On Monday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA (F, 16%) spoke at the Democratic National Convention. While she intended to throw her political tomahawk at Republicans, she actually hit Obama.
In her remarks, Warren argued, “Washington works great for those at the top,” and that the favoritism for the elite has been facilitated only by Republicans.
Well, I have news for her. Those at the top have benefited more from the Obama administration than from any other president in history.
As a candidate, Obama promised to shut the White House doors to lobbyists – and curtail the revolving door mentality of administration officials rotating among government positions and high paying lobbying jobs.
Yet, it’s never been worse. In 2015 alone, there were 70 K street lobbyists who accepted powerful jobs in the White House. In 2014, Politico reported that Obama had decided to reverse part of a lobbyist ban put in place by President George W. Bush. Furthermore, they reported, “The Obama administration will release a new rule this week, which is expected to allow registered lobbyists to participate in policymaking deliberations in an advisory role.”
So, big corporations are going to write our laws? You’ve got to be kidding me!
Perhaps the lobbyist’s new role in drafting legislation can explain the White House visitor log, which certainly makes plenty of time for “those at the top.”
But it’s not just the cronyism that has Elizabeth Warren upset. She also went on a tirade against big banks, tax and regulatory loopholes, and special interests.
When giant companies wanted more tax loopholes, Washington got it done.
When huge energy companies wanted to tear up our environment, Washington got it done.
When enormous Wall Street banks wanted new regulatory loopholes, Washington got it done.
They sure did, Senator Warren, and it was all happened under the man who promised “change,” President Barack Obama.
Take, for example, a bill that Congress passed in December 2015, which provided $630 billion in tax breaks to special interests and lobbyists. It included specific tax cuts to industries like Puerto Rican Rum manufacturers, NASCAR, and the Hollywood film industry.
In my December analysis of the crony tax breaks, I wrote:
[H]ow lucrative are these tax breaks for K street? Americans for Tax Fairness in 2014 analyzed this very question. They found that corporate American hired a battalion of 1,359 lobbyists to infiltrate Capitol Hill [and the White House] at a cost of $2.9 billion.
Did President Obama reject the tax package as a “handout to lobbyists” or veto the legislation as “only benefiting the elites”? Absolutely not.
Regarding the “huge energy companies” that Senator Warren rails against, she should note that no Administration is more to blame for cronyism in the energy world than that of President Obama. This was the president that awarded a big donor a $535 million loan to fund a solar company named Solynda. Touted as an opportunity to provide clean energy and support 4,000 new jobs, this energy company went bankrupt on the backs of taxpayers.
At other times, it appears the Obama Administration’s energy policy is synonymous with political donations. In that sense, I suppose Obama really is trying to go “green.” In July 2012, Breitbart highlighted just a few of Obama’s cronies that received taxpayer funded loans, writing,
[Steve] Westley, who bundled between $700,000 and $1 million for Obama’s two campaigns and sits on an Energy Department advisory board, also unabashedly mixes politics and business. His venture firm, the Westley Group, saw federal green energy dollars steered to at least four companies in his portfolio.
I wonder if Senator Warren is referring to these shenanigans when she directs her angst towards Washington’s support of the big guy?
Finally, the Obama Administration is the king of Wall Street cronyism. Take Obama’s former National Economic Director, Larry Summers. Since his departure, he has been routinely paid millions as a keynote speaker by JP Morgan, and Hedge Bermuda Global Hedge Fund, among others.
David Markowitz, a former top assistant at the Securities and Exchange Commission under Obama, has also cleaned up in his new job as a general counsel at Goldman Sachs. Obama’s former Budget Director, has likewise decamped for a Vice Chairmanship at Citibank? The list goes on.
Contrary to popular myth, Obama never took on Wall Street. He bailed them out. Obama took the banks deemed “too big to fail,” saved them, and made them even larger. Consider this analysis from MIT economist, Simon Johnson in his book, 13 Bankers:
In the end, the major banks got business as usual. The shake out of 2008 left the big banks even bigger. Bank of American absorbed Countrywide and Merrill Lynch – and watched its assets grow from $1.7 trillion at the end of 2007 to $2.3 trillion in September 2009. JPMorgan grew from $1.6 trillion to $2 trillion.” And “…By the end of 2009, five banks together had over 95 percent of the market for derivative contracts trade by U.S. banks.
In fact, if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency, the Wall Street cronyism is likely to be more pronounced than even under Obama. After all, Clinton is already bought and paid for. Since 2001, Bill and Hillary Clinton have made $153 million by delivering speeches to big corporations. That amount includes $7.7 million to big Wall Street banks.
Clinton has even proven she’s willing to promote legislation that supports the titans of Wall Street, for the right price. As the Washington Times reported in 2015, “Mrs. Clinton introduced a bill when she was New York’s junior Senator that allowed a donor to the Clinton Foundation to use tax-exempt bonds to build a shopping center in Syracuse, New York…”
In fact, if there is one candidate that is most friendly to the big guys on Wall Street, it is Clinton. The Wall Street Journal reported in May that half of all Hillary’s campaign contributions had come from Wall Street. On the other hand, Trump only garnered 1 percent of his from the same crowd.
Elizabeth Warren is absolutely correct; we can’t have another eight years of politicians who are only interested in enriching their friends and donors – or those simply looking out for the big guy. That is what we received under Obama; that is certainly what we’ll receive in Hillary. Warren didn’t realize it, but in calling for an end to favors for big business, she was actually urging voters to reject Obama, and thus reject Hillary. I agree. (For more from the author of “Elizabeth Warren Speech at DNC Is Actually a Stunning Indictment of Obama and Hillary” please click HERE)
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