What Does Wall Street Want In Return For Switching Allegiance To Romney And The GOP?

If you're a progressive and you donate to-- or even just root for-- Democrats, it was probably uncomfortable on some level that the big criminal Wall Street operations backed Democrats in 2008. It was hard to swallow the fact that the banksters gave more cash to Obama than to McCain. So far this cycle the Finance/Insurance/Real Estate Industry has contributed $317,499,731 to campaigns, and just 30.6% has gone to Democrats. In 2008 the sector doled out $170,424,618 to Democrats in Congressional races and $155,204,311 to Republicans. Obama scooped up $55,543,523 and McCain got $36,544,735.

That dynamic had already shifted in 2010 and most of the bankster cash went to help Republicans win the House. And this year the banksters are making a big push to help the GOP take over everything. Example, of the top 5 recipients of legalistic bribes from this sector, all are Republicans.


Bachus, Paul, and Hensarling, are all on the House Financial Services Committee and all adamantly oppose the transparency rules that forces the banks to disclose the hidden fees and commissions they charge. The Wall Street banksters will give any amount to repeal Dodd-Frank and they know electing a GOP Congress and president is the way to do that. Nothing else matters to them. Other corruption Wall Street lackeys who are being showered with cash are also on that committee and also promising to help the banksters go back to the days when they could rip off their customers without having to worry about being found out and sued. The worst crooks and bankster shills-- aside from the aforementioned 5-- are (and keep in mind, this is just the haul these corrupt congressmen have taken in this cycle, not in their whole sleazy careers):

Scott Garrett (R-NJ)- $837,838
Ed Royce (R-CA)- $794,605
Jim Himes (D-CT)- $775,330
Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)- $726,647
Bob Dold (R-IL)- $694,850
Nan Hayworth (R-NY)- $626,721
Steve Stivers (R-OH)- $564,870
Randy Neugebauer (R-TX)- $498,858
Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm (R-NY)- $480,781

Yesterday Bloomberg did a report about how the biggest crooks on Wall Street, Goldman Sachs, are leading the exodus away from Obama and the Democrats. "Four years ago, employees of New York-based Goldman gave three-fourths of their campaign donations to Democratic candidates and committees, including presidential nominee Barack Obama. This time, they’re showering 70 percent of their contributions on Republicans. That’s the biggest switch among the 25 companies whose employees have given the most to candidates and parties since 1989."

The banking industry, blamed for triggering the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, opposed new regulations and oversight that a Democratic Congress enacted and Obama signed into law over Republican opposition. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, co- founder of the Boston-based private-equity firm Bain Capital LLC, has pledged to repeal the new rules.

Six of the 13 corporations whose employees reversed their political giving are financial institutions, including four of the top five. They are: Goldman, Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley (MS) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) The other two are Citigroup Inc. (C) and UBS AG. (UBSN).

Much of their money went to Romney’s presidential campaign and the joint fundraising committee set up with the Republican National Committee. Of the 10 companies whose employees gave the most money to Romney Victory, nine were Wall Street firms, according to a computer-assisted analysis by Bloomberg of Federal Election Commission data.

Goldman’s giving showcases the change in loyalties. The company’s employees gave $6.1 million in 2008, 75 percent to Democrats. The amount topped the 25 companies; the percentage trailed only Time Warner. This year, Goldman employees have given $4.9 million, also more than anyone else, with 70 percent going to Republicans. David Wells, a Goldman Sachs spokesman, declined to comment.

Romney “is one of their own, and Obama has been attacking the way they make money,” said Linda Fowler, a professor of government at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. “Throw in legislation to rein in the large banks, and it’s pretty clear that they would switch.”

Four years ago, 15 of the 25 companies, including all six financial institutions, saw a majority of their employees backing Democrats, especially Obama, during the 2008 elections. Then-UBS Americas Chairman Robert Wolf raised more than $500,000 for the Democratic nominee.

“Wall Street fell in love with Obama in 2008,” said Stephen Hess, a professor of media and public affairs at George Washington University in Washington. “It had more to do with the heart than the head. And love affairs, at least of the political variety, usually end in disappointment or disillusion. So Wall Street has now returned to its own reality-- as well as one of its own.”

The top company source of funding for Obama in 2008 was Goldman, where employees gave him more than $1 million in campaign cash. JPMorgan and Citigroup employees were also in Obama’s top 10.

This time, Goldman employees are the biggest source of donations to Romney, giving $636,080. In fact, employees of financial firms account for eight of Romney’s top 10 sources of campaign cash. None are among Obama’s top 10 givers.

“Many of the biggest corporations are angry at the Obama administration and the Democrats for their new regulatory policies,” said Craig Holman, a lobbyist for the Washington-based advocacy group Public Citizen, which supported those new laws. “This is ideological giving. These companies are investing heavily against Obama in 2012.”

The Goldman shift could be attributed to both the company’s opposition to the new banking law and its relationship with Romney, said Kersh.

“As Bain CEO, Romney hired Goldman bankers to underwrite Bain-managed IPOs, and Goldman investment managers supervise tens of millions of dollars of Romney’s personal wealth,” he said. “That type of close personal link to a particular industry or company has aided presidential candidates in the past and is paying off handsomely for Romney now.”

Last Saturday, we looked at how corrupt banksters were able to cheat their own customers-- scamming hundreds of thousands of dollars from individuals' accounts with hidden fees and commissions. Dodd-Frank makes it a lot more risky for them to do that-- and a lot easier for consumers to detect the cheating. Wall Street will give anything to get Romney into the White House with a Republican Congress and make those new regulations go away. The greatest irony is that the people who are being the most adversely impacted by the larcenous behavior of the banksters-- 6 figure earners-- are the most likely to vote for Romney and for GOP congressional candidates. And it's their brokerage accounts that are being raped! If Obama wins without financial help from Wall Street, there's at least a remote chance for real reform. But just remote. And they'll still have a core of corrupt Democrats in their pockets, particularly Joe Crowley (D-NY- $651,045), Shelley Berkley (D-NV- $621,620), Steny Hoyer (D-MD- $592,813), and Steve Israel (D-NY- $476,639).