"He's an expert," Rep. Peter Deutsch (D-Fla.) told the Associated Press. "He's been in Business Week and Forbes. "

With Berman managing Deutsch's campaign portfolio in 1998, the candidate boasted $184,531 in returns through investments in companies like Microsoft and General Electric. Never mind that such stocks often move in response to government rulings and defense contracts: Deutsch said he avoided conflicts of interest by playing no part in Berman's investment decisions.

Berman, on the other hand, appears to have free reign to influence the decisions of Deutsch and other Democrats. In testimony before the House Subcommittee on Finance and Hazardous Materials in 1998, Berman argued for the abolishing the current system that provides small investors instant access to the NASDAQ. Berman, representing the "limited and sophisticated clientele" of M.A. Berman & Company, told the subcommittee that the system creates unnecessary volatility in the markets. Berman was reportedly invited to testify by Deutsch, who sits on the subcommittee.

Although he regularly sends six-figure checks to the Democratic Party, Berman says he despises the current system of campaign finance. "I'd love to have soft money banned," he told the Miami Herald. "I think it's disgusting. I think it's ugly. I think it's a way toward buying people and buying interest."

Berman is also a director of IDT, an international long-distance telephone company that has benefited, along with the rest of the industry, from the Telecommunications Act of 1996.