I know it is a common myth that the Republicans are the party of big business and the Democrats are for the little guys in America, and such may very well have been the case.... a long time back. This is definitely not true today, despite the propaganda to the contrary from Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Democrats in general, and their willing accomplices in the mainstream media.
It would seem that the Obama administration in particular and Democrats on the whole are far more beholden to big business and Wall Street in recent years than the GOP ever was. If one wanted to look no further then at where a huge percentage of the TARP bailouts and stimulus package monies went, one would find that a significant percentage went to big business Democratic donors.
Even those associated with these big businesses have found friendly shelter in the Obama White House. I give you our corrupt tax-evading Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner as my first exhibit of the this coziness of big business and Democrats. One can find ALL sorts of administration officials and friends that used to be associated with Goldman Sachs, AIG, etc if one were to take just a few minutes just googling the internet.
You would like further non-partisan proof of this, you say? Fine! The non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics has some very interesting statistics that puts the truth out there to combat the "conventional wisdom" that is seemingly nothing more than falsehoods nowadays.
First, Wall Street's top five congressional recipients of their donations thus far in 2010 are:
Senator Charles Schumer (D - NY) $1,556,099
Senator Harry Reid (D - NV) $660,175
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D - NY) $644,450
Rep. Mark Kirk (R - IL) $516,300
Senator Chris Dodd (D - CT) $445,248
Or how about Wall Street's money to congress as a whole thus far this year:
Senate Total Contributions
Democrats $5,670,922
Republicans $1,950,289
House Total Contributions
Democrats $5,739,387
Republicans $3,235,609
Still want more proof of my assertion? How about 2010 insider handouts thus far:
% to Democrats % to Republicans
Hedge Funds 58 41
Venture Capital 70 30
Private Equity & 67 33
Investment Firms
Total 60 39
Or finally, how about what Wall Street gave in 2008 during the presidential campaigns?
Barack Obama $14,907,585
John McCain $8,710,135
While I have a strong distaste for defending the incompetent Republicans, the truth of the matter is that it is the Democrats that are in bed with Wall Street. So do not fall for the line that the Democrats are looking out for the little guy, because the numbers do not lie. The Democrats, on the other hand, do lie.
4 comments:
Kind of a misleading post, Paine. For one, the Democrats are in power now. Makes sense that an industry that gives generously to both parties would give more to the party in control of the agenda.
Having said that, it is the Republican leadership that is having secret meetings with Wall St big shots and who is coordinating the talking points to bring down reform. To this day, Mitch McConnell has refused to disclose who he spoke to and what was discussed in those secret meetings.
Both parties suck when it comes to dealing with Wall St. But it is the GOP that is blocking reform, and doing it in conjunction with the industry that needs to be reformed. To me, that is a huge difference.
On a side note, conservatives always claim unions "control" the Democratic Party. Big business loathes unions. How can the Democrats be beholden to - and enacting the agenda of - both?
Dave, your point is valid regarding the party in control getting more donations to influence the agenda. That being said, Obama still received more Wall Street donations during the campaign then did McCain despite the backing of unions for Obama and Obama's general anti-business platform of cap & trade etc. How does one explain that?
I will not defend McConnell because your suspiscions about him may very well be accurate.
The bottom line though is that the Democrats have been hugely tainted by Wall Street and its money, despite the Democrats rhetoric of "reform". The proof of the numbers show that nowadays, the Democrats are the party of Wall Street, sir.
Dave,
I've often wondered how the Dems can support open borders and the hiring of illegals (who are eager and willing to work for substandard wages) while simultaneously being the pro-labor-union party. But they do.
An excellent question, Matt! One which deserves a thoughtful answer!
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