James Salzer and Cameron McWhirter are at it again on the Oxendine shake down, Part II

A 5-11-09 post was entitled "Good job AJC' s Cameron McWhirter; make that great job AJC's Cameron McWhirter -- Oxendine returns contributions."

These contributions were the subject of a 5-10-09 post entitled "Oxendine comments on his shake down of Alabama insurance companies: 'I don’t want you to think we had the intent of doing anything inappropriate.'"

James Salzer and Cameron McWhirter report on how this shake down has been going on for years in today's ajc:

Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine has sustained his 14-year political career substantially on contributions from people who for work for companies his office regulates, records show.

Of the $6.6 million his campaigns collected from 1998 to 2008, at least $2.6 million came from employees and owners of insurance and small-loan businesses, according to a review of state reports by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

That’s at least 40 percent of what Oxendine, a leading candidate for governor in 2010, has raised. And it’s a conservative figure.

It does not include law firms working in the industries he regulates who have been major contributors. And during much of the past decade, Oxendine’s campaign did not disclose the occupations and the employers of many donors, making that information hard to track.

Oxendine said the contributions don’t influence how he does his job. And he said he hasn’t put pressure on insurance executives, agents, actuaries and others to contribute to his campaigns.

“What we’ve always done is strictly comply with the law and we’ve made every attempt to do so,” Oxendine said.

Lawmakers, political opponents and others have questioned whether taking such donations has compromised Oxendine’s ability to fairly regulate insurance in Georgia.