SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, Brought to You by Wall Street, Real Estate Developers and Insurance Companies
Who says Congress can't get anything done?
The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, first passed in the aftermath of 9/11 to relieve insurers of deep losses in connection with terrorist acts, was reauthorized easily in the Senate last week. The extremely deep pockets of industries that lobbied aggressively for the bill might have had something to do with that.
The program was brought to the floor, as it has been in the past, by a roster of senators with strong financial backing from industries that aggressively lobbied for the bill.
Jul 27, 2014
Who says Congress can't get anything done?
The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, first passed in the aftermath of 9/11 to relieve insurers of deep losses in connection with terrorist acts, was reauthorized easily in the Senate last week. The extremely deep pockets of industries that lobbied aggressively for the bill might have had something to do with that.
The program was brought to the floor, as it has been in the past, by a roster of senators with strong financial backing from industries that aggressively lobbied for the bill.
The securities and investment, real estate or insurance industry, or more than one of those, ranks among the top three campaign donors so far this cycle for each of the nine senators who were first to attach their names to the bill.
The bill's primary sponsor, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), with strong ties to Wall Street, was also a cosponsor of the original 2002 bill, at the time backed by five other senators, including fellow New York Democrat Hillary Clinton. That year, Schumer was the top recipient of campaign funds from the finance, insurance and real estate sector, which gave him $3.1 million. This time around, he's received close to $1 million from that sector.
Schumer has also received at least one donation this cycle from a lobbyist for the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism, Charles L. Landgraf, who gave $1,000 to his campaign. The coalition is funded by a bevy of bankers', realtors', insurers' and other industry groups. Martin L. Depoy, a spokesman for the group, had previously worked as an in-house lobbyist for both the National Association of Realtors and National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.
The coalition has also hiked up its lobbying expenditures. In 2013, the group spent $370,000 lobbying for the bill. In the first quarter of 2014, it spent $100,000, and in the second quarter it reported spending $170,000.
The program requires insurers to offer terrorism risk insurance policies in return for backstopping the insurance companies in the event of heavy losses, such as occurred on Sept. 11, 2001. Any insured losses over a given threshold would be covered by the government.
The groups and industries represented by the coalition are among the most lavish in their political spending, giving millions to lawmakers each year -- chief among them, many of the bill's sponsors. These include Mark Warner (D-Va.), who pulled in $1.7 million from the finance, insurance and real estate sector this cycle, while Jack Reed (D-R.I.) has received close to $480,000 and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) has reaped more than $260,000.
The federal insurance program for terrorist acts has historically been backed by lawmakers with these industries on their side. When former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), introduced the first version of the Senate bill in 2002, he was already a favorite of the powerful securities and investment, real estate and insurance industries. Since at least 1998, they have ranked among his top five contributors. Later, he also introduced the 2005 and 2007 re-authorization bills.
As for Clinton, after joining the Senate in 2001, she quickly rose in the ranks of the finance, real estate and insurance sector's proteges. In the 2002 cycle, it gave her a little over $200,000. By 2008, the contributions surpassed $20 million.
That said, the bill's sponsors and those with strong geographic ties to the industries supporting the measure are far from the only ones to benefit from this endlessly generous collection of corporations and trade groups. This cycle, the sector has given more than $130 million to members of Congress; its lobbying expenditures came to $488 million in 2013 and, in the first three months of 2014, it spent close to $120 million to make its voice heard on this bill and other measures.
Little wonder, then, that the bill passed in the Senate with only four nays. It still must be approved by the House, which is wrestling with whether to restructure the program.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Lalita Clozel
Lalita Clozel is the Center for Response Politics' reporting intern for summer 2014. Originally from Paris, France, she is a 2013 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied economics and philosophy. She has previously interned at The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and FactCheck.org.
Who says Congress can't get anything done?
The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, first passed in the aftermath of 9/11 to relieve insurers of deep losses in connection with terrorist acts, was reauthorized easily in the Senate last week. The extremely deep pockets of industries that lobbied aggressively for the bill might have had something to do with that.
The program was brought to the floor, as it has been in the past, by a roster of senators with strong financial backing from industries that aggressively lobbied for the bill.
The securities and investment, real estate or insurance industry, or more than one of those, ranks among the top three campaign donors so far this cycle for each of the nine senators who were first to attach their names to the bill.
The bill's primary sponsor, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), with strong ties to Wall Street, was also a cosponsor of the original 2002 bill, at the time backed by five other senators, including fellow New York Democrat Hillary Clinton. That year, Schumer was the top recipient of campaign funds from the finance, insurance and real estate sector, which gave him $3.1 million. This time around, he's received close to $1 million from that sector.
Schumer has also received at least one donation this cycle from a lobbyist for the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism, Charles L. Landgraf, who gave $1,000 to his campaign. The coalition is funded by a bevy of bankers', realtors', insurers' and other industry groups. Martin L. Depoy, a spokesman for the group, had previously worked as an in-house lobbyist for both the National Association of Realtors and National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.
The coalition has also hiked up its lobbying expenditures. In 2013, the group spent $370,000 lobbying for the bill. In the first quarter of 2014, it spent $100,000, and in the second quarter it reported spending $170,000.
The program requires insurers to offer terrorism risk insurance policies in return for backstopping the insurance companies in the event of heavy losses, such as occurred on Sept. 11, 2001. Any insured losses over a given threshold would be covered by the government.
The groups and industries represented by the coalition are among the most lavish in their political spending, giving millions to lawmakers each year -- chief among them, many of the bill's sponsors. These include Mark Warner (D-Va.), who pulled in $1.7 million from the finance, insurance and real estate sector this cycle, while Jack Reed (D-R.I.) has received close to $480,000 and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) has reaped more than $260,000.
The federal insurance program for terrorist acts has historically been backed by lawmakers with these industries on their side. When former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), introduced the first version of the Senate bill in 2002, he was already a favorite of the powerful securities and investment, real estate and insurance industries. Since at least 1998, they have ranked among his top five contributors. Later, he also introduced the 2005 and 2007 re-authorization bills.
As for Clinton, after joining the Senate in 2001, she quickly rose in the ranks of the finance, real estate and insurance sector's proteges. In the 2002 cycle, it gave her a little over $200,000. By 2008, the contributions surpassed $20 million.
That said, the bill's sponsors and those with strong geographic ties to the industries supporting the measure are far from the only ones to benefit from this endlessly generous collection of corporations and trade groups. This cycle, the sector has given more than $130 million to members of Congress; its lobbying expenditures came to $488 million in 2013 and, in the first three months of 2014, it spent close to $120 million to make its voice heard on this bill and other measures.
Little wonder, then, that the bill passed in the Senate with only four nays. It still must be approved by the House, which is wrestling with whether to restructure the program.
Lalita Clozel
Lalita Clozel is the Center for Response Politics' reporting intern for summer 2014. Originally from Paris, France, she is a 2013 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied economics and philosophy. She has previously interned at The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and FactCheck.org.
Who says Congress can't get anything done?
The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, first passed in the aftermath of 9/11 to relieve insurers of deep losses in connection with terrorist acts, was reauthorized easily in the Senate last week. The extremely deep pockets of industries that lobbied aggressively for the bill might have had something to do with that.
The program was brought to the floor, as it has been in the past, by a roster of senators with strong financial backing from industries that aggressively lobbied for the bill.
The securities and investment, real estate or insurance industry, or more than one of those, ranks among the top three campaign donors so far this cycle for each of the nine senators who were first to attach their names to the bill.
The bill's primary sponsor, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), with strong ties to Wall Street, was also a cosponsor of the original 2002 bill, at the time backed by five other senators, including fellow New York Democrat Hillary Clinton. That year, Schumer was the top recipient of campaign funds from the finance, insurance and real estate sector, which gave him $3.1 million. This time around, he's received close to $1 million from that sector.
Schumer has also received at least one donation this cycle from a lobbyist for the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism, Charles L. Landgraf, who gave $1,000 to his campaign. The coalition is funded by a bevy of bankers', realtors', insurers' and other industry groups. Martin L. Depoy, a spokesman for the group, had previously worked as an in-house lobbyist for both the National Association of Realtors and National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts.
The coalition has also hiked up its lobbying expenditures. In 2013, the group spent $370,000 lobbying for the bill. In the first quarter of 2014, it spent $100,000, and in the second quarter it reported spending $170,000.
The program requires insurers to offer terrorism risk insurance policies in return for backstopping the insurance companies in the event of heavy losses, such as occurred on Sept. 11, 2001. Any insured losses over a given threshold would be covered by the government.
The groups and industries represented by the coalition are among the most lavish in their political spending, giving millions to lawmakers each year -- chief among them, many of the bill's sponsors. These include Mark Warner (D-Va.), who pulled in $1.7 million from the finance, insurance and real estate sector this cycle, while Jack Reed (D-R.I.) has received close to $480,000 and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) has reaped more than $260,000.
The federal insurance program for terrorist acts has historically been backed by lawmakers with these industries on their side. When former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), introduced the first version of the Senate bill in 2002, he was already a favorite of the powerful securities and investment, real estate and insurance industries. Since at least 1998, they have ranked among his top five contributors. Later, he also introduced the 2005 and 2007 re-authorization bills.
As for Clinton, after joining the Senate in 2001, she quickly rose in the ranks of the finance, real estate and insurance sector's proteges. In the 2002 cycle, it gave her a little over $200,000. By 2008, the contributions surpassed $20 million.
That said, the bill's sponsors and those with strong geographic ties to the industries supporting the measure are far from the only ones to benefit from this endlessly generous collection of corporations and trade groups. This cycle, the sector has given more than $130 million to members of Congress; its lobbying expenditures came to $488 million in 2013 and, in the first three months of 2014, it spent close to $120 million to make its voice heard on this bill and other measures.
Little wonder, then, that the bill passed in the Senate with only four nays. It still must be approved by the House, which is wrestling with whether to restructure the program.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.