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the mortgage lending lobby and the ISDA prevention of legislative oversight proved too potent a concoction for Wall street to bear when the housing bust, credit crisis and private investment bank failures arrived.

The mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not to be overlooked in the multi-tiered lobbying dynamic that led to the Wall street meltdown. In a July 2008 article by Tom Raum and Jim Drinkard of the Associated press, the two Government sponsored enterprises (GSE's) are reported as having contributed over $170 million dollars to members of congress to support their home buying cause. Specifically, they state "Over the past decade, both Fannie (FNM) and Freddie (FRE) made the list of Washington's top 20 lobbying spenders. They spent a combined $170 million to cultivate allies during that period, a bit less than the American Medical Association and a bit more than General Electric."

Campaign contributions since 2002 also indicate a strong influence of the financial industry on Congress according to Tom Hamburger and William Heisel of the L.A. Times. "The securities, banking and mortgage industries are among the biggest campaign contributors to both parties. Since 2002, the sector has contributed more than $1.1 billion to congressional candidates, with Republicans getting an edge during that period, according to federal lobbying records." How exactly these contributions affect political decision-making is a matter of connecting the dots as politicians receive their education on current events and industry developments in part by lobbyists. What's more, opensecrets.org illustrates the vast majority of campaign contributions go to political incumbents adding re-election incentive, and political relationship building to the mix.

The evidence indicates lobbying and campaign contributions from key groups within the financial industry led to a chain of events that caused the 2008 Wall street 'crisis'. The impact of the financial services industry was present all the way from banking deregulation in the 1990's to financially irresponsible neglect of derivatives asset reporting, and lax lending standards advocated by mortgage companies. The money trail of financial industry lobbyists and campaign contributors marks a clear multi-year trail that is well documented in U.S. Government lobbying public records and accounts from organizational and media watchdogs.

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