Romney Fund-Raisers in London Draw Banking Crowd

[ProSense]

Romney Fund-Raisers in London Draw Banking Crowd

By ASHLEY PARKER and LANDON THOMAS Jr.

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Mr. Romney then launched into an attack on the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law, calling it “unnecessary” and “overly burdensome.”

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Mr. Romney picked a precarious time to visit London’s financial community. British, European and American banks here are under close scrutiny from regulators on both sides of the ocean for their attempts to manipulate key interest rates.

So far Barclays, Britain’s third largest bank, has been at the scandal’s forefront, and the bank’s former chief executive, Robert E. Diamond Jr., withdrew his name from Thursday’s event after he was forced to resign from the bank. Patrick Durkin, a senior lobbyist for Barclays in Washington who has raised more than $1 million for Mr. Romney, remained a co-chairman.

The rate-rigging scandal has set off a vocal anti-banker backlash here, with everyone from the governor of the central bank to David Cameron, Britain’s conservative prime minister, weighing in on how badly bankers have behaved. Eleven members of Parliament even recently signed a resolution that named Mr. Romney and called for Barclays executives to “cease fund-raising for political candidates.”

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According to the campaign, roughly 250 people attended the event, which was expected to bring in at least $250 million.

- more -

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/us/politics/mitt-romney-fund-raisers-in-london-draw-banking-crowd.html

"Did you know that Romney had a serious stake in the CDO-Derivatives game?"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002999369

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. Britain is raw from the Barclays scandal now Romney rubs salt in their wounds

Romney is a walking disaster. No doubt Romney approves of rate rigging and deregulation?

[unblock]

2. gosh, i'm shocked! and here i thought the trip was just to show off his mad foreign policy skillz!

[SDjack]

3. Disgusting. To all candidates, I have to limit myself to about $100.

These foreigners totally overwhelm our voice. Damn congress and scotus.

[ProSense]

4. It makes one

wonder if Mitt's obscene and obsessive fundraising isn't designed to create the impression that he's running a great campaign.

Despite the media's attempts to shield him (literally) from criticism, he has been unable to gain any traction. In fact, the more people get to know him, the more they dislike him.

His only claim to fame is his media-driven persona (http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021025814), equating his Bain experience to knowledge of the economy.

To quote Krugman:

Business Is Not Economics
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/business-is-not-economics/

[MiniMe]

5. How can it be legal to fundraise for foreign money?

[Xyzse]

7. Supposedly

He is only allowed to take money from US Citizens out of the country or any one who is in the process of Naturalization.

I don't know how closely it is followed however.
Candidates do this due to the success of Rudy Guliani fundraising outside the US.

[ProSense]

6. Kick! n/t