Baucus & Rangel: A Joint Fundraising Opportunity

One's a congressman from Harlem. The other's a senator from Montana. But as anyone who cares about tax policy knows, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., have a large say as the respective chairmen of the House Ways & Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee.

Now they've teamed up on a House-Senate joint fundraising committee called the Baucus-Rangel Leadership Fund, which raised nearly $144,000 during the first three months of the year, almost entirely from individual donors. Not bad considering the PAC didn't even register until Feb. 26, five weeks before the end of the reporting period. According to an article about the PAC in the Billings (Mont.) Gazette, the two lawmakers had two joint events for the committee.

Just less than $140,000 of the PAC's initial haul was split between the campaign accounts of the two men, with Rangel receiving $73,000 and Baucus getting $67,000. Baucus faces reelection next year, while Rangel is considered a shoo-in for another term in the House.