This included his support for a 1987 Reagan Administration proposal of $15 billion in new borrowing authority for the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corp. to bail out failing S & Ls. The industry, which would have been required to pay interest on the borrowed funds, sought a substantially lower amount. The final figure was $10 billion.
"This could be the case study in the fact that contributions . . . had no influence on my decisions," Berman said.
Waxman, one of the national leaders on health issues, has long maintained that there was no relationship between his contributions and his position on issues or access to him. In some instances, he said, PACs have approached him to offer unsolicited contributions.
"A lot of PACs follow and support what I've been doing on national health legislation," Waxman said in an interview late last year.
Overall, Berman, Waxman and Moorhead raised a combined total of nearly $1.5 million in the two-year election cycle. Their three opponents, in contrast, together spent less than $125,000.
Beilenson, however, was one of the few incumbents nationwide who was outspent by his challenger. He spent $201,404; Republican Jim Salomon's campaign cost was $361,461.
