Blacks think Obama is a beacon of hope. I'm sort of wondering----WHY?
****************************************************************************=
******
Candidates Leave Wall Street out of Economic Talks
by Peter Overby
Listen Now [3 min 32 sec] add to playlist
All Things Considered, March 27, 2008 =B7 When Illinois Sen. Barack
Obama outlined his approach on Thursday to addressing the nationwide
housing crisis and economic downturn, just as his rivals had earlier
in the week, his speech unintentionally revealed how deeply the three
presidential candidates are involved with Wall Street.
Obama went further than New York Sen. Hillary Clinton or Arizona Sen.
John McCain in assigning blame for the collapse of the subprime
mortgage market, as well as for other recent financial woes. He put
much of the responsibility not on Wall Street but in Wa****ngton,
saying that Democrats and Republicans alike "let the special interests
put their thumbs on the economic scales."
Sounding a familiar theme from his campaign, he added: "The future
cannot be shaped by the best-connected lobbyists with the best record
of raising money for campaigns. This thinking is wrong for the
financial sector, and it's wrong for our country."
But Obama is now the most successful presidential candidate in raising
money from the securities and investment industry, according to Sheila
Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics.
The center, which analyzes campaign finance data, re****ts that Obama
has raised $6.7 million from individual donors and political action
committees in the industry, which includes investment banks, private
equity firms, hedge funds and venture capitalists.
Clinton is a close second at $6.6 million. McCain trails, with just
under $3 million raised from the financial sector.
This could explain why none of the candidates -- most notably Obama or
Clinton -- has pounded the drum for puni****ng investment firms, or
their executives, for their roles in creating the financial crisis.
The Democratic Party once had a fine tradition of ba****ng Wall
Street.
In 1936, when Democrats met at Madison Square Garden and nominated
President Franklin Roosevelt for a second term, he accepted with a
combative speech, listing an array of "enemies of peace" that included
"business and financial monopoly, speculation [and] reckless
banking."
Roosevelt thundered, "They are unanimous in their hate for me, and I
welcome their hatred." The crowd roared.
Today, 72 years later, Democratic presidential candidates who give
speeches like that do not survive the early primaries.
Earlier this week, Clinton offered her solutions for the housing
crisis. Speaking in measured tones, she urged that Wa****ngton help
homeowners just as much as it has already helped Wall Street. "We've
seen unprecedented action to maintain confidence in our credit markets
and head off a crisis for Wall Street banks," she said. "It's now time
for equally aggressive action to help families avoid foreclosure."
Republican McCain weighed in on Tuesday, saying, "No assistance should
be given to speculators." But he was talking about homebuyers, not
those who sold them the mortgages. For the industry, McCain said,
government aid should be based only on heading off major systemic
risks in the future.
Krumholz says that in recent history, Wall Street has been careful to
go with the winner. Financiers favored congressional Republicans in
the late 1990s, when they held the majority in both chambers, and
backed President Bush in 2000 and 2004. In 2006, Wall Street money
swung toward the Democrats, who proceeded to take control of
Congress.
Now, Krumholz says, "The securities and investment industry and,
specifically, the more aggressive players -- the hedge funds and the
private equity funds -- are leaning more to the left than they have in
the past. And the hedge funds and private equity, the more aggressive
players, are leaning more to the left than the industry as a whole."
Democrats appear happy to receive the sup****t. Just after his speech
on Thursday, Obama had a fundraising lunch at the Manhattan offices of
Credit Suisse, the multinational investment bank. Seats cost $1,000 to
$2,300. The lunch has long been sold out.
|
