Adam Smith, Public Campaign Action Fund, (202) 997-8929, asmith@publicampaign.org

Washington, DC—In this morning’s Wall Street Journal, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said that Wall Street campaign donors have “buyers’ remorse,” for donating to Democratic candidates and are now reconsidering their campaign giving.

Below is a statement from David Donnelly, national campaigns director for Public Campaign Action Fund.

“Rep. Cantor voted against legislation to reform Wall Street—even after the big banks wrecked our economy while lining their pockets with millions of dollars in bonuses. As these big banks lobby Congress to maintain the status quo, we want to know: what are these donors buying, Rep. Cantor?

 

“Is he promising Wall Street that they’ll stay bought and do their bidding? That Rep. Cantor would make such a bold statement after a week of Congressional hearings exploring the undue influence of special interests in our political process is shameful.

 

"It’s an example of everything that’s wrong with our broken campaign system that puts deep-pocketed donors ahead of the interests of Main Street America.”

During his time in Congress, Rep. Cantor and his leadership PAC have received more than $1.5 million from Wall Street interests, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.

Public Campaign Action Fund is working to pass the Fair Elections Now Act (S. 752, H.R. 1826), legislation that would end Congress’ reliance on special interest cash by creating a system that blends limited public funds with a 4 to 1 match on donations of $100 or less. The legislation is sponsored by Reps John Larson (D-Conn.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.) in the House and Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in the Senate.

To learn more, visit www.fairelectionsnow.org.