President Obama Pulls a Clinton to "bolster his re-election prospects among a wealthy constituency"

[Better Believe It]

Obama Pulls a Clinton
This is a case of corporate blackmail pure and simple.
By Robert Scheer
January 18, 2011

Here we go again. When Bill Clinton suffered an electoral reversal after his first two years in office, he abruptly embraced the corporate money guys who had financed his congressional opposition in an effort to purchase a second term. On Tuesday in his Wall Street Journal Op-Ed piece, Barack Obama veered sharply down that same course, trumpeting his executive order “ ... to remove outdated regulations that stifle job creation and make our economy less competitive. …”

He employed the same “creating a 21st-century regulatory system” rationalization used by Clinton when he signed off on the sweeping deregulation legislation that unleashed the Wall Street greed that ended up being the biggest job-killer since the Great Depression. “Over the (past) seven years, we have tried to modernize the economy,” Clinton enthused as he signed the Financial Services Modernization Act that repealed key New Deal legislation, adding, “And today what we are doing is modernizing the financial services industry, tearing down those antiquated laws and granting banks significant new authority.” Modernizing was the propaganda constant, as in the Commodity Futures Modernization Act that Clinton signed, thus shielding financial derivatives from any government regulation.

When he wrote that he intends to accomplish this revamp “with more input from experts, businesses and ordinary citizens,” did he have in mind his two new key White House advisers who were the most effective advocates for those special interests? Tom Donilon, Obama’s national security adviser, was the Washington lobbyist for the housing behemoth Fannie Mae, which will cost taxpayers $700 billion because of its marketing of toxic derivatives. Obama’s new Chief of Staff William Daley was the lead Washington representative for a similarly afflicted JPMorgan Chase. These are the folks, along with many other Wall Street alums in this administration, who will oversee the latest update of already weakened regulations.

As the WSJ reported:

“On Feb. 7, Mr. Obama will visit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce—a chief opponent to his administration’s regulatory approach—for a discussion on how the White House can work with the group to create jobs. The efforts are designed to give companies more confidence in the president’s stewardship of the economy, and bolster his re-election prospects among a wealthy constituency not traditionally allied with Democrats.”

Read the full article at:

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/obama_pulls_a_clinton_20110118/

[bluestateguy]

1. Obama carried (52%) of voters making over $250,000 a year

People don't like to acknowledge that, but it is true, and dilutes the notion that somehow all rich people are Republican voters.

[ProSense]

2. "in an effort to purchase a second term"

So President Obama isn't planning on running a similar campaign to the one he ran in 2008, mostly funded by small donations?

[Poll_Blind]

4. Doesn't seem that way, does it?

PB

[Hello_Kitty]

10. Most of Obama's 2008 money came from big donors

It's true that he attracted a large number of small donors but the total amount of money coming from them was eclipsed by large donors and bundlers.

[theaocp]

12. The way I heard it,

he garnered MORE small donations than other Presidents, but the vast majority of his cash came from corporations like, oh, say, Goldman-Sachs. Keep an eye on which side the bread is buttered, I guess.

[Poll_Blind]

3. If he had run on deregulation as "Change You Can Believe In", would he be in office today?

So, I guess, there's that.

PB

[eleny]

5. He already did that in'08...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=593577&mesg_id=593586

[somone]

6. The people he owes allegiance to - and serves - are the haves and have-mores

simple as that

[yourout]

7. In other words.....selling out his Democratic base.

[Jackpine Radical]

8. Unfortunately, the Dem base being what it is,

he probly won't get much for us on the sellout.

[dionysus]

9. bless your little heart for trying so hard manny.

[Gold Metal Flake]

11. K&R

[Laelth]

13. Triangulation, also called "selling out the people."

Yep. It's a tried and true Democratic tradition, now. It may also get Obama re-elected.

As I argued here: http://laelth.blogspot.com/2010/12/kissing-butt-and-taking-names-obamas.html

-Laelth

[Name removed]

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