Rep. Eric Cantor has gone to bat for real estate lobbyists who party for him, supporting their legislative goals. Specifically he championed laws creating a government safety net for the commercial insurance industry to limit exposure for terrorist acts. He also backed legislation to ease tax laws for real estate
investment trusts, known as the REIT Investment Diversification and Empowerment Act.

Sandra “Sam” and Marty Depoy, the lead hosts for the Cantor carnival that Party Time analyzed for Harper’s Magazine (Click here to see it–payment required), lobby for the real estate industry.

Sandra is a vice president at the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), a trade group that represents the vacation ownership and resort industry.

Marty labors for the Bockorny group, a lobbying firm whose clients include ARDA and the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), where he used to work.

Another lobbyist listed on the invitation, Robert Dibblee, is vice president of government relations for NAREIT.

Cantor was one of the early supporters after the attacks on 9/11 for legislation to create a government safety net for the commercial insurance industry to limit exposure for future terrorist acts. He also voted for a recent extension of the program in late 2007, despite criticism from some conservatives who saw the bill as a handout to the insurance industry.

Sandra DePoy’s employer, ARDA, is an enthusiastic proponent of this legislation, through a group called the Coalition to Insure Against Terrorism. Martin DePoy has served as the coalition’s steering committee coordinator, and staffers for NAREIT, Dibblee’s employer, are listed as communications contacts for the group.

In 2007, Cantor also sponsored legislation to ease tax laws for real estate investment trusts, known as the REIT Investment Diversification and Empowerment Act. This was a key bill for NAREIT, Dibblee’s employer. A version of the legislation eventually was folded into the massive housing legislation passed in the summer of 2008, which bailed at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Protesting the provisions concerning Fannie and Freddie, most Republicans voted against the final version of the bill, as did Cantor.)

Cantor collects more cash from the real estate industry than any other, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Some 40 percent of his own personal holdings are in finance. Cantor earned a degree in real estate from Columbia University, and in his early career worked with his family’s real estate development business.

There’s the usual chicken-and-egg question here–does Cantor’s support for the real estate industry flow from his close connections with lobbyists and donors? Or does he enjoy the support of the real estate industry because he champions it? Most likely the answer is: both. Surely it doesn’t escape a top fundraiser like Cantor that the real estate sector, even the midst of the current economic meltdown, is one of the major sources of campaign cash to lawmakers, period.