Although Buffett is on record that the stock market is in a fundamental buying range, over the past several months tens of billions got earmarked for defensive, fixed-income investments with equity kickers.
Yes, you heard right: The chief executive of JP Morgan Chase -- the largest bank in the land, and the exemplar of a 'too big to fail' institution -- is allowed to sit at the table with the people tasked with deciding when and how much of other people's money gets earmarked for his rescue.
"It's not unique in any sense," said Harris Miller, the president and chief executive of the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, "any more than it is for traditional higher education lobbying to get earmarks for their schools, or Boeing or defense contractors using their money to promote an agenda, which is to win a contract of the U.S. government".
For instance, executives at the Sierra Nevada Corp. made a series of donations to Mr. Visclosky after getting earmarks for the company.
Top officials from companies getting earmarks would be limited to donating $5,000 to lawmakers in each two-year election cycle, and they would not be allowed to give at all while seeking an earmark.
The ethics committee acknowledged that there was a "widespread perception" among recipients of earmarks in the private sector that giving political donations to members increased their chances of getting earmarks.
"For firms that have made their living on getting earmarks for their clients, this is a sea change," said Joseph M. Donovan, managing partner at Nelson Mullins Public Strategies Group, a Boston lobbying firm that represents about 50 private and public clients.
The group has come under scrutiny by F.B.I. investigators looking into pay-to-play allegations against the now-defunct lobbying firm P.M.A., which represented Concurrent and other clients that got earmarks.
This year the city switched lobbyists and went with the Ferguson Group, a Washington, D.C., firm that specializes in getting earmarks for local governments.
* Hunter's fundraising is so tied to his Armed Services Committee's work that 66% of his campaign contributors, most of them defense contractors, got earmarks in this year's defense spending bill, which went through Lewis' committee.
