Third Way: ‘Majority of Our Financial Support’ From Wall Street, Business Executives

[G_j]

http://www.thenation.com/blog/177569/third-way-majority-our-financial-support-wall-street-business-executives#


Third Way: ‘Majority of Our Financial Support’ From Wall Street, Business Executives

Lee Fang on December 11, 2013 - 5:26 PM ET

If Third Way’s attacks on Senator Elizabeth Warren make the group sound like a stalking horse for Wall Street executives, there might be a reason for that.

At a demonstration today outside the think tank’s downtown DC office, Third Way senior vice president Matt Bennett conceded to Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) co-founder Adam Green that “the majority” of Third Way’s donor support comes from the group’s board of trustees, most of whom are from the finance sector.

As TheNation.com and others have pointed out, the majority of Third Way’s trustees are finance industry executives, many of whom might have a vested interest in using a surrogate to attack Warren. Warren, whom Time magazine calls the “new sheriff of Wall Street,” has demanded greater regulation of the industry. Many of the trustees listed on the Third Way website hail from an assortment of private equity firms and other investment businesses. Others work indirectly, like Third Way trustee Thurgood Marshall Jr., whose professional website at the public affairs firm Bingham Consulting lists his work as “government relations” on issues concerning, among others, “banking regulations.”

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A transcript of the exchange is below:

GREEN: If you included the financial industry sector people, as individuals on your board, what percent would be Wall Street money?

BENNETT: Here’s the thing about defining Wall Street money. As we’ve said, our major donors are on our website. Many of them are in the finance sector, they write us personal checks. This is not from their institutions, many of them are retired or have left their institutions, in fact most of them. That is the majority of our financial support, coming from trustees.

GREEN: Is there a ball park? A percentage?

BENNETT: I’m not going to get into that.

[Lefty615]

1. And is anyone surprised by this?

I'm certainly not.

[JRLeft]

2. Thurgood Marshall Jr is anti his father.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. But..but..surely the banksters expect nothing in return for their bribes...er...donations?

[CanonRay]

4. He's not getting into it because it is 100%

Third Way is nothing but an another astroturf group for the rich...this one aimed at stupid Dems and independents instead of stupid Republicans (eg the Tea Party)

[NYC_SKP]

5. This was shown on Maddow yesterday, Scuba posted it in another thread...

[Octafish]

6. The Republicans FEAR their Base.

The Democrats LOATHE theirs.

This is an old saw that seems to get more true with each passing year and administration.

[closeupready]

7. Can't think of the metaphor, but 3rd Way is a Trojan Horse to help secure

the vast wealth and high incomes of the 1% from the opposition party's tradition of raising taxes in order to provide government services to the poor and middle-class.

K&R

[WillyT]

8. K & R !!!

[JEB]

9. Scheming bastards working for rich criminals won't get my vote.

[TBF]

10. We saw NAFTA and we see TPP -

we're not confused about who is in charge and where the money is coming from.

Duh.

[Wilms]

11. ^