GOP Chases Wall Street Donors- Fund-Raisers Begin Capitalizing on Bankers' Regret Over Backing Obama

[kpete]

Source: Wall Street Journal

GOP Chases Wall Street Donors
Data Show Fund-Raisers Begin Capitalizing on Bankers' Regret Over Backing Obama


By BRODY MULLINS And NEIL KING JR.

Republicans are stepping up their campaign to win donations from Wall Street, trying to capitalize on an increasing sense of regret among executives at big financial institutions for backing Democrats in 2008.

In discussions with Wall Street executives, Republicans are striving to make the case that they are banks' best hope of preventing President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats from cracking down on Wall Street.

GOP strategists hope to benefit from the reaction to the White House's populist rhetoric and proposals, which range from sharp critiques of bonuses to a tax on big Wall Street banks, caps on executive pay and curbs on business practices deemed too risky.

Democrats have dominated Wall Street's fund-raising circles in recent elections. Mr. Obama himself raised millions of dollars from employees of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and other Wall Street firms.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703575004575043612216461790.html#printMode

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. Republicans can be scrutinized down to every cent obtained from Wall street

can erect large billboards with a graph of the amounts donated to republicans

ordinary people will be watching them

[msongs]

2. lol most dems don't have a clue on how to do effective PR nt

[Winterblues]

6. Wall street doesn't have to give a dime to a single Republican to influence elections

All they have to do is buy advertising advocating for their cause and suggest which candidate will help them the most.. I don't think Republicans have to report expenditures that they have no control over.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

7. things should be tightened up

[Robbien]

3. Banksters are regretting nothing. Every reform so far has banksters dancing in the streets

Banksters having a party while citizens pay is Populism?

Someone needs a new dictionary.

[nradisic]

4. You can't fix stupid...

The GOP is on a suicide mission by any and all measures.

Once Obama makes the turn and realizes that bipartisanship is totally dead and pointless and leaves the GOP in the dust, we will all be better off for it, including Democrats. Show some freaking balls and steamroll through Congress what needs to be done to save the nation and if it all needs to be done with a mere 51 votes...that's the way life is, when the other side totally refuses to play ball.

[FriendlyReminder]

5. Good post! I agree completely. We need to get these things done

and screw the repukes. Next up is to get rid of these spineless, squishy Democrats that keep getting in the way of the Progressive agenda.

[wordpix]

10. +1 show some gonads is right

[JDPriestly]

8. Who would they run?

Ensign, Sanford, Giuliani, Romney, Sarah Palin, the guy from Michigan, someone from Minnesota? There just aren't any attractive Republican candidates.

People still like Obama the best. I think that if he keeps talking to the people the way he has the last couple of weeks, if he keeps explaining things patiently and changes a couple of his policy directions as he gets the pulse of voters (trade and its connection to jobs for example) that Obama will do well.

[wordpix]

9. Take this to the bank, Wall St: I will never invest as long as you're corrupt & unregulated

I'll find other investments besides corporations and large banks, thank you.

[muntrv]

11. Bankers regret what? That they didn't get more from the taxpayers?

[wordpix]

13. you got it, and O wants to put that fee on them for the billion$ their bailout cost

:grr: How dare the president ask for the taxpayers' money back, now the banks can afford huge bonuses for giving us more-of-the-same? :sarcasm:

[muntrv]

12. DNC needs to use this against the republickers. Paint them as the party

of Wall Street, not Main Street.

[wordpix]

14. Wall St. particularly hates Dems like Andrew Cuomo, who's suing BoA's ass

http://www.businessinsider.com/cuomo-set-to-announce-major-action-against-big-bank-at-1100-2010-2

NY AG Cuomo Announces Fraud Charges Against Bank Of America For Merrill Lynch Merger (BAC)

ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO FILES FRAUD CHARGES AGAINST BANK OF AMERICA, FORMER CEO KENNETH LEWIS, AND FORMER CFO JOSEPH PRICE

Suit Alleges Bank of America’s Top Management Hid Skyrocketing Losses at Merrill Lynch

Bank of America Management Manipulated Federal Government into Granting Massive Taxpayer Bailout

NEW YORK, NY (February 4, 2010) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo,
joined by Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief
Program Neil Barofsky, today announced a lawsuit against Bank of
America, its former CEO Kenneth D. Lewis, and its former CFO Joseph L.
Price for duping shareholders and the federal government in order to
complete a merger with Merrill Lynch. According to the lawsuit, Bank of
America’s management intentionally failed to disclose massive losses
at Merrill so that shareholders would vote to approve the merger. Once
the deal was approved, Bank of America’s management manipulated the
federal government into saving the deal with billions in taxpayer funds
by falsely claiming that they would back out of the deal without bailout
funds.

“This merger is a classic example of how the actions of our
nation’s largest financial institutions led to the near-collapse of
our financial system,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “Bank of
America, through its top management, engaged in a concerted effort to
deceive shareholders and American taxpayers at large. This was an
arrogant scheme hatched by the bank’s top executives who believed they
could play by their own set of rules. In the end, they committed an
enormous fraud and American taxpayers ended up paying billions for Bank
of America’s misdeeds.” more...