'Martin O'Malley has set a new standard when it comes to Wall St.'

[bigtree]

Lis Smith ?@Lis_Smith 3m3 minutes ago
@ThePlumLineGS & @Phil_Mattingly who said @MartinOMalley "has set a new standard...when it comes to Wall Street” http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-07-09/martin-o-malley-had-a-footnote-mishap-but-don-t-overlook-the-policy …


This much is clear from the early weeks of Martin O'Malley's presidential campaign: he is positioning himself as the bane of Wall Street's existence. He attacked Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein during his campaign announcement speech. He's repeatedly used his stump speeches to call for more restrictive Wall Street regulation and more concrete consequences for executives at the helm of the largest banks during the 2008 financial crisis.

"If you—and your megabanks—which we, the American taxpayer, saved want to begin to restore the confidence in your leadership, you need to start by saying two things: “we’re sorry” and “thank you,” O'Malley, the former Maryland governor, wrote in an open letter to Wall Street released Thursday by his campaign.

The paper itself is worth digging into, however, both on policy grounds and for the politics. As Democrats look for an opening to attack front-runner Hillary Clinton, a "get tough" stance on Wall Street has become a must-have for Democratic candidates in the race. Clinton herself has taken a sharp tone, particularly when it comes to hedge funds, yet early state polling does show concern among Democratic voters about her willingness to take on the largest banks. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has surged in recent weeks. There has been some thought that part of that surge has been due to Sanders' ability to attract some potential voters who had been holding out for a run by Senator Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Democrat who has been Wall Street's Public Enemy No. 1 since before she was even elected...

What makes O'Malley's white paper interesting is not just the clear appeal he's making to the so-called "Warren wing," but his willingness to take a deep dive into financial arcana to do so. Breaking up the banks is a great topline call to the base, but talking about the Justice Department's positions on deferred prosecution agreements or cracking down on how the Securities and Exchange Commission votes on waivers for financial institutions that have run into legal trouble? What about requiring the general counsel of the Federal Reserve to be a presidential appointee? Not so much. But these are absolute siren calls to the types of progressive policy wonks for whom Warren has held such appeal. For groups like Americans for Financial Reform, or Better Markets or the series of high profile, and very knowledgeable, individuals who write regularly on these topics from the left, these are the types of proposals they have been pushing, with little to no traction inside the Obama administration, for years.

These individuals and groups are motivated by policy—these policies specifically—and bring along with them equally motivated followings. With the exception of one commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission and a few senators on Capitol Hill, their voices often are ignored. O'Malley, on the other hand, is embracing them in full. And his willingess to get wonky could have a payoff: When spoken about in broad terms, those policies, which are centered on the perception of unfairness and politically connected corporate giants being let off the hook, can also sound pretty good out on the campaign trail.


read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-07-09/martin-o-malley-had-a-footnote-mishap-but-don-t-overlook-the-policy

related:

Martin O'Malley wrote an op-ed in March highlighting his opposition to Wall Street excesses
http://dmreg.co/1DELzHL

Lis Smith ?@Lis_Smith 16m16 minutes ago
@ThePlumLineGS Just ask @BetterMarkets who said: “@MartinOMalley has already led the way” on Wall St Reform https://www.bettermarkets.com/newsroom/what-hillary-clinton-didnt-say-her-economic-policy-speech …

Martin O'Malley ?@MartinOMalley 2m2 minutes ago
"I am in favor of re-instituting Glass-Steagall & putting more cops on the beat on Wall Street." #NewLeadership

…

Lis Smith ?@Lis_Smith
Btw- here is our white paper- 10 pages w/deep dive policies on both structural/accountability reforms http://martinomalley.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/OMalley-Wall-Street-Reform.pdf …

[bigtree]

1. kick

[bigtree]

2. kick

[bigtree]

3. nice of Elizabeth Warren to mention O'Malley in her call for leadership on these issues

...well. she didn't mention him and that's a damn shame.

[elleng]

4. Yes it is.

I just wrote to her and mentioned this, as I just gave her a thumbsup.

[bigtree]

5. the trend has been for O'Malley to lead in presenting comprehensive solutions

...to the issues he's highlighting, and for the media and others to wait until Sanders or Clinton follows with a mention or a statement in this campaign and edge O'Malley out of the discussion. People wonder why his campaign isn't getting any more traction...

[elleng]

6. Yes it is, so I've just prodded her on this issue, bigtree.

[Andy823]

8. Yes the media is the problem

They want only Bernie and Hillary fighting it out, and they simply ignore everyone else. I think that will change after first debate.

[petronius]

7. Thanks, bigtree! I'm noticing a string of informative, positive, attack-free OPs

from you - that adds a lot of value to GDP and DU.

and to you and everyone else that follows that pattern...

[bigtree]

9. thanks, petronius

...I'm trying to post at least one positive thread a day from my candidate's 'rivals'. Of course, I'd like to see that trend expand here as well.

[scarletwoman]

10. K&R! Great stuff! nt