Obama’s Money Cartel: How he’s fronted for the most vicious firms on Wall Street

[Karmadillo]

http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/16601

By Pam Martens

Wall Street, known variously as a barren wasteland for diver­sity or the last plantation in America, has defied courts and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for decades in its failure to hire blacks as stockbrokers. Now it’s marshal­ling its money machine to elect a black man to the highest office in the land. Why isn’t the press curious about this?

Walk into any of the largest Wall Street brokerage firms today and you’ll see a self-portrait of upper management rac­ism and sexism: women sitting at secre­tarial desks outside fancy offices occupied by predominantly white males. According to the EEOC as well as the recent racial discrimination class actions filed against UBS and Merrill Lynch, blacks make up between 1 per cent to 3.5 per cent of stockbrokers - and this after 30 years of litigation, settlements and empty prom­ises to do better by the largest Wall Street firms.

The first clue to an entrenched white male bastion seeking a black male occupant in the oval office (having placed only five blacks in the U.S. Senate in the last two centuries) appeared this month on a chart at the Center for Responsive Politics website. It was a list of the 20 top con­tributors to the Barack Obama campaign, and it looked like one of those compre­hension tests where you match up things that go together and eliminate those that don’t. Of the 20 top contributors, I elimi­nated six that didn’t compute. I was now looking at a sight only slightly less fright­ening to democracy than a Diebold vot­ing machine. It was a Wall Street cartel of financial firms, their registered lobbyists, ! and go-to law firms that have a death grip on our federal government.

Why is the “yes, we can” candidate in bed with this cartel? How can we, the people, make change if Obama’s money backers block our ability to be heard?

Seven of the Obama campaign’s top 14 donors consist of officers and em­ployees of the same Wall Street firms charged time and again with looting the public and newly implicated in originat­ing and/or bundling fraudulently made mortgages. These latest frauds have left thousands of children in some of our largest minority communities coming home from school to see eviction notices and foreclosure signs nailed to their front doors. Those scars will last a lifetime.

These seven Wall Street firms are (in order of money given): Goldman Sachs, UBS AG, Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse. There is also a large hedge fund, Citadel Investment Group, which is a major source of fee income to Wall Street. There are five large corporate law firms that are also registered lobbyists; and one is a corporate law firm that is no longer a registered lobbyist but does legal work for Wall Street. The cumula­tive total of these 14 contributors through February 1, 2008, was $2,872,128, and we’re still in the primary season.

But hasn’t Senator Obama repeatedly told us in ads and speeches and debates that he wasn’t taking money from reg­istered lobbyists? Hasn’t the press given him a free pass on this statement?

more...

[Straight Shooter]

1. He is also supported by Soros, who recently purchased 2 million shares of stock in Halliburton.

Soros knows which way the wind is blowing. I doubt if his support comes without strings. Very powerful man in the world of finance.

[Occam Bandage]

33. LMAO, now Hillary supporters have picked up the freeper Soronoia?

[Straight Shooter]

36. Oh, please.

Do some research, OB. And if you think Soros is a "good guy," study his background. Wealthy so-called liberals can be just as nasty of a character as a wealthy so-called conservatives.

[yourguide]

2. This is SUCH a snooze.

Have you not figured out that when even you or I donate money we are required by law to list the company we work for? When they total the FEC donations my donation will appear under my company's names.

Just because I donated to Baracks campaign doesnt mean my company supports him nor that they GAVE me the funds to donate to him.

This article was either written by a rookie or someone with an agenda. The point this knuckehead is trying to make is PAC monies, they need to compare the PAC monies.

[Karmadillo]

8. More on Pam Martens

http://multinationalmonitor.org/mm2002/02april/april02interviewmartens.html

Pam Martens has worked on Wall Street for the past 16 years. She is the recipient of the Woman of Courage Award from the National Organization for Women and the Susan B. Anthony Award from its New York City Chapter. Her suit, Martens v. Smith Barney, challenging mandatory arbitration for employee grievances, including civil rights-related claims, is in its seventh year in U.S. federal courts.

Multinational Monitor: What was your experience working as an investment broker?
Pamela Martens: In 1984, I started working as a stockbroker trainee at the Garden City, New York branch of Shearson, which became Smith Barney in December of that year . Over the next decade, I experienced a variety of sexual harassment. The branch manager pull a gun on me shortly after I started. He constantly used foul and degrading language, especially toward women. In the sales meetings, for instance, he called the clerical workers “a pack of humps” and told the brokers that if they had to call their wives so many times, maybe they should “go home and lay between their legs.” He also used anti-Semitic language such as, “you guys who nailed Jesus to the cross.” He also used other language too vile to repeat.

Women were always verbally abused in myriad ways. I learned to grow my business by simply coming in in the morning, going to my private office and shutting the door and leaving promptly at 5 o’clock in the evening.

This was at a Fortune 100 company. The branch manager was trying to create an atmosphere of bravado for the male brokers. He also turned a storage room in the basement into what he called the “boom boom room,” a name that was put on the company phone number list.

The first time I went down to the “boom boom room,” there was a white toilet bowl hanging from the ceiling, and a bicycle hanging from the ceiling. The branch manager had taken a large garbage can, put a black plastic liner in it, and filled it with bloody mary mix. He was doling out drinks to the workers with a soup ladle. As I walked in one time, he twisted my arm and kissed me on the lips. I exited the room and never came back.

more...

[yourguide]

9. what does this have to do...

with what I just wrote? she worked on wall street, she doesnt know how the FEC totals funds. thus rookie.

[Karmadillo]

10. You were calling Martens a "knuckehead" (whatever that might be). I was trying to point out

her background so people could better judge her credibility to be addressing this topic.

[yourguide]

11. Her credibility means nothing

on this particular matter if she doesnt understand how the FEC tallies donations.

[mopinko]

12. ding ding ding- individual contributions.

NOT CORPORATE. NOT PAC. INDIVIDUAL.
guess what. even if you work for goldman sachs, you are allowed to participate in the electoral process.
remind me not to invest money with someone who would even sign off on such a shallow examination of the situation. (aka, a hit piece.)

[yourguide]

13. I know...

such a dumb article.

[Rosemary2205]

32. Oh come on. The OP is filled with truthiness!

factiness too. :)

[jackson_dem]

37. It isn't the janitors at Goldman Sachs writing him $1,100 and $2,300 checks...

Are they interested in good government or do they expect Obama to be favorable to Goldman Sach's interests?

[bunnies]

3. deleted: dupe

[bunnies]

4. And Hillarys...

DLA Piper $471,750
Goldman Sachs $413,361
Morgan Stanley $362,700
Citigroup Inc $350,895
Lehman Brothers $241,870
JP Morgan Chase & Co $214,880
EMILY's List $213,266
National Amusements Inc $210,010
Kirkland & Ellis $179,676
Greenberg Traurig Llp $177,800
Skadden, Arps et al $167,796
Merrill Lynch $165,042
Cablevision Systems $145,313
Time Warner $144,977
Microsoft Corp $143,459
Bear Stearns $141,835
Latham & Watkins $138,598
Patton Boggs $137,200
Ernst & Young $126,865
PricewaterhouseCoopers $121,939

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.asp?id=N00000019&cycle=2008

Anything else you need cleared up for you?

[Karmadillo]

5. We know Hillary is getting money from these groups. It's important to know Obama, despite his

rhetoric, is getting money from them, too. The idea of Obama brining a new way of politics where we will all unite with (but simultaneously against) the forces of oppression and dance together to a Wonderful New Day is somewhat fatuous.

[yourguide]

7. Look at the PAC money

Those are the corporate contributions and that is what you should be trying to base your point on.

[bunnies]

14. WHEN will Hillary supporters realize that these attacks dont work?

You want to talk about how bad these firms are:

"These latest frauds have left thousands of children in some of our largest minority communities coming home from school to see eviction notices and foreclosure signs nailed to their front doors. Those scars will last a lifetime."

Then you want to point fingers at Obama. See how evil he is?

But what you're really doing is pointing out that Hillary has taken more money from these terrible people than he has. In other words, shes even MORE supportive of scarring all those poor little children than he is. Its hard to believe that such a flawed logic continues to be repeated.

Glass house. Throwing stones. That should be Clinton's new slogan.

[rodeodance]

25. His teflon coating will only last so long. you know that of course.

[Karmadillo]

35. If only we keep clapping and clapping, his teflon coating will be forever renewed!!!

nt

[donsu]

6. kicking for the truth

why would filthy rich white men back Obama?

its not because they love him.

has obama been hoodwinked?

[aasleka]

15. because he is the best person for the job?

[yourguide]

16. This story includes individual contributions...

thus making this article invalid. sorry.

[Tennessee Gal]

18. More from the article:

The Center for Responsive Politics’ website allows one to pull up the filings made by lobbyists registering under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 with the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and secretary of the U.S. Senate. These top five contributors to the Obama campaign have filed as registered lobbyists: Sidley Austin LLP; Skadden, Arps, et al; Jenner & Block; Kirkland & Ellis; Wilmerhale, aka Wilmer Cutler Pickering.

Is it possible that Senator Obama does not know that corporate law firms are also frequently registered lobbyists? Or is he making a distinction that because these funds are coming from the employ­ees of these firms, he’s not really taking money directly from registered lobby­ists? That thesis seems disingenuous when many of these individual donors own these law firms as equity partners or shareholders and share in the profits gen­erated from lobbying.

~snip~

On February 10, 2005, Senator Obama voted in favor of the passage of the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005. Senators Biden, Boxer, Byrd, Clinton, Corzine, Durbin, Feingold, Kerry, Leahy, Reid and 16 other Democrats voted against it. It passed the Senate 72-26 and was signed into law on February 18, 2005.

~snip~

This legislation, which dramatically im­paired labor rights, consumer rights and civil rights, involved five years of pres­sure from 100 corporations, 475 lobby­ists, tens of millions of corporate dollars buying influence in our government, and the active participation of the Wall Street firms now funding the Obama campaign. “The Civil Justice Reform Group, a busi­ness alliance comprising general counsels from Fortune 100 firms, was instrumen­tal in drafting the class-action bill”, says Public Citizen.

[yourguide]

21. again...

individual contributions are included in this article and are moot to the OPs post. also, indidvidual contributions have a low cap relative to PAC contributions etc.

lord, you guys are grasping at straws - good luck next tuesday, you're gonna need it.

[Tennessee Gal]

24. You are sticking your head in the sand.

[yourguide]

28. Honey...

you are sticking your head in the sand if you havent done your homework to figure out that Hillary has taken over $1,000,000 in PAC contributions, while Barack has taken $15,000.

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/summary.asp?id=N00000019&cycle=2008

Do your homework after you've pulled your own head out of the sand.

[Adelante]

17. 90% of Obama's donors are not maxed out

Almost one million small donors to Obama's campaign.

90% of Clinton's donors ARE maxed out.

Who is beholden to big money?

[Lisa0825]

19. BINGO!

:bounce:

[Tennessee Gal]

20. Got a link for that?

[jackson_dem]

38. Apparently not. Those numbers are probably from the same source as the "senate record" e-mail

[Orsino]

23. They're both beholden to Big Money.

I'm just praying that Obama is less so.

[OzarkDem]

22. Bought and owned by the GOP and big business

that's why I don't support him.

That's why he has a terrible health care plan.

That's why he's so fuzzy about getting troops out of Iraq.

Obama the shapeshifter will morph into Obama the Wall Street Sock Puppet if he wins.

[yourguide]

27. considering your candidate took over $1,000,000

in Pac contributions when Barack has taken $15,000, I think it's obvious which of the two candidates are beholden to the GOP and big business.

Do you even know the difference between individual, corporate, and pac contributions?

[Eric J in MN]

26. So Obama shouldn't take any money from employees of investment banks,

...and shouldn't take any money from employees of law firms involved in lobbying?

Any other standards he should have which neither Hillary Clinton nor John McCain have?

[ProSense]

29. Bogus spin, debunked by the same source linked to in the piece

From the page linked to:

HOW TO READ THIS CHART: This chart lists the top donors to this candidate in the 2008 election cycle. The organizations themselves did not donate, rather the money came from the organization's PAC, its individual members or employees or owners, and those individuals' immediate families. Organization totals include subsidiaries and affiliates.

link

Obama's money comes from individuals who work at those companies (same source):

Individual contributions $101,429,472 99%

PAC contributions $25 0%

[rodeodance]

30. Thanks for the XEROX-ability of the post--I will pass around

[Rosemary2205]

31. Even WORSE - I know for a FACT Obama has taken money from WALMART

My neice is a cashier there and sent him 10 bucks. Her husband sent Obama another 10 bucks. They have the cancelled checks to prove it too. Clearly Obama is going to get into the WH and be a shill for Walmart.

:eyes:

[ContinentalOp]

34. "Wall Street Heavyweights Acknowledge that Progressive Policies are Good for the American Economy"

How's that for a headline? Why the hell wouldn't the people who work on Wall Street support the most progressive candidate? They're not idiots. I'm sure they look at the actual numbers rather than being blinded by the BS claims that Republican supply-side policies are good for American business. Anyone with an ounce of economic sense knows by now that Democratic presidents are better for the economy.