Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Banks to DSCC: We’re taking Elizabeth Warren hostage

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I received the following email today, news which also lit up my Facebook feed.  Also, it looks like Sen. Schumer is best positioned to become Democratic Leader in the next Congress in light of today’s announcement by Sen. Reid that he won’t seek re-election.  Not sure that bodes well for the Warren wing of the party.

In 2008, the financial sector collapsed and nearly brought down our whole economy. What were the ingredients behind that crash? Recklessness on Wall Street and a willingness in Washington to play along with whatever the big banks wanted.

Years have passed since the crisis and the bailout, but the big banks still swagger around town. And when Citigroup and the others don’t quite get their way or Washington doesn’t feel quite cozy enough, they quickly move to loud, public threats. Their latest move is a stunner. According to Reuters:

Big Wall Street banks are so upset with U.S. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren’s call for them to be broken up that some have discussed withholding campaign donations to Senate Democrats in symbolic protest, sources familiar with the discussions said.

Citigroup has decided to withhold donations for now to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee over concerns that Senate Democrats could give Warren and lawmakers who share her views more power, sources inside the bank told Reuters.

JPMorgan representatives have met Democratic Party officials to emphasize the connection between its annual contribution and the need for a friendlier attitude toward the banks, a source familiar with JPMorgan’s donations said.

That’s right, the biggest banks on Wall Street have made it clear that they expect a return on their investment in Washington. Forget making the markets safer (where they can still make plenty of money) and forget the $700 billion taxpayer bailout that saved them and forget the need to build a strong economy for all Americans. Forget it all. The big banks want a Washington that works only for them and that puts their interests first – and they would like to get a little public fanny-kissing for their money too.Well forget it. They can threaten or bully or say whatever they want, but we aren’t going to change our game plan. We do, however, need to respond.

According to this breaking news, our 2016 Democratic Senate candidates could lose at least $30,000 because of this decision. Can you help us raise $30,000 to match Wall Street’s money right now – and keep fighting for a Democratic Senate that will work for people instead of big banks?

Now let’s be clear: $30,000 is a drop in the bucket to JPMorgan and Citigroup. Heck, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon makes more than $30,000 in just a few hours.The big banks have thrown around money for years, spending more than a $1 million a day to hold off Dodd-Frank and the consumer agency. But they are moving out of the shadows. They have reached a new level of brazenness, demanding that Senate Democrats grovel before them.  That kind of swagger is a warning shot. They want a showy way to tell Democrats across the country to be scared of speaking out, to be timid about standing up, and to stay away from fighting for what’s right.

Ok, they have taken their shot, but it will not work.I’m not going to stop talking about the unprecedented grasp that Citigroup has on our government’s economic policymaking apparatus. I’m not going to stop talking about the settlement agreements that JPMorgan makes with our Justice Department that are so weak, the bank celebrates by giving their executives a raise. And I’m not going to pretend the work of financial reform is done, when the so-called “too big to fail” banks are even bigger now than they were in 2008.

The big banks have issued a threat, and it’s up to us to fight back. It’s up to us to fight back against a financial system that allows those who broke our economy to emerge from a crisis in record-setting shape while ordinary Americans continue to struggle. It’s up to us to fight back against a regulatory system that is so besieged by lobbyists – and their friends in Congress – that our regulators forget who they’re working for.

Let’s send the biggest banks on Wall Street our own message: We’re going to keep fighting, and your swagger and your threats won’t stop us. Help us match their $30,000 right now.

Thank you for being a part of this,

Elizabeth
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Comments

  1. Wall Street has colonized the Republican Party, and now is about to install its double agent at the head of the Senate Democrats. Warren is the last gasp of a legitimate two-party system in this country.

    Death Race is one of the dumbest movies I’ve ever watched, but I do remember how the leader of dystopian America was the head of the “Bipartisan Party”. Fiction coming true?

  2. Shocking offer from Citigroup and other Wall Street Banks: if Warren stops talking about breaking them up, then, they will contribute to Democratic Senators.

    Citigroup and Wall Street are really flexing their muscles. They want to own both political parties. Kudos to Warren for calling them out.

  3. And this the same day that Chuck Schumer (D-Wall Street) seems to have locked up the #1 position in the Senate after Reid’s retirement at the end of this term…

    • …and he will be elected easily, possibly without opposition. Durbin has said he won’t contest the race and Warren also says she is not running. This is an opportunity to fight out where the Senate Conference is IMO.

      • One other possibility is Patty Murray. She could become the first female senate leader.

        And, the vote doesn’t occur until January, 2017. The voters will be the member of the new Democratic senate. So, Schumer is trying to pretend that he has it locked up, but he hasn’t.

  4. Warren’s address from a couple of years ago, comparing the consequences for bank executives who loot billions to the consequences for small time crooks who steal thousands, is more appropriate than ever. Now the banksters are trying to extort the government directly. “Nice campaign-funding operation you got here. Be a shame if anything happened to it.”

    I’m sure this extortion expression of free speech is all perfectly legal.

    • In light of the recent clean bill of health given Massachusetts government by Harvard’s “Edmond J. Safra Center For Ethics”, I wonder what the same erstwhile center has to say about this racket.

      Would they consider it “legal corruption”, “illegal corruption”, or no corruption at all?

      • …and I assume we mean their PACs since corporate donations have been illegal for ages, it’s also legal for them to choose not to give to someone. We really need to get to an individual-only donation regime if not mandatory public financing.

        • Acting together, a small number of Wall Street banks have a huge amount of power. They are using their concentrated political power to stop Elizabeth Warren from criticizing them and regulating them. Basically, they are buying themselves a government that will be kind to them. To me, that represents pure corruption of our democracy.

          It might be legal, but it isn’t right. Elizabeth Warren was correct. Citigroup should be broken up.

        • …because it took away the clout of unions on the other side of the political spectrum.

          Now the tactics used by unions for decades are being used on Democrats and they don’t like it much.

          Public financing will be hard to justify in the light of both defecits and service cuts.

          Human only donation is the only solution to this. It protects free speech and creates a truly level playing field. Both sides need to stop contorting campaign finance laws to protect THEIR base donors while restricting the other guy.

  5. Yesterday, Wall Street took a warning shot at us. They announced that they may not help Senate Democrats in 2016 because they don’t like my “tone” and they want to nip this challenge in the bud before the idea of standing up to big banks spreads too far.

    So I set a big goal: To match the $30,000 Citigroup & JPMorgan have threatened to withhold from Senate Democrats in 2016 – not with giant checks from millionaires and billionaires, but from regular people like you chipping in $5 or $10 at a time.

    In less than 24 hours, more than 1200 people chipped in – and they crushed our $30,000 goal. Can we double down and send an even louder message to Wall Street?

    Donate now to help us raise $60,000 and show the biggest banks on Wall Street that we won’t stop fighting. Tell them straight out: You don’t own the Senate Democrats and you won’t stop us from fighting to level the playing the playing field for working families.

    The big banks are ready to throw down? Let’s say, “Bring it on.”

    Thanks,

    Elizabeth

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