Does Pat Meehan Oppose Wall Street Reforms Because of Donations from the Financial Industry?
 
Springfield, PA – Pat Meehan has a history of taking the side of donors from special interest groups over the concerns of working families in the 7th District, raising questions about whether the money he is receiving from financial industry donors is the reason for his opposition to new rules that will prevent a repeat of the financial market collapse that occurred at the end of the Bush administration.
 
According to records available from the FEC, Pat Meehan has collected at least $26,500 in donations from groups tied to the financial industry, including those that oppose financial reform like the American Financial Services Association and the American Bankers Association. That money is included in the hundreds of thousands of dollars that Meehan has received from industry groups representing oil companies, health insurance companies and the gaming industry.
 
Meehan has already sided with the NRA over the concerns of local law enforcement officials and District families after the NRA donated $5,000 to his campaign. He has refused to support legislation that would stop violent criminals from using a loophole in state law to legally carry concealed weapons, even though law enforcement officials in the District and across the state have called for its passage.
 
The new financial regulations that Meehan has said he opposed would prevent another collapse on Wall Street by giving regulators more power to scrutinize banks for potential risky behavior, and making trading activities more transparent. It also put in place new consumer protections to prevent abusive lending practices by financial institutions.  
 
“The District is still recovering from the Bush administration’s financial crisis, and the loss of jobs and money in people’s retirement accounts that it caused,” said Kevin McTigue, Bryan Lentz’s campaign manager. “There’s no reason for Pat Meehan to oppose the safeguards that were recently put in place to stop banks from taking the same risky gambles again other than he’s putting the interests of his financial industry donors over the District’s working families.”
 
Byran Lentz supports Wall Street reform and the creation of a consumer financial protection agency to ensure another collapse does not happen.