While Sanders Scores Small Donors, Clinton/Bush Oligarchy Bought by Wall Street

[99th_Monkey]

While Sanders Scores Small Donors, Clinton and Bush Buoyed by Wall Street
In terms of support from financiers, 'no other candidates came close to Clinton and Bush'
by Deirdre Fulton, staff writer * Friday, October 16, 2015 * Common Dreams

While the 2016 U.S. presidential election fundraising numbers released Thursday by the Bernie Sanders campaign illustrate the power of a Main Street donor base, filings from Republican Jeb Bush and Democrat Hillary Clinton show their campaigns continue to be the darlings of Wall Street.

"Wall Street remains a crucial money base for both candidates even as they try to avoid appearing too cozy with the institutions that many voters blame for crashing the economy."
—Politico

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports indicate that Bush and Clinton—both of whom are facing challenges from insurgent candidates—"continued to win with bankers, even as their fundraising slowed down last quarter," Politico reported Friday:

Bush collected more than $922,000 from people who said they work in finance, about even with his take from the industry in the previous quarter, and amounting to 7 percent of his total haul. Clinton trailed with some $682,000 from self-identified bankers and investors, well below the $2 million she drew from the financial industry in the second quarter, but tracking an overall decline in her take.

Wall Street remains a crucial money base for both candidates even as they try to avoid appearing too cozy with the institutions that many voters blame for crashing the economy. Marco Rubio is also making a play for finance dollars, but last quarter netted only $201,754. Ted Cruz got $255,676 from bankers and investors.

Meanwhile, Reuters zeroed in on big bank financiers, noting that Bush raked in $107,000 from employees of firms like Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America. Clinton took in nearly $84,000 from employees of the same banks.




The Wall Street Journal added: "Of the top 10 employers listed by Mr. Bush’s donors, half are financial firms: Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Neuberger Berman and Barclays, where Mr. Bush previously worked as a consultant making about $2 million a year."

"No other candidates came close to Clinton and Bush," according to Reuters.

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/10/16/while-sanders-scores-small-donors-clinton-and-bush-buoyed-wall-street