Almost everywhere I turn, I’m hearing that the Democratic Party has sold out to corporate donors. Consider this:
…Republicans also attempted to obstruct the Democrats’ financial reform bill which passed last month with the support of just three Senate Republicans. Because of their willingness to always stand on the side of corporations, Republicans are being rewarded by big business. The Financial Times reports on a Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) study:
Wall Street executives are donating nearly 70 per cent of their political contributions to Republican candidates ahead of November’s mid-term elections, representing a significant shift in allegiances across an industry that has in recent history heavily favoured Democrats. […]
Wall Street executives began favouring Republicans over Democrats in December of last year, but the month of June marked the largest gap between donations to the two parties and federal candidates. The shift coincided with the intense debate on Capitol Hill over financial services reform, legislation that was passed in July.
This graph from the CRP shows the percentage of Wall Street dollars flowing to each party… [emphasis original]
Inserted from <Think Progress>
Hey Democratic politicians! If you think caving-in to corporate criminals is worth it, get some Vaseline, because you’re getting you know what you know where!!
19 Responses to “Democrats Sold Out? For What?”
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I forget where exactly I read this, but this is how I remember it,……Democrats have been going to Wall street to try and drum up some financial support. Basically they were told to go pound salt. Seems Wall street is a bit angry over all the attacks from the left. Their feelings got hurt. That’s why many Dems didn’t want to go to hard on Wall street, supposedly anyway. Dodd comes to mind.
Dodd is not a good example, Tim. He has been in Wall Street’s pocket for a long time, for which they pay him well. Plus, he’s retiring.
I have maintained for years that the Republicans have become the bought-out party of the oligarchs and plutocrats who control Wall Street and multinational corporate America. Conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats have likewise been bought out and hoodwinked by those same elements. These people represent and promote economic stagnation for all but the very wealthy and big business. They want an authoritarian form of government when it comes to foreign affairs, and a laissez-faire one when it comes to business.
When the Democrats smarten-up and quit electing namby pamby Republican-Lite like Ben Nelson, Evan Bayh, Blanche Lincoln, and Joe LIEberman, and start nominating and electing more for-the-people progressive firebrands like Dennis Kucinich, Anthony Wiener, Al Franken, and Alan Grayson, THEN we’ll finally start seeing some good, fairer, and more universally beneficial legislation. Until then, we will be saddled with obstructionism, ineffectualness, and the best government corporate money can buy.
Right on, Jack, with two minor disagreements. First, I take exception to calling LIEberscum a Democrat. He’s a Republican who was elected as an Independent, Dennis Kucinich should not be held up as as an example like Weiner, Franken and Grayson. When asked, during his presidential campaign, whom he would pick for VP, he chose Ron Paul, the original Teabagger. The problem with Dennis is that he gets so focused on his issue of the moment that he forgets everything else, making him far too unreliable to warrant that level of support.
And I have problems with Weiner. I think he’s an opportunist. So now what do we do? : )
Obama got a lot of money from BP. He still blasted them for the spill. When was the last time we heard Republicans blast one of their corporate contributors?
Haliburton was killing our soldiers with their sub-standard work. But Cheney’s old company got more government business.
Any party will get corporate contributors, it’s what leverage they get whil;e destroying America, that proves who are the real sell-outs.
Tom, I fully agree that the party as a whole has not sold out., except for the DINOs. That was the point of this article.
This is not a Democracy it is a corporatocracy but you know that Tom. This is not our country it is theirs.
Not only do I know it, Jim, you know I’ve said it. But we can change it.
Goodcop-Badcop is a charade- just like the one the Corporate Party is playing. It may have two faces, but only one black thieving heart.
Welcome, Claudia. 🙂
While I’m not convinced, I grant you that there is evidence to support your position. We need publically financed elections.
One way to get Big Business out of politicians’ pockets (or is the other way around) is to press for shorter campaigns. Spending nearly an entire year building up to a mid-term election is ridiculous. It costs too much and draws too much attention from the job Congress is allegedly elected to do. It won’t solve the problem but it will reduce it. If the UK and France and dozens of other nations can get the job done in a month or two, I don’t see why we need a nearly constant grind of shilling for votes. It wasn’t always this way and there’s no reason it should be.
SF, I agree with what you say, but know of only one way to accomplish it. What fuels the length od the campaigns is the endless flow of corporate cash financing them. We neef 100% public financing for all campaigns for federal office.
Unsettle DEM; then, UNSADDLE DEM!
How witty. Normally I welcome new folks. In your case, I’ll make an exception.
The graph is very misleading and intellectually dishonest. It is a myth to imply all Democrats are sell outs the same way all Republicans are sell outs.
You can’t compare Progressive Democrats to Blue Dog DINOs. Take out the Progressive Democrats from the equation and the blue line will not go down.
Welcome Kevin. 🙂
You misunderstood the graph, or perhaps I did not explain it well enough. The lines are corporate contributions. The point was that the blue line went down because the majority of Democrats were not selling out in the same way Republicans and DINOs are.
What Claudia said, the corporations play and for the most part own both parties. Now that they are “people” I expect it to get far worse. I heard very recently that Target, who had always prided itself as a warm and fuzzy corporation since it did give some sort of family benefits to gay couples got caught funding a Teabagger type for govenor up in Jack’s party of the woods.
Beach that’s not actually true. Corporations flooded Dems with money right before the last election, because they knew Dems would win, and they were hoping to buy access. Now they have withdrawn the money from all but corporate Dems like Dodd and Nelson, becausae the bulk refused to goose step.