After Successfully Protecting Wall St. Bonuses, Financial Lobbyists Turn Focus To Defeating Obama’s

[ProSense]

After Successfully Protecting Wall St. Bonuses, Financial Lobbyists Turn Focus To Defeating Obama’s Budget

As Roll Call reported this morning, financial services lobbyists “have moved into hyperdrive” in an attempt to soften taxes on bailed-out bonuses. The lobbyists working for the financial industry are organized into a group known as the Financial Services Roundtable.

Last year, the Roundtable lobbied aggressively to prevent “legislation from limiting executive compensation.” Scott Talbott, a senior lobbyist for the Roundtable, told the New York Times, “we are opposed to provisions on executive pay.”

During the debate over the economic recovery package, the Senate passed the Wyden/Snowe amendment which would have severely limited the bonuses paid by bailed out firms. However, the amendment was removed from the legislation at the last minute in conference. The removal was agreed to by staffers working for Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and the Obama administration. On Rachel Maddow’s show earlier this week, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said that financial industry lobbyists were the individuals primarily advocating the change:

What happened, Rachel, was we got it through the United States Senate and then like, with so many issues, all the lobbyists came out in droves and somehow magically, the amendment disappeared. It seems to me now we‘ve got an opportunity to get this job done right but it didn‘t have to happen.

Watch it:

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[GOTV]

1. Why are bailed out companies allowed to lobby the government?

[ProSense]

2. Good question. Lobbying:

Citi's Big Stand Against Socialism

[KakistocracyHater]

3. I notice that the Right & Blue dogs seem to

feel that a certain class of a few families exist in a post-nation/state world....
but it seems China has not agreed, so while they are deconstructing the US, UK, etc China seems busy with strengthening a feeling of nationalism, a peek of this seen during the 2008 Olympics.