Obama's 'Old' Deal

by Michael Hirsh - August 29th, 2010 - Newsweek

Barack Obama was “incredulous” at what he was hearing, said one of his top economic advisers. The president had spent his first year in office overseeing the biggest government bailout of the financial industry in American history. Together with Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, he had kept Wall Street afloat on a trillion-dollar tide of taxpayer money. But the banks were barely lending, and the economy was still mired in high unemployment. And now, in December 2009, the holiday news had started to filter out of the canyons of lower Manhattan: Wall Street’s year-end bonuses would actually be larger in 2009 than they had been in 2007, the year prior to the catastrophe. “Wait, let me get this straight,” Obama said at a White House meeting that December. “These guys are reserving record bonuses because they’re profitable, and they’re profitable only because we rescued them.” It was as if nothing had changed. Even after a Depression-size crash, the banks were not altering their behavior. The president was being perceived, more and more, as a man on the wrong side of an incendiary issue.

As an excuse for why things are not Obama's fault, this article is not completely accurate. Yet there is one tidbit of truth in it. There is a difference between free enterprise and Wall Street. Wall Street loves Democrats because they agree that Wall Street is not in the business of free enterprise. Wall Street is in the business of monopolies and profits, special exemptions and pork. That is why Wall Street loves mergers, acquisitions, derivatives, collateralized debt swaps, etc, etc. These do not produce anything. They allow Wall Street to extort huge profits from the American people even when the nation is suffering.

How long will it be before Republican voters and their leaders understand, the country club wing of the GOP is a greater enemy of this nation than Democrats. As proof, simply note. Before Obama was President, Wall Street gave 74% of its campaign contributions to Democrats and the other 26% to the country club Republicans that gave them pork and bribes. Now, after Obama, they STILL GIVE 66% of their campaign contributions to Democrats, and the rest to country club Republicans who pass bills exempting them from certain laws. The overwhelming majority still goes to socialists of one flavor or another. Because when you come right down to it country club Republicans are as much socialists as Democrats. What I would love to ask these so called Republicans is why they are willing to take such a pittance? Why do they get the small amounts and the Democrats get the big piece of the pie? Do you think the Wall Street barons are stupid? Do you think they give this money and do not get their money's worth?

Wall Street never supports any candidate who embraces FREE ENTERPRISE. Wall Street hates the competition of free enterprise and will never allow it to return if they can help it. Wall Street is all about government controlled monopolies with large profits to pay acceptable bribes to public officials.