The Wall Street Journal [subscription required] adds a new wrinkle to the story of efforts by subprime mortgage lender Ameriquest to use campaign cash to curry favor with the government. Ameriquest's parent, ACC Capital Holdings, has paid $325 million to settle regulators' claims that it charged excessively high mortgage rates and didn't adequately disclose loan risks. The Journal's story today highlights the $20.5 million Ameriquest spent at the state and federal government levels to block legislation that would have limited its predatory lending practices.
But as I posted in August, Ameriquest's cash helped boost the fortunes of president Bush. Bush, who used home ownership politics to get re-elected, received $7.8 million from Ameriquest for his 2004 reelection campaign, his inauguration and for Laura Bush's library foundation.
Ameriquest's most interesting pay-to-play technique was to give Rolling Stones tickets and cash to state legislators. For instance, according to the Journal, "Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaigns received at least $1.4 million, along with stacks of tickets to a Rolling Stones concert that were used to lure big donors." And Ameriquest also handed out Rolling Stones tickets to state legislators in Georgia, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and California.
What did Ameriquest get for all its giving?
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