Will the Democrats Claim It's Just a "Wide Stance" Too?

The Democrats' public professions of enmity towards Wall Street remind me of the anti-gay rhetoric of disgraced former Senator Larry “Wide Stance” Craig. In his public life, Senator Craig was very outspoken in his condemnations of homosexuality; in their public life, the Democrats are very outspoken in their condemnations of Wall Street. As we learned after a revealing incident in an airport bathroom, Senator Craig’s public mask and his private face were vastly different. The Democrats are every bit as two-faced as the former Senator, and just like him when they’re out of the public view they’re cruising for under-stall action with the object of their public animosity: Wall Street.

Take Senate Banking Committee Chris Dodd, for example: Earlier this week, on the Senate floor, Dodd railed against Goldman Sachs and Magnetar (the hedge fund hijinks of each firm having been previously discussed in this blog here and here, respectively) culminating with the punchline:

"So the problem is not that these executives got rich without contributing to America. The problem is that these executives got rich betting against America."

Watch his indignation:



"Betting against America" is a pretty strong indictment. The Senator must have been so proud of himself for making it in full public view that he forgot to mention that after the investment banks bet against America they shared their winnings with him. From Goldman Dodd received $273,466, and from the relative upstart Magnetar he accepted at least $6,900. Not too shabby. I can't help but wonder if the Senator and his donors ever sing this Magnetar-inspired song to each other:

Bet Against the American Dream from Alexander Hotz on Vimeo.

And Chris Dodd's not the only one having a closeted love affair with Wall Street--not by a long shot! It's widespread: Kirsten Gillibrand, Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, Charles Schumer, Harry Reid, former House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt is now a Goldman Sachs lobbyist, our Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy has accepted $52,736 from the Securities and Investment industry--and that doesn't even include the Magnetar money laundered to her by Rahm Emanuel--the list goes on and on and on. So many Democrats, so hot for Wall Street cash, but also, so very ashamed to admit their hearts' desire.

Can you imagine the scenes?

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A flustered and slightly sweaty Rahm Emanuel popping out of a coat closet after an afternoon quickie cell-phone call to Magnetar Capital CEO Alec Litowitz.

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Senator Chris Dodd getting his war chest stuffed in the back of a Citigroup executive's limousine.

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid sitting on a bench in a secluded section of a public park smiling coyly at a cute jogger in a Goldman Sachs t-shirt.

"Oh yes! He winked at me! More cash for Harry!" he congratulates himself after the encounter.

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Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy buttoning up her purse with a freshly cut check from Goldman Sachs Managing Director David P. Solomon inside as she leaves his New York office.

"But Mary Jo, what if your constituents find out?" the breathless banker asks.

Emphatically the Congresswoman replies, "They won't!" And then, unleashing even more of her passion for Wall Street cash, "They could never understand OUR LOVE!"

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Of course those were dramatizations. In reality, the Democrats surely have a far more sophisticated and organized method of setting up Wall Street bankers with the politicians who love them than the ol' Larry Craig tap-and-whistle. The major difference as I see it, is that Senator Craig is deserving of pity for the tortured life he surely had. The Democrats, however, deserve only contempt for their deception. In stepping out on us to dally with Wall Street bankers the Democrats are inflicting great harm on our country and our future. We should help them come out of the closet by kicking them out of the Congress.

Mary Jo & Rahm's Dirty Money

Congresswoman Mary Jo Kilroy’s ultra-negative 2008 campaign centered around the same tired refrain that Lt. Colonel Steve Stivers, then also a state senator, had, in the past, worked for a bank. The implication was that Stivers had personally wrought the global financial crisis—and from Columbus, Ohio no less. Former banking lobbyist Steve Stivers was one evil dude, Ms. Kilroy would have us believe. We were to pay no heed to his solid legislative record in the Ohio Senate and his military service overseas. With an awkward smile, Mary Jo Kilroy assured us he was a very bad man—and that she was a very nice lady, by the way.

Now, Governor Ted Strickland’s re-election campaign is centered on similar assertions that John Kasich, as a former Columbus-based employee of Lehman Brothers, is also single-handedly responsible for the global financial crisis. It seems if you’re a Republican and at some point in your life you worked at a bank you personally brought on the global financial crisis—at least by Democrat logic. But keep in mind these people believe spending hundreds of billions of dollars we don’t have will lower the deficit.

With the Democrats’ deeply earnest desire to root out the parties responsible for the global financial crisis I am shocked—SHOCKED!—that they have yet to draw attention to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, former managing director of the investment bank Wasserstein Perella and the House of Representatives’s No.1 recipient of campaign contributions from hedge funds.

Beyond being a former investment banker and a recipient of massive amounts of campaign contributions from his friends in the business Mr. Emanuel was the chosen Congressional errand boy of Alec Litowitz, CEO of Magnetar Capital. You’ve probably never heard of Magnetar Capital so let me introduce you: according to financial author Yves Smith, Magnetar Capital is “the single market player most responsible for the severity of the 2008 financial crisis.” (For an overview of how Magnetar contributed to the financial crisis please view: The Magnetar Trade: How One Hedge Fund Helped Keep the Bubble Going.)

Basically, Magnetar made billions of dollars shorting the market. As his company was contributing to the financial crisis, Mr. Litowitz and his wife, who had never before made significant political contributions, contributed massive amounts of money to Rahm Emanuel (“Friends of Rahm Emanuel”), Rahm Emanuel’s political action committee (Our Shared Values Pac), and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (chaired by Rahm Emanuel). And during that time period Mr. Litowitz and his wife contributed only to Rahm Emanuel and Rahm Emanuel-connected political organizations. Curious.

So a portion of the money made by the misbehavers in the global financial crisis ended up in Rahm Emanuel’s campaign coffers. He’s a Chicago Democrat so that’s hardly shocking. Where’d the money go from there? Surely not to the incorruptible anti-banking crusader Mary Jo Kilroy!

Yep, that’s where it went.

In her 2006 congressional campaign, Mary Jo Kilroy accepted $10,000 from Rahm Emanuel’s Our Common Values PAC and $2,000 from the Friends of Rahm Emanuel.

In her 2008 congressional campaign, Mary Jo Kilroy accepted $10,000 from Rahm Emanuel’s Our Common Values PAC and $4,000 from the Friends of Rahm Emanuel.

And in her 2010 re-election campaign, Mary Jo Kilroy has already accepted $2,000 from the Friends of Rahm Emanuel.

So the money flow chart looks something like this:

People screwed in the financial crisis --> Magnetar/Alec Litowitz --> Rahm Emanuel --> Mary Jo Kilroy

It seems that Congresswoman Kilroy’s moral high ground on all things banking never existed. Don’t worry; I’m sure that won’t stop her from churning out more of those “former banking lobbyist Steve Stivers” campaign ads that kept us all entertained during the 2008 election. And when you’re watching them remember where she got the money to pay for them: out of the pockets of the people who got screwed in the financial crisis.