The Senators from Goldman Sachs?

The Senate has been stalled in passing new financial regulation, and there's been a lot of talk about how effective the industry has been in influencing members of Congress. So I decided to look at just how much the financial industry has contributed to our region's representatives.

I called Dave Levinthal to help me out. He’s communication director for the Center for Responsive Politics, an organization that tracks campaign contributions.

Levinthal points to certain key Senators. First is Charles Schumer, the Democratic Senator from New York, who sits on the banking committee and, along with Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, was assigned to hammer out a bipartisan compromise on financial reform. Also on Levinthal's list are Chris Dodd, the Democratic Senator from Connecticut, chairman of the banking committee, and Joe Lieberman, the Independent Senator from Connecticut.

"All of them have received millions upon millions, in some cases more than $10 million, over their careers from individuals and political action committees that are associated with the finance, insurance, and real estate industries," Levinthal says.

As of last fall, Schumer had topped the list from our region, receiving nearly $16 million. A close second was Dodd, at $15 million. Lieberman was at $11 million. And New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez was at $5 million.

Now let's look at who gave money. Goldman Sachs was Schumer's and Menendez's top donor from the financial industry. And Citigroup was Dodd and Lieberman’s top donor.

I then called up one of the industry's chief lobbyists, Scott Talbott of the Financial Services Roundtable. And asked him whether he believed the two who had received the most money, Schumer and Dodd, were representing the interests of his members.

"No. No," Talbott said. "Here's the question I think you're asking me, Lisa, if the industry is giving to these members, then are they turning around and supporting our positions. And the answer is, there's no connection between any one issue or any issues per se and money."

Talbott says the reason the Senate has taken so long to pass new laws is because the issues are complicated. Consumer advocates blame the stalled talks on an aggressive lobbying campaign by the industry. They point to a key component of President Obama’s plan to regulate mortgages and credit cards: the creation of an independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The industry has strongly opposed it. And recently, Dodd scrapped plans for the stand-alone agency.

I called Schumer's office about his record. The Senator’s staff told me that he's supported a bunch of things that go against the industry's interests: giving shareholders the power to vote on CEO pay; banning flash trading, which gives some traders an advantage over retail investors; and requiring over-the-counter derivatives to be traded on a clearinghouse. The question now is whether any of this will pass the Senate.