Money Talks, Congress Listens

Over at Open Secrets, there's a great article on insurance industry donations to House Energy & Commerce Committee members.

Committee Chair Henry Waxman told 52 insurance companies that they had to disclose their financial records, including executive pay, entertainment expenditures and, oh yes, political donations.

Here are the current members of the House Energy and Commerce to collect the most from the 52 insurers required to respond to Waxman's request, including contributions to the lawmakers' leadership PACs and candidate committees back to 1989:

Name Total

Roy Blunt (R-Mo) $204,428
John D Dingell (D-Mich) $154,600
Nathan Deal (R-Ga) $150,600
Mike Rogers (R-Mich) $109,800
Henry A Waxman (D-Calif)$106,500
Bart Stupak (D-Mich) $94,750
John Shadegg (R-Ariz) $94,250
Joe Barton (R-Texas) $84,350
Lee Terry (R-Neb) $84,300
Phil Gingrey (R-Ga) $83,770
Tim Murphy (R-Pa) $81,700
Fred Upton (R-Mich) $78,300
John M Shimkus (R-Ill) $73,750
Bart Gordon (D-Tenn) $73,550
Jim Matheson (D-Utah) $72,500

What's impressive (in a bad way) is that Mike Rogers didn't get elected until 2000 -- yet he's managed to scoop up enough insurance industry cash to come in fourth at the trough.