Dems backing Occupy Wall St. are funded by Wall St.

[FarCenter]

A lot has been made in the last few days of increasing Democratic Party support for Occupy Wall Street. Some within the movement have expressed fears of co-optation. Some on the right have argued that the Dems are blundering by throwing in their lot with a group of putative radicals. And so on.

The irony is that the same elected Democrats singing the praises of Occupy Wall Street are themselves major recipients of money from … Wall Street!

Does this mean that the Democratic embrace should be rejected? Not necessarily. Occupy Wall Street could, of course, open up political space for Democrats to address unemployment, income inequality, criminality by banks, the overwhelming influence of corporate money in politics and so on. But it’s worth keeping in mind that most if not all of these politicians have been cozy with Wall Street for years; so there are grounds for suspicion.

http://politics.salon.com/2011/10/10/dems_backing_occupy_wall_st_are_funded_by_wall_st/

[SugarShack]

1. Repubs denounce it, to divide the people again. 99% are both parties!

[nc4bo]

2. Snakes in wolf's clothing. Beware OWS. nt

[rhett o rick]

3. We must commit to not supporting any candidate that is corporate funded. It will be tough but

we must do it. If the republicons win, we will just have to keep in the streets until they believe us.

[RKP5637]

4. Yep, everyone really needs to start following the money trail! n/t

[slipslidingaway]

5. knr ...

"...Take the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the party organization that collects money for House races around the country. It is now soliciting signatures (along with email addresses for its database) for a petition in support of Occupy Wall Street.

...But the DCCC has sucked up cash from Wall Street as much as any entity in politics. The DCCC received $4.6 million from the securities and investment industry in the 2010 cycle. In the 2008 cycle, the DCCC took in $6.4 million from the securities industry. The only group that gave more was lawyers and law firms. Current DCCC chair Steve Israel, a Dem from Long Island, has been hailed for his skill in wooing the financial industry. Politico reported last month that part of the reason the DCCC is outpacing its Republican counterpart in fundraising is Israel’s “easy access to Wall Street.”

...In June, Obama traveled to New York for a $35,800-per-plate dinner with the Wall Street bankers who are the target of the occupiers’ anger.

Bloomberg reported on the guest list:

Among those who were to dine with Obama at Daniel were Robert Wolf, chairman of UBS Americas; Blair W. Effron, partner and co-founder of Centerview Partners LLP; Marc Lasry, managing partner and founder of Avenue Capital Group; Mark Gallogly, a managing principal of Centerbridge Partners; James Rubin, managing director of BC Partners; and Frank Brosens of Taconic Capital Advisors LP, according to a party official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the list hadn’t been made public..."