While Protesters Occupy Wall Street, Wall Street Occupies Congress

Much like Wall Street compensation packages, the scale of campaign contributions from the financial services sector can be hard to wrap your head around. Yes, the finance/real estate/insurance sector consistently doles out more campaign cash than any other industry — but that doesn't even begin to tell the story. So far in the 2011-2012 cycle, the financial services sector has given a whopping $96 million — more than twice as much as the next-most-generous sector (excluding "Other," which is largely retirees, and "Misc Business," which is too broad to be meaningful). 

Even more remarkable: The financial services sector has contributed more money this cycle than the Defense, Transportation, Labor, Agribusiness, Construction, and Energy/Natural Resources sectors combined: