As the Senate begins the financial reform debate, analysis shows that big banks and Wall Street financial firms have spent more than $500 million since the beginning of last year in lobbying and campaign contributions.

A Huffington Post story today details the huge amount of campaign cash and lobbying expenses that have been doled out by the "Big Four" banks since 2000. The CEO's of the banks are appearing before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission today to discuss the financial industry collapse.

The Wall Street Journal reports that after taking a brief respite while receiving government bail-outs, Wall Street is upping their campaign giving and lobbying efforts to fight off finance industry regulation efforts in Congress.

The Public Campaign Action Fund issued a press release today on Sen. Chuck Grassley's (R-Iowa) fundraiser hosted by mortgage and insurance industry PAC's and lobbyists. The special interest fundraiser comes after Grassley voted against a bill opposed by the hosts to allow bankruptcy judges to renegotiate mortgages. The Huffington Post posted a story on the release.

The New York Times ran a story yesterday on the re-regulation of the financial industry in Congress and how the impact of huge amounts of campaign cash poured in by the industry has affected efforts for reform.

There will be a lot of new faces on Capitol Hill come January and as The Hill reports this morning, their first few months will be like the first day you sign up for Facebook: friend requests galore.