Did You Think Only Republicans Are Wall Street Whores?

If you're a regular DWT reader, you know better. Of course, virtually every Republican in Congress is a full on shill for Wall Street. It's part of their DNA. But it's part of the DNA of a significant chunk of the Democratic congressional caucus as well. When it comes to catering to Wall Street there is virtually no difference whatsoever between Republicans and New Dems. Yesterday, 70 Wall Street-oriented Democrats voted with all but 3 Republicans to pass H.R. 992, an amendment to gut a piece of the Dodd-Frank financial reform consumer protection act. The final vote was 292-122. The 70 bad Democrats were led over the aisle by corrupt corporate business shills among the Democratic leadership and the New Dem leadership-- Steny Hoyer, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Joe Crowley, Jim Himes, Ron Kind, and Rick Larsen. The bill was actually co-sponsored by 3 especially craven New Dems, Sean Patrick Maloney, who does his call time from a hedge fund office, Jim Himes, widely considered to be Wall Street's guy in the Democratic caucus, David Scott, and Brad Schneider, another pathetic New Dem freshman, almost all of whom voted for Wall Street Wednesday. Nancy Pelosi and Steve Israel absented themselves from the House and didn't vote. The 119 Democrats who stood up to Wall Street and voted against the giveaway bill that Citibank lobbyists wrote were led by the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Wall Street banksters, who spend more on bribing Members of Congress over legislation than any other group in America, had plenty to celebrate. The bill, written for GOP dullard, Randy Hultgren (R-IL) by CitiBank lobbyists, exempts a wide array of derivatives trading from new regulation and forces the taxpayers to insure overly-risky derivatives trading so that reckless behavior of the sort that crashed the economy in 2008 is not actually risky for the banisters, just for the rest of us.

To Wall Street, this town might seem like enemy territory. But even as federal regulators and prosecutors extract multibillion-dollar penalties from the nation’s biggest banks, Wall Street can rely on at least one ally here: the House of Representatives.

…The bills are part of a broader campaign in the House, among Republicans and business-friendly Democrats, to roll back elements of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, the most comprehensive regulatory overhaul since the Depression. Of 10 recent bills that alter Dodd-Frank or other financial regulation, six have passed the House this year. This week, if the House approves Citigroup’s legislation and another bill that would delay heightened standards for firms that offer investment advice to retirees, the tally would rise to eight.

Both the Treasury Department and consumer groups have urged lawmakers to reject the bills, warning that they could leave the nation vulnerable again to excessive financial risk taking. The House proposals stand little chance of becoming law, having received a much chillier reception in the Senate and at the White House, which on Monday threatened to veto the bill on investment advice for retirees.

But simply voting on the bills generates benefits for both House lawmakers and Wall Street lobbyists, critics say. For lawmakers, it comes in the form of hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions. The banks, meanwhile, welcome the bills as a warning to regulatory agencies that they should tread carefully when drawing up new rules.

There are 20 freshmen Democrats who joined the corrupt Wall Street-oriented New Dems. 17 of them voted against the best interests of their own constituents to back Wall Street and K Street.

• Ami Bera (CA)
• John Delaney (MD)
• Elizabeth Esty (CT)
• Bill Foster (IL)
• Pete Gallego (TX)
• Joe Garcia (FL)
• Denny Heck (WA)
• Derek Kilmer (WA)
• Ann Kuster (NH)
• Dan Maffei (NY)
• Sean Patrick Maloney (NY)
• Patrick Murphy (FL)
• Bill Owens (NY)
• Scott Peters (CA)
• Brad Schneider (IL)
• Kyrsten Sinema (AZ)
• Juan Vargas (CA)

Kuster and Hanabusa, in the pockets of the banksters

As you know, New Hampshire has two Members of Congress-- and so does Hawaii. The two delegations split right down the middle, one Member backing the banksters and lobbyists and one member standing up for the taxpayers and for the country. New Dems Ann Kuster (NH) and Colleen Hanabusa (HI) backed Wall Street, as they always do. Carol Shea-Porter (NH) and Tulsi Gabbard (HI) voted to protect their constituents from Wall Street predators. This was Rep. Shea-Porter's statement after the vote:

“Just as I voted against the bank bailout of 2008 because it was an enormous gift to Wall Street, I voted against this bill because it reflects the same failed policies that led to the Wall Street bailout. The idea that the market will solve all our problems if we simply remove regulations for Wall Street and slash taxes on corporations was wrong when it crashed our economy, and it’s still wrong today.

“This legislation is riddled with bad ideas, but that’s not surprising since it was partly written by Citigroup lobbyists. This bill would allow America’s biggest banks to take on more risk with no extra oversight. And worst of all, it could increase taxpayer exposure to another bank bailout.

“It’s time for Washington to stop deferring to Wall Street and start focusing on Main Street.”

Carol Shea-Porter is one of only two incumbents in shaky seats Blue America has endorsed this year. The other, Mike Honda, joined her in voting against corrupt legislators working for Wall Street. Neither Carol nor Mike is going to get any campaign contributions from Wall Street, the biggest source of campaign funds for congressmembers. If you'd like to help them win very tough reelection bids, you can do so here.