Wall Street bucks corporate trend: increases giving to Republicans

[swag]

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=4834

Of the companies we examined — Goldman, J.P. Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers — all have donated more money to Republicans than Democrats in the latest election cycle, a result that will probably surprise no one.

But there was another, more counterintuitive, trend: The data suggest that most of the bulge-bracket firms are betting even more heavily on Republicans in this election cycle compared with 2004. This shift to the right comes even as many political pundits say they expect Democratic lawmakers to fare better in the upcoming elections than they have in a decade.
. . .

Wall Street seems to be bucking a broader trend. A recent report in The Wall Street Journal found that political contributions from other major companies, including those in industries that traditionally have been G.O.P. stalwarts, like oil and tobacco, have been shifting more of their giving to Democrats.

Goldman, perhaps more than any of its peers, has strong political connections. Consider the number of its top executives who left the private sector for public service: Besides Mr. Paulson, Goldman’s chiefs-turned-politicians include Robert E. Rubin, Stephen Friedman and Jon S. Corzine. Joshua B. Bolten, who as Mr. Bush’s chief of staff worked to lure Mr. Paulson to Treasury, was Goldman’s executive director for legal affairs in London. Like Mr. Paulson, Mr. Friedman and Mr. Bolten are Republicans; Mr. Rubin and Mr. Corzine are Democrats.

[Trillo]

1. Too much money from corporate.

Why should any non-human entity be considered as part of 'the people'?

[stepnw1f]

2. Interesting Since I Read the Opposite

and I know the article has been posted here on DU a couple weeks back. I wonder if this article was an attempt to quell fears of the Right.

[EVDebs]

3. Mammon gets what it pays for. n/t

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Toots]

5. They are aware the "Fix" is in why isn't the rest of America aware.

Anyone that thinks Democrats are going to win in November should come look at my aluminum mine I have for sale cheap...95% of incumbents get elected. Since Republicans took control they have cast that figure in cement. Get used to it because America is no longer a Democratic Republic.

[Totally Committed]

6. Amen... they've already been told who will be in power

after the next elections. They believe the "fix" is in.

TC

[skipos]

7. They are dumb. Democratic presidents are historically better for stocks

and the economy in general.

Forbes has some ratings of ecomonic properity that verify this.

"Not surprisingly, Bill Clinton tops the magazine's prosperity chart. He is followed by two other Democrats – Johnson and Kennedy. The first Republican to show up is Reagan, who comes in fourth. No Democrat finishes lower than seventh (Truman), and the last three spots are all occupied by Republicans (Nixon, Eisenhower and George H.W. Bush). On a scale of one to eleven (one being Bill Clinton, eleven being the elder Bush), Democrats have an average ranking of 3.8, Republicans of 7.8."

http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/pp.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=131769

That probably explains why democrats are better for the stock market too.

DOW SINCE 1901
Republican years Avg. annual change 6.9%
Democratic years Avg. annual change 13.3%
Source: Stock Trader's Almanac 2005

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/krantz/2005-12-02-presidents_x.htm