Is the stereotype true? Is Wall Street an unassailable fortress inhabited only by greedy, rich, conservative Republicans? The greedy and rich part might be right but the numbers don’t bear it out the political party assumption. Let’s take a quick look at the most recent presidential campaign between John McCain and Barack Obama. The truth appears to be that the financial industry takes care of Democrats and, as is obviously evidenced by this year’s gargantuan bailout scheme, the Democrats take care of the financial industry.
- During 2008, the Obama camp received $12.6 million from Wall Street “securities and investment” firms. It’s no sneeze in the bucket but McCain only got $7.9 million.
- Who were the top three employers of donors to Obama? Familiar financial names like Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and J.P.Morgan.
- Lehman Brothers employees alone gave Obama $370,000, with only $117,000 going to McCain.
- Since 1998, the financial sector has given $37.6 million to Obama and $32.1 million to McCain. But consider that McCain ran for president twice in that span of time, while Obama only gained national political attention four years ago.
All we can say is, when it comes to Wall Street – advantage Democrats. By this time, half of you have probably clipped yourself in the chin from the violence of your knee jerk reaction against a few simple facts testing your long held beliefs that Wall Street is nothing but an ATM for right wing zealots. The truth is, the stock market is full of schemers, crooks, and fat cats from both sides of the aisle.
Greed has no political affiliation.
The Platinum Team
