Political commentators have
referred to Capt. Renault’s uproarious line for years when calling out
hypocritical politicians. But few political narratives ever fit that scene as
tightly as President Barack Obama’s bipolar approach to Wall Street.
To fully understand the
extent of Obama’s double-speak, it helps to let the “Casablanca
Capt. Renault quietly thanks
the croupier and then quickly returns to the role of reformer by shouting,
“Everybody out at once!”
Like that old movie
character, Obama seems capable of effortlessly floating between demonizing Wall
Street gambling one day and profiting from it the next.
The audacity is breathtaking.
The president has raised
more money from Wall Street through the Democratic National Committee and his
campaign account than any politician in American history. This year alone, he
has raked in more cash from bank employees, hedge fund managers and financial
services companies than all Republican candidates combined.
Even poor Mitt Romney was
outraised by the Obama money machine at his former employer, Bain Capital, by a
margin of 2 to 1.
It is a campaign operation
whose wheels are greased by Wall Street bundlers like MF Global former chief,
Jon Corzine. These financiers are so good at what they do that the Center for
Responsive Politics reports that Obama’s Wall Street fundraising will “far
surpass 2008 in terms of raw dollars and as a percentage of what he raises
overall.”
That’s saying a lot
considering that Obama’s “Hope and Change” campaign in 2008 raised more money
from the financial community than any other politician in American history.
According to Reuters, Wall
Street accounted for 20 percent of the president’s campaign funds because of a
massive cash haul from Goldman Sachs, AIG, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase,
Bank of America and Citigroup.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m
a free market guy when it comes to political contributions. Anyone who wants to
raise $1 billion from hedge fund managers should be free to do it, so long as
there is transparency.
But it’s laughable that the
same man who feasts with Wall Street fat cats at $38,000-a-plate fundraisers
turns around and claims the next day that attacking those same money men will
be the basis of his reelection campaign.
Obama’s fake outrage is all
the more preposterous considering that the White House’s policies have led to
record profits on Wall Street during the first two years of the Obama
administration. In fact, Wall Street amassed more profits in the first two
years of the Obama presidency than all eight of George W. Bush’s combined.
A Nov. 6 Washington Post
article describes how Obama’s economic policies gave the finance community
low-cost money, high-yield investments and unprecedented profits.
Still, Obama tells us he is
shocked, shocked by the gambling that continues to dominate Wall Street.
If he were Capt. Renault,
Obama might consider taking one last payout before ending his marriage with
Wall Street. But the president is far more nimble that that. Expect him instead
to continue taking millions in cash from the very people he will keep calling
“fat cats.”
The routine may be unseemly,
but the relationship between Obama and Wall Street is too profitable for both
sides to end. And as we learned in “Casablanca ,”
as Bogart and Renault fade into Morocco
A guest columnist for
POLITICO, Joe Scarborough hosts “Morning Joe” on MSNBC and represented Florida
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