Commemorative Series No. 3 · The Fine Print
OUTSPENTNo. 58/74
John
Ensign
U.S. Senate · R-NV
Taken from the card industry
$13,400
S.256 · the bankruptcy bill · 2005tap to flip ⤺
WHO THEY WORK FORNo. 58/74
Card-Issuing Banks$12,300
Credit Cards$1,100
Made it harder to clear credit-card debt in bankruptcy. Filings got ~38% costlier; insolvency didn't fall. · 109-1-44OUTSPENT
Card 58 of 74 · tap the card to see who they work for
Beyond the check
The check is only the part you can see.
They took
$13,400
The industry spent on the bill
$100M+
on an eight-year industry push to pass the bankruptcy bill
Through the leadership PAC
Beyond the campaign account, a leadership PAC under Ensign's control (Battle Born Political Action Committee) took $149,500 from banks, card lenders, drug makers and insurers.
Source: FEC; Battle Born Political Action Committee
The industry figure is lobbying spent on the bill, not a payment to this senator. Source: contemporary reporting (NBER; PBS Frontline). Everything here is documented public record; nothing alleges an illegal act.
Don't recognize a logo? Here's the key.
Card-Issuing Banks$12,300
Citigroup$4,300
Am. Bankers Assn.$4,000
Bank of America$3,750
Wells Fargo$250
Credit Cards$1,100
American Express$900
Discover$200