Democrats Cozy Up to Wall Street While Shunning Corporate Cash

[Stellar]

Big donors working in finance say candidates—except Sanders and Warren—are dropping by for lunch and money.
In February, Pete Buttigieg stepped into the Manhattan office of Wall Street veteran Charles Myers to talk politics over deli sandwiches. Citigroup Inc. Managing Director Yann Coatanlem hosted a fundraiser in March for Kamala Harris at his Fifth Avenue apartment, where she shook the paw of the banker’s labradoodle. Three days later, former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner Bruce Heyman raised more than $100,000 for Amy Klobuchar at his home in Chicago. He’s planning an event for Joe Biden this fall.

The mayor of South Bend, Ind., the senators from California and Minnesota, and the ex-vice president are among the Democratic presidential candidates disavowing corporate cash, lobbyist checks, or the super PAC system. They’re trying to outdo each other with promises to finance their campaigns with grassroots contributions.

But while they play down the role of money and influence, longtime Wall Street donors who have both say little has changed. “I’ve talked to about half of them, and I have not run into a single one who said, ‘Hey, you worked at Goldman Sachs, I can’t take your money,’ ” says Heyman, who helped elect Barack Obama by collecting checks from Wall Street has long been a deep well from which presidential candidates draw hundreds of millions of dollars for advertising, travel, and staff. As the presidential race gears up, almost the entire Democratic field is hitting up the industry’s donors, according to money manager Marc Lasry, who says he’s already met with about 10 Democrats. “At the end of the day, candidates need money,” says Lasry,

There is one notable difference. “In the past, there was no candidate who didn’t come to New York, Chicago, L.A. for money,” says Lasry. “Today, there are two candidates who aren’t doing that—Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.” Few bankers would want to promote those senators anyhow. This month, Vermont’s Sanders proposed capping credit card interest rates, calling banks “modern-day loan Warren, from Massachusetts, has pitched a tax on family assets above $50 million to wipe out student debt. She wants to jail executives whose companies’ negligence causes harm, citing bank bosses and the financial crisis.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-21/democrats-cozy-up-to-wall-street-while-shunning-corporate-cash

[vsrazdem]

1. Thanks for posting.

[bonniebgood]

2. i knew it. which is why i only donate to warren and sanders. nt

[Nanjeanne]

8. Those are my two as well!

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

3. "Except Sanders & Warren"...just 1 of MANY reasons they're atop my Top-10 List of primary candidates

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!

[Locrian]

4. yep same here - follow the money. ALWAYS follow the money.

But while they play down the role of money and influence, longtime Wall Street donors who have both say little has changed. “I’ve talked to about half of them, and I have not run into a single one who said, ‘Hey, you worked at Goldman Sachs, I can’t take your money,’ ”

[pdsimdars]

5. Looks like there are only 2 without this black mark and it's an important one.

Obama took Goldman cash and put many people from Goldman in his government . . . .

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

7. Those two continually distinguish themselves on SO many levels, this being only ONE of them!!

Bernie & Elizabeth 2020!!!
Welcome to the revolution!!

[NurseJackie]

9. Really? Isn't it illegal for corporations to donate to candidates?

Which candidates are now receiving donations from corporations? Please let me know because they are breaking the law.

[George II]

17. Yes it is illegal. It's also illegal for sitting legislators to receive speaking fees, but...

...it is not illegal for sitting legislators to receive book advances and royalties.

[NurseJackie]

25. So if the venue or org can't pay the legislator, they can "give free books" to attendees instead?

So if the venue or org can't (isn't allowed by law to) pay the legislator, they can "give free books" to attendees instead?

But that means they have to BUY the books from the legislator's publisher... and the legislator gets royalties (in lieu of actual direct payment).

What a clever and sneaky way to effectively get around the rules.

I don't like it.

[George II]

29. Yep. It also raises the book to "best seller status", even though....

....hundreds or more are sold to one entity.

[NurseJackie]

37. So, when the "best seller" status is artificially raised... it results in more sales?

So, when the "best seller" status is artificially raised... it results in more sales? And that benefits the legislator as well. How fortunate for him (or her) that things work out that way.

I remember reading that this was an unethical technique that was used by the Church of Scientology to make it appear as though "Dianetics" was a national bestseller. --- Before things were highly computerized and trackable, the "church" would buy in bulk from a few key retailers/distributors who reported their sales to the NYT staff. The NYT then used that data to estimate which books were selling well nationally.

Only, "Dianetics" was NOT selling well nationally. It was selling well at THOSE key outlets... and the NYT incorrectly assumed that the church's strategic and unethical purchases meant the title was performing well nationally.

And then, for the wholesale purchases, the church would return the title in bulk... and maybe they'd pay a small "restocking fee". But, the wholesalers did not report the number of RETURNED units to the NYT Bestseller staff. They only reported the "sold" units.

[George II]

39. Back in the 1970s and 1980s I traveled frequently for work (at least once every two weeks)....

....getting off the plane, we were greeted at the gate by Hari Krishnas who offered us their book for "free", but anyone who accepted it was asked for a contribution. They were taught this while living in their "hippie communes".

[NurseJackie]

45. Here you go!

[ehrnst]

10. Remember when Karl Rove's SuperPAC bought ads to support Obama in Iowa & Nevada primaries?

And then Obama refused to renounce them or tell his supporters to stop sharing those dark money corporate SuperPac funded ads on social media, because "he didn't raise money for those superPacs?" Even though those superpacs were taking credit for how well he did in those primaries?

Oh, wait...

[ehrnst]

16. Obama "Put many people from Goldman in his government?" Do you watch FoxNews a lot?

Because that's straight from a GOP corporate superpac ad... and has been debunked.

https://www.factcheck.org/2012/02/obama-white-house-full-of-wall-street-executives/

[George II]

20. That is blatantly false, please edit or delete this smear of President Obama. Thank you.

[NurseJackie]

26. That's a RW talking point.

Obama took Goldman cash

No he didn't.

[Celerity]

75. CNN: Goldman Sachs was top Obama donor

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/04/20/obama.goldman.donations/index.html

According to Federal Election Commission figures compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, Goldman Sachs' political action committee and individual contributors who listed the company as their employer donated $994,795 during 2007 and 2008 to Obama's presidential campaign, the second-highest contribution from a company PAC and company employees.

Only the PAC and employees of the University of California, which donated more than $1.5 million, topped Goldman Sachs.

Federal law prohibits a company from directly giving money to an electoral campaign.

Goldman Sachs contributions to the Obama campaign were more than four times larger than the $230,095 in donations to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign.

"Barack Obama's presidential campaign shattered all records when it came to fundraising, so it's no surprise that he significantly outraised John McCain when it came to contributions from the financial industry in general and Goldman Sachs in particular," CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser said.

snip

[Javaman]

6. isn't wall street just a collection of corporations fronted by money'd interests? nt

[George II]

14. Wall Street is a historic street in downtown Manhattan.

[Javaman]

15. LOL Good one. :) nt

[LibFarmer]

11. An identical OP to one that is no longer here

I responded to the original one

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1287128439#post8

This OP is another attempt to smear the Democrats without any substance.

[progressoid]

18. Seems like a pretty straight forward article.

While it talks about those who shun Wall Street money, it also points out the need for Democrats to have cash to fight Trump.

Besides Buttigieg, Myers has had John Hickenlooper, the ex-governor of Colorado, and Jay Inslee, Washington’s governor, drop by his office for what he calls policy lunches. He says the idea isn’t to get them to go easy on Wall Street. What he really wants is to resist what he sees as the party’s socialist tilt while fighting Trump. “I don’t feel embarrassed at all,” says Myers, who was vice chairman of Evercore Inc. before he started Signum Global Advisors, which does policy research for finance firms. “Running for president and winning a general election is incredibly expensive, and the other side will raise enormous amounts of money.” He’s right so far: Trump’s reelection campaign and joint fundraising committees raised $38.3 million in the first quarter of 2019. Sanders, the Democratic contender with the most cash, raised $18.2 million. Harris raised about $12 million, with only about 37 percent in amounts of $200 or less.

At the fundraiser hosted by Citigroup’s Coatanlem, his labradoodle, named Possum, started barking just before the senator addressed guests, according to a person there. “I agree with you,” Harris told the dog. “There’s a lot to bark about.”

[ehrnst]

28. At least one is happy to benefit from GOP corporate dark money superpac media spending

and believes that remaining silent while the GOP spends millions in ads helping him in the primaries is ethically fine, and is not really the same as accepting corporate dark money contributions because that candidate didn't "didn't raise money for them."

[progressoid]

61. Hmmm...

Show me in that article where is says that "one is happy to benefit from GOP corporate dark money" or "is ethically fine".

The Sanders campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment on the Republican generosity—but that doesn’t mean it is complicit.

[ehrnst]

69. Did I say he was 'complicit?"

If one needs attack a straw man, instead of actually responding, what does that say about one's rebuttal? Hmm...

When told his supporters were making those GOP dark money funded ads go viral, and echoing the talking points in those ads, he was silent, didn't say anything to discourage them. Very different from his usual denouncements of any other candidate getting millions of $$ worth of support from a superpac, yes?

Asked why Republicans are putting out supportive statements about him, Sanders said: "I don’t know that they are putting out supportive statements about me, but I think at the end of the day, we stand a much better chance of defeating Republicans.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/01/19/clinton-campaign-accuses-sanders-of-following-gop-cues-to-attack-her/

In addition to American Crossroads, much of the spending against Clinton has come from Future45, a new group mainly funded by GOP mega-donors Paul Singer and Ken Griffin, who are both billionaire hedge fund managers.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/gop-super-pacs-give-bernie-sanders-pass

While Sanders frequently declares he has no super PAC of his own, he has not publicly called on the nurses to refrain from their efforts on his behalf. He has welcomed their help, thanking the nurses by name in campaign speeches and referring to the union in one recent appearance as “one of the sponsors” of his campaign.

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/sanders-getting-more-super-pac-money-than-clinton/

[progressoid]

72. I didn't say you said he was complicit.

That's what the article you linked to said about it.

[ehrnst]

73. So who were you responding to with that snippet?

And yes, I addressed your questions.

So, you're welcome.

[LibFarmer]

43. While Republicans spend millions to prop up Sanders with dark money

American Crossroads—founded by former Bush adviser Karl Rove—and several other conservative-backed super PACs have spent the last month intentionally fueling the Bern, but their zeal has more to do with an effort to weaken Hillary Clinton, whom they still see as the likely Democratic nominee and harder to defeat in the general election.

In the wake of Clinton’s close Nevada win, Crossroads claimed credit for driving her numbers down in favor of Sanders.

“American Crossroads and Bernie Sanders helped Nevada caucus-goers see right through Hillary Clinton’s manufactured zeal on immigration reform after spewing virulent Trump-like rhetoric—and that one-two punch shaved Clinton’s 50-point lead a year ago to a slim, single digit win,” Steven Law, Crossroads CEO and president, said in a statement.

Crossroads is one of several groups that has released ads that have been aimed at branding Sanders as the only true progressive in the race—a strategy the Vermont senator’s campaign also embraces.

“If it helps push the needle so that she loses a state, and she comes out a weakened candidate, then fantastic,” said Ian Prior, communications director for Crossroads.

On Monday, Future 45, a super PAC reportedly backed by hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, launched the latest in its own series of ads that seem to defend Sanders. The new spot, titled “Living History”—no doubt a play on the title of Clinton’s 2003 autobiography—accuses the former secretary of state of using similar tactics to tear down Sanders as were used in 2008 against then-Sen. Barack Obama.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/bernie-sanderss-conservative-fanboys

[progressoid]

58. Also,

The Eames Lounge Chair first appeared on the Arlene Francis Home show broadcast on the NBC television network in the USA in 1956.[1] Immediately following the debut, Herman Miller launched an advertising campaign that highlighted the versatility of the chair. Print ads depicted the 670 in a Victorian parlor, occupied by a grandmother shelling peas on the front porch of an American Gothic style house, and in the middle of a sunny field of hay. It has been frequently featured in Frasier as a piece of furniture in the title character's apartment. In the final episode of the series, Martin Crane remarks that he finds it comfortable and hints that he may not have needed his recliner after all. A knockoff of the Eames Lounge Chair has been frequently featured in the show House, in the protagonist's office. Malory Archer's office chair in Archer is also an animation of the Eames Lounge Chair.[2]

Since its introduction, the chair has been in continuous production by Herman Miller in America. Later, Vitra (in cooperation with the German furniture company Fritz Becker KG) began producing the chair for the European market. It was licensed in the UK for 10 years to Hille International LTD from 1957. Immediately following its release, other furniture companies began to copy the chair's design. Some made direct copies, others were merely influenced by the design. The former Plycraft Company issued dozens of chairs that were direct copies of or in-the-style-of the Eames 670. Later Chinese and European companies began making direct copies. However, Herman Miller and Vitra remain the only two companies to produce these chairs with the Eames name attached.

In 2006, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the chair, Herman Miller released models using a sustainable Palisander rosewood veneer.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eames_Lounge_Chair

[George II]

68. ..

[ehrnst]

71. .....

[ucrdem]

12. Corporations can't donate directly to candidates and individuals can only donate $2,500 per year.

However there are ways of donating indirectly, for example through book advances. So can we call the $795K advance Sanders pocketed in 2016 an indirect corporate donation?

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/05/bernie-sanders-book-advance-our-revolution-239135

[brooklynite]

22. Correction: $2800 this cycle

[NurseJackie]

55. And $5600 per couple (for the rich folks who might not know).

That's not me.

[brooklynite]

56. More to the point, an individual CAN donate $5600...

...with $2800 banked for the GE, and returnable if the candidate doesn't win the nomination.

[George II]

62. Not sure, but I believe the second $2800 can't be received until a candidate becomes the nominee..

...otherwise the aggregate receipts prior to the Convention would be misleading and confusing.

[brooklynite]

65. You've always been able to contribute towards both the Primary and GE...

[George II]

66. I know, but the money either has to be separated or not solicited until a person is a GE candidate.

[NurseJackie]

67. I guess we'd have to trust that the candidate keeps accurate records...

I guess we'd have to trust that the candidate keeps accurate records... and that it verifies who the donors are, and how they can be reached.

I wonder if there's specific software designed to do just that, or do the campaigns rely on someone's knowledge of how to make a working spreadsheet use LibreOffice's "Calc" and "Base" programs.

I suppose this would be a very difficult thing to enforce if someone's campaign wasn't keeping accurate records, or if they neglected to report the required information in a timely manner.

That would suck.

[Autumn]

35. .

[George II]

13. That same article was posted here yesterday:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=128439

[Autumn]

19. Oh no!! We all know no one here EVER posts the same thing that has been posted before.

[George II]

21. Check the link to my post please. Thanks!

[Autumn]

23. I did.

[George II]

27. Wasn't much there, was there?

[Autumn]

30. Let's see if your luck holds. nt

[George II]

36. I only bet on horses on the weekends, but we do have a $2 ticket on tonight's huge powerball drawing

[Autumn]

38. Sometimes you go bust in horse races and other endeavors. I'm out of here. nt

[George II]

40. Over the years I've done fairly well, thank you.

[ehrnst]

41. ....

[LibFarmer]

47. This is about fairness - not luck

When posts appear that seem to smear and gaslight they are almost invariably from one camp that is losing badly in polls and they invariably attack ALL Democrats with a very very broad paintbrush.

The attacks are not because something was done wrongly but by creating an innuendo of wrongdoing.

If that makes you happy just because it helps your position, my cynicism is justified and you have proven my point once again.

[Autumn]

50. It's an article from a legitimate news site. If you don't like the article content or the site

ignore it or get the admins to make a list of forbidden sites and subjects. Money in political campaigns has long been a subject of discussion here.

You can contact them with your concerns here.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=ata

[LibFarmer]

51. Legitimate sources have devotee reporters who spin stories

You are so proving my point!!

[Autumn]

52. Okay. Then make a list of reporters that you find acceptable.

Oh wait... It's been done. Just ask Jim Acosta

[LibFarmer]

59. Biased reporting is not reporting - especially when hidden from public

Just ask David Sirota

[Autumn]

64. You're right. Max Abelson is biased, very biased. Click on a link and you see all his

pieces he has written. He's biased against Wall Street, not all Democrats. Not an article in there pushing support for Sanders. Thanks for the link proving my point.

https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/AQRJ8zwg2cE/max-abelson

[Uncle Joe]

24. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread Stellar.

[shanny]

31. I only want a candidate that Wall St is--at the least--uncomfortable with.

[ucrdem]

33. Better Wall Street than a lot of other snakes

like the oil boys and the "logistics" guys and the Russians and the weaponeers and the ones we can't talk about and the we don't even know about. So when you get down to it we could do worse.

[shanny]

42. I disagree.

All of those other guys are what Wall St. "runs" on. And they are the ones with the stranglehold on our economic policies, they are the ones who are appointed to the cabinet posts (for both parties, alas), they are the ones who play with our future like it was just Monopoly money--which for them it is. The financialization of our economy and the overwhelming power of the Wall St boys is what drives the "shareholders' profits" / stock price trap and has resulted in record income inequality and in disaster for nearly everyone else.

I don't think there are worse people on the planet and I don't want them anywhere near the levers of power in the government.

[ehrnst]

44. When you say "Wall St. Boys" who specifically are you talking about?

Day traders?

[ehrnst]

76. Can't even name one "Wall St boy" you're talking about?

[LibFarmer]

48. Some people are easily triggered by the words "wall street"

Almost like some people have other areas of their physiology that get triggered by what most people would consider out of the norms.

[ehrnst]

34. At least one is happy to benefit from GOP corporate dark money superpac media spending

and believes that remaining silent while the GOP spends millions or corporate $$$ in ads helping him in the primaries, even as his supporters make those dark money ads go viral, is TOTALLY ethical, and is not AT ALL the same as accepting corporate dark money contributions via a check for millions of $$ because that candidate didn't "didn't raise money for that PAC."

[Kurt V.]

46. It's no secret that we live in a plutocracy. one candidate has a plan for that. 👇

[leftofcool]

49. As long as none of our candidates are getting foreign money, I don't care who donates to them

This stupid article sounds a lot like, "she gave a speech to Goldman Sachs so we can't possibly vote for HER."

[stonecutter357]

53. you change my mind about Biden ......

JK

[leftofcool]

57. I heard that Joe, Pete and kamala got money from some artists last week..........

who may have some second cousins that know people who work on Wall Street. Truth?

[LibFarmer]

60. Don't forget

the second cousin's dog walker's mother-in-laws's barista's ex-boyfriend's dentist's therapist's other patients who work on wall street.

[NYMinute]

54. The writer, Max Abelson is a Bernie Sanders supporter

He has previously gaslighted Democrats with smears and innuendos

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-02-08/this-top-clinton-donor-wants-1-million-gifts-like-his-outlawed

[Autumn]

63. Do articles about Wall Street and one article linked about Hillary from 2016 really prove he's a

Sanders supporter? Other than the one in the OP where neither Bernie or Liz I've gone back to 2011 and haven't found any pieces he wrote about Bernie Sanders. Can you link one, please? I think he's anti-Wall Street? But a lot of us are. I found three about Hillary and Wall Street ties. Those ties have been documented by other reporters. One I found about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is not a fan of Wall Street I did find one wonderful one about Elizabeth Warren. She's not a fan of Wal Street either.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-12-18/the-citigroup-question-enters-2016-politics-at-park-ave-rally

there is a quote that are two candidates who aren’t going to New York, Chicago, L.A. for money Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Does that make him a Sanders supporter or is he a Warren supporter?

“In the past, there was no candidate who didn’t come to New York, Chicago, L.A. for money,” says Lasry. “Today, there are two candidates who aren’t doing that—Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.” Few bankers would want to promote those senators anyhow. This month, Vermont’s Sanders proposed capping credit card interest rates, calling banks “modern-day loan Warren, from Massachusetts, has pitched a tax on family assets above $50 million to wipe out student debt. She wants to jail executives whose companies’ negligence causes harm, citing bank bosses and the financial crisis.

[George II]

70. "I've gone back to 2011 and haven't found any pieces he wrote about Bernie Sanders.....

...Can you link one, please?"

Last month:

https://www.bloombergquint.com/bq-blue-exclusive/cantor-fitzgerald-doesn-t-want-this-woman-talking-about-her-mug-in-court

[Autumn]

74. Really? An asshole shits in a woman Bernie mug, two reporters write about her lawsuit

which isn't about the mug by the way, even though it's mentioned in the article, against her former company Cantor and Fitzgerald. Yeah Wall Streets Cantor and Fitzgerald. They force her into arbitration because they don't want any of their actions in court and that's proof he's a Sanders supporter?

One salesman close to Haidri was a Gleacher alum named Jim Gorman. His conservative views clashed with Stowell’s liberal politics. “He had his opinions about gay people, and he had his opinions about black people, and he had his opinions about women,” Stowell says. “And he made them very, very, very, very well-known.” She suspects Gorman was involved in the fouling of her mug, which he denies, according to filings.

When Stowell complained about Gorman to Haidri, their boss, she says he told her to be respectful. His reaction surprised her, since he seemed indifferent to the disrespect she was facing. Steps away from Haidri’s desk was a dry-erase board with messages about Stowell. These started going up, she says, after she told a colleague in New York that her boss and others were watching porn: “What happens in Summit stays in Summit,” the first one warned. Soon the whiteboard tracked “Lee Haters” and “Lee-Free Days.” Below those tallies, for three years, it was filled with her off-color retorts. Among them, a photo shows: “Maybe your head needs to come out of your a-- before you start choking on it,” and “I forgot to wipe my a--, can you take care of it?” Stowell sees her profanity as a tool she’d honed to survive for decades in the junk market, and her co-workers seemed to be mocking it—while getting a pass for their own bad behavior. “When you spend 25 years on a trading desk, and you predominantly work with men, you find a way to defend yourself,” she says. “You don’t defend yourself by screeching or yelling at them or blushing when they say something. You try to put them in their place.”


But she was speechless in 2015 when a visitor to the office grabbed her buttocks, setting off laughter from her boss and other colleagues. “Did you like that?” Haidri said to her, according to her complaint. A week later he asked about it again: “Would you rather he grabbed your boobs?”

She finally sued in April 2018. Eve Klein, a lawyer for Haidri and Gorman, says, “The statements being attributed to them and the claims made against them by Ms. Stowell are harmful to them professionally and hurtful to them and their families personally.” A spokesman for Cantor says the firm can’t comment on the case beyond court filings, where the firm and the two men deny her account.

Not one word about Bernie Sanders other than the story about some asshole shitting in her Bernie Sanders mug.