gave $2,300 to the campaign of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat. In February 2008, he gave $4,600 to the campaign of Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, another Democrat. In March 2008, he gave $4,600 to the campaign of Senator Max Baucus of Montana, the Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

And there's more, according to the Federal Election Commission: Mr. Paulson gave $25,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in December 2007, another $30,400 to the DSCC in June 2009, and $4,600 to the campaign of Senator Richard Durbin, a member of the Democratic leadership, in November 2007. Senator Frank Lautenberg, a Democrat from New Jersey, got $4,600 in March 2008.

All while Paulson & Co was spending $80,000 or $90,000 a quarter to hire former aides to both Democrats and Republicans in Washington to lobby Congress on things like the "Helping families save their home in the Bankruptcy Act 2009." and the "H.R. 3609 Emergency Home Ownership Mortgage Equity Protection Act of 2007; S. 2133 Homes Act; S. 2136 Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2007."

The details are all in the Pajamas Media article, which is worth checking out in full.

by Ira Stoll  |  Apr 20, 2010 at 8:57 am Related Topics:  Banking, Campaign Finance, Capital Markets Regulation, Goldman Sachs, John Paulson, Politics, SEC receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list