Press Release from Public Campaign Action Fund and Virginia Organizing
Washington, D.C.—Will House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) spend time in Philadelphia fundraising before or after his speech on income inequality today at the University of Pennsylvania, asked Public Campaign Action Fund and Virginia Organizing
“Virginians had to travel 300 miles to see their Representative Eric Cantor in Philadelphia today because he refuses to hold public forums and meet with his constituents. Rep. Cantor’s fundraising numbers show that he is much more concerned with the interests of corporations and the wealthy than the other 99 percent. Until Rep. Cantor spends some time in his district meeting with his unemployed constituents, he has no business speaking on incoming inequality in Philadelphia,” said Ladelle McWhorter, board member of Virginia Organizing.
In 2011, Cantor and his leadership PAC have raised at least $1 million in campaign contributions from the finance, insurance, and real estate (FIRE) sector, according to Public Campaign Action Fund analysis of data from the Center for Responsive Politics.
His recent third quarter filings show significant campaign money from financial interests.
- Cantor raised at least $219,050 from the sector in just the third quarter, according to Public Campaign Action Fund analysis of recently filed campaign finance reports at the Federal Election Commission.
- Cantor took $5,000 each from PACs representing Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and $4,000 from the American Bankers Association PAC, the financial industry trade group.
- Cantor appeared to hold a minimum of three out-of-state fundraisers in the third quarter—one with lawyers in Los Angeles, financial interests in Chicago, and lobbyists in Washington, D.C.
In 2010, Cantor told prospective donors on Wall Street that banking and investment managers ought to have “buyers’ remorse” for their past giving to Democrats because the Democrats were planning to move an agenda that included financial regulations. Second quarter filings that year showed that the pitch worked
“If Eric Cantor is concerned about income inequality, he’ll start spending more time in the living rooms of everyday Americans struggling to get by and less time in the boardrooms of big banks,” said David Donnelly, national campaigns director of Public Campaign Action Fund.
##
Virginia Organizing is a statewide grassroots organization dedicated to challenging injustice by empowering people in local communities to address issues that affect the quality of their lives. Learn more at http://www.virginia-organizing.org/.
Public Campaign Action Fund works to hold elected officials accountable for the favors they do for special interest donors and fights to pass comprehensive change in the way elections are financed. Learn more at www.campaignmoney.org.
