Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) scares Wall Street to death. Since Warren has called for breaking up the big banks, Wall Street banksters have threatened to cease donating to Democratic senators, reported Reuters.
Because Warren and Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) so aggressively attack the banks, representatives of Citigroup, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America have discussed this plan. In this desperate move, Wall Street is trying to bend the party to its will by cutting donations to Democratic senators.
Each of the four banks threatened to cut $15,000 in total contributions to Democratic candidates, nothing truly substantial – but a shot over the bow.
Reuters noted that this idea “has been raised in one-on-one conversations between [the bank’s] representatives.” There was no official agreement, and bank representatives said each of their respective institutions will decide its actions independently.
Some sources have said that Citigroup has already decided to move on the decision, cutting donations from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Citigroup wants to control the power that Senate Democrats give to Warren.
When asked about the money freeze, Citigroup spokesperson Molly Meiners resorted to vague business jargon, saying that the bank “contributes to candidates and parties across the political spectrum that share our desire for pro-business policies that promote economic growth.”
The banks’ main goal is to “soften” Warren’s tone against Wall Street, which is puzzling. Wall Street banks can viciously defraud the government and target the American People, but when a courageous, populist senator calls the banks on their malfeasance, they are suddenly the victims.
Warren is a favorite among true liberals because of her aggressive, no-nonsense approach to addressing Wall Street and corporate misbehavior. She calls out banks, by name, on their crooked practices. She angered the banks earlier this year by blocking Antonio Weiss’s nomination to the Treasury. Weiss is cozy with Wall Street and would likely have been soft on big banks.
The Wall Street banks are doing this because they are afraid. They know how powerful Warren is, and they can’t handle the pressure. If Wall Street thought Warren wasn’t a threat, they wouldn’t have given her a second thought. However, she makes the Wall Street thugs tremble, and they have resorted to desperate measures.
Considering most Democrats are weak and would buckle at this situation, Warren is just the person to meet this challenge. She’s tough enough to take on the banks, and will not bend to their will. The banks’ threats will likely just impassion Warren even more.