Government Bailout: Cash Cow for Congressional Liberal Democrats

“[New York Senator Chuck Schumer] is serving the parochial interest of a very small group of financial people, bankers, investment bankers, fund managers, private equity firms, rather than serving the general public. It has hurt the American investor first and the average American taxpayer.”

-- John C. Bogle, the founder and former chairman of the Vanguard Group.

“If you get Chuck Schumer on your side, you are O.K."

-- Lee A. Pickard, a corporate lawyer whose business clients have lined Shumer's and other Senate Democrats' campaign pockets in order to beat back regulatory initiatives


December 14, 2008

A Chamption of Wall St. Reaps the Benefits
By Eric Lipton and Raymond Hernandez

“We are not going to rest until we change the rules, change the laws and make sure New York remains No. 1 for decades on into the future.”

— Senator Charles E. Schumer, referring to financial regulations, Jan. 22, 2007

WASHINGTON — As the financial crisis jolted the nation in September, Senator Charles E. Schumer was consumed. He traded telephone calls with bankers, then became one of the first officials to promote a Wall Street bailout. He spent hours in closed-door briefings and a weekend helping Congressional leaders nail down details of the $700 billion rescue package.

The next day, Mr. Schumer appeared at a breakfast fund-raiser in Midtown Manhattan for Senate Democrats. Addressing Henry R. Kravis, the buyout billionaire, and about 20 other finance industry executives, he warned that a bailout would be a hard sell on Capitol Hill. Then he offered some reassurance: The businessmen could count on the Democrats to help steer the nation through the financial turmoil.

“We are not going to be a bunch of crazy, anti-business liberals,” one executive said, summarizing Mr. Schumer’s remarks. “We are going to be effective, moderate advocates for sound economic policies, good responsible stewards you can trust.”

The message clearly resonated. The next week, executives at firms represented at the breakfast sent in more than $135,000 in campaign donations.

Senator Schumer plays an unrivaled role in Washington as beneficiary, advocate and overseer of an industry that is his hometown’s most important business.

An exceptional fund raiser — a “jackhammer,” someone who knows him says, for whom “ ‘no’ is the first step to ‘yes,’ ” — Mr. Schumer led the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the last four years, raising a record $240 million while increasing donations from Wall Street by 50 percent. That money helped the Democrats gain power in Congress, elevated Mr. Schumer’s standing in his party and increased the industry’s clout in the capital.

And, if you are not disgusted yet, here's more ...

Mr. Schumer became a magnet for campaign donations from wealthy industry executives, including Jamie Dimon, now the chief executive of JP Morgan Chase; John J. Mack, the chief executive at Morgan Stanley; and Charles O. Prince III, the former chief executive of Citigroup. And he was not at all reluctant to ask them for more.

Donors describe the Schumer pitch as unusually aggressive: He calls repeatedly to suggest breakfast or dinner, coffee or cocktails. He enlists intermediaries to invite prospects to events and recruits several senators to tag along. And he presses for the maximum contribution — “I need you to max out,” he is known to say — then follows up by asking that a donor’s spouse and four or five friends write checks, too.

“He was probably the kid that sold the most candy in grade school,” said Julie Domenick, a Democratic lobbyist who has given to the senatorial campaign committee. “He is not shy.”

Mr. Schumer, in the interview, acknowledged his full-speed-ahead approach. “Any job I do, I work hard at and I try to succeed at,” he said.

As a result, he has collected over his career more in campaign contributions from the securities and investment industry than any of his peers in Congress, with the exception of Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic nominee for president in 2004, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which analyzed federal data. (By 2005, Mr. Schumer had so much cash in reserve that he shut down his fund-raising efforts.)

Liberals have found a way to market themselves as pro-business while reaping millions of dollars in campaign contributions from business interests. Shame on businesspeople who grease the palms of disgusting politicians like Chuckie Schumer in order to secure taxpayer money to prop up their failing enterprises. Read the entire piece to find out how Schumer has worked to actually deregulate the financial industry.

This bailout scheme turned out to be nothing less than a shakedown operation on the American taxpayer courtesy of the Democratic Party. Schumer, Barack "The Fraud" Obama, Chris "Sweetheart Bank of America/Countrywide Mortgage Deal" Dodd and Barney "I Had No Idea My Lover Was Running a Male Prostitution Ring Out of Basement of My Town Home" Frank of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mack infamy, along with every other Congressional Democrat who has opposed regulation of businesses that contribute to their campaigns, are principally responsible for the economic mess in which we are - not "the invisible hand of the marketplace" as intellectually dishonest liberals claim.