Really? Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair not good enough for you? How about Z Magazine then? http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/16601 p --- In NewPacifica@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Melinda Iley-Dohn <Iley_dohn@...> wrote: > > Great. I did a background on CounterPunch. They don't look that objective. Check out a few others. > http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/02/02/2008-02- 02_barack_obamas_moneymaker_site.html > > http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/allsummary.asp? CID=N00009638 > > http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/02/28/fundraising/ > Pamela Somers <psomers1@...> wrote: > Obama's Money Cartel > How he's fronted for the most vicious firms on Wall Street > February 23, 2008 By Pam Martens > Source: CounterPunch > > Wall Street, known variously as a barren wasteland for diver­sity or > the last plantation in America, has defied courts and the Equal > Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for decades in its failure > to hire blacks as stockbrokers. Now it's marshal­ling its money > machine to elect a black man to the highest office in the land. Why > isn't the press curious about this? > > Walk into any of the largest Wall Street brokerage firms today and > you'll see a self-portrait of upper management rac­ism and sexism: > women sitting at secre­tarial desks outside fancy offices occupied by > predominantly white males. According to the EEOC as well as the > recent racial discrimination class actions filed against UBS and > Merrill Lynch, blacks make up between 1 per cent to 3.5 per cent of > stockbrokers - and this after 30 years of litigation, settlements and > empty prom­ises to do better by the largest Wall Street firms. > > The first clue to an entrenched white male bastion seeking a black > male occupant in the oval office (having placed only five blacks in > the U.S. Senate in the last two centuries) appeared this month on a > chart at the Center for Responsive Politics website. It was a list of > the 20 top con­tributors to the Barack Obama campaign, and it looked > like one of those compre­hension tests where you match up things that > go together and eliminate those that don't. Of the 20 top > contributors, I elimi­nated six that didn't compute. I was now looking > at a sight only slightly less fright­ening to democracy than a Diebold > vot­ing machine. It was a Wall Street cartel of financial firms, their > registered lobbyists, ! and go-to law firms that have a death grip on > our federal government. > > Why is the "yes, we can" candidate in bed with this cartel? How can > we, the people, make change if Obama's money backers block our > ability to be heard? > > Seven of the Obama campaign's top 14 donors consist of officers and > em­ployees of the same Wall Street firms charged time and again with > looting the public and newly implicated in originat­ing and/or > bundling fraudulently made mortgages. These latest frauds have left > thousands of children in some of our largest minority communities > coming home from school to see eviction notices and foreclosure signs > nailed to their front doors. Those scars will last a lifetime. > > These seven Wall Street firms are (in order of money given): Goldman > Sachs, UBS AG, Lehman Brothers, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan > Stanley and Credit Suisse. There is also a large hedge fund, Citadel > Investment Group, which is a major source of fee income to Wall > Street. There are five large corporate law firms that are also > registered lobbyists; and one is a corporate law firm that is no > longer a registered lobbyist but does legal work for Wall Street. The > cumula­tive total of these 14 contributors through February 1, 2008, > was $2,872,128, and we're still in the primary season. > > But hasn't Senator Obama repeatedly told us in ads and speeches and > debates that he wasn't taking money from reg­istered lobbyists? Hasn't > the press given him a free pass on this statement? > > Barack Obama, speaking in Greenville, South Carolina, on January 22, > 2008: > > "Washington lobbyists haven't funded my campaign, they won't run my > White House, and they will not drown out the voices of working > Americans when I am president". > > Barack Obama, in an email to support­ers on June 25, 2007, as reported > by the Boston Globe: > > "Candidates typically spend a week like this ? right before the > critical June 30th financial reporting deadline ? on the phone, day > and night, begging Washington lobbyists and special interest PACs to > write huge checks. Not me. Our campaign has rejected the money-for- in­ > fluence game and refused to accept funds from registered federal > lobbyists and po­litical action committees". > > The Center for Responsive Politics' website allows one to pull up the > filings made by lobbyists registering under the Lobbying Disclosure > Act of 1995 with the clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and > secretary of the U.S. Senate. These top five contributors to the > Obama campaign have filed as registered lobbyists: Sidley Austin LLP; > Skadden, Arps, et al; Jenner & Block; Kirkland & Ellis; Wilmerhale, > aka Wilmer Cutler Pickering. > > Is it possible that Senator Obama does not know that corporate law > firms are also frequently registered lobbyists? Or is he making a > distinction that because these funds are coming from the employ­ees of > these firms, he's not really taking money directly from registered > lobby­ists? That thesis seems disingenuous when many of these > individual donors own these law firms as equity partners or > shareholders and share in the profits gen­erated from lobbying. > > Far from keeping his distance from lobbyists, Senator Obama and his > cam­paign seems to be brainstorming with them. > > The political publication, The Hill, re­ported on December 20, 2007, > that three salaried aides on the Obama campaign were registered > lobbyists for dozens of corporations. (The Obama campaign said they > had stopped lobbying since joining the campaign.) Bob Bauer, counsel > to the Obama campaign, is an attorney with Perkins Coie. That law > firm is also a reg­istered lobbyist. > > What might account for this persistent (but non-reality based) theme > of distanc­ing the Obama campaign from lobbyists? Odds are it traces > back to one of the largest corporate lobbyist spending sprees in the > history of Washington whose details would cast an unwholesome pall on > the Obama campaign, unless our cognitive abilities are regularly > bombarded with abstract vacuities of hope and change and sentimental > homages to Dr. King and President Kennedy . > > On February 10, 2005, Senator Obama voted in favor of the passage of > the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005. Senators Biden, Boxer, Byrd, > Clinton, Corzine, Durbin, Feingold, Kerry, Leahy, Reid and 16 other > Democrats voted against it. It passed the Senate 72-26 and was signed > into law on February 18, 2005. > > Here is an excerpt of remarks Senator Obama made on the Senate floor > on February 14, 2005, concerning the pas­sage of this legislation: > > "Every American deserves their day in court. This bill, while not > perfect, gives people that day while still providing the reasonable > reforms necessary to safe­guard against the most blatant abuses of the > system. I also hope that the federal judiciary takes seriously their > expanded role in class action litigation, and upholds their > responsibility to fairly certify class actions so that they may > protect our civil and consumer rights..". > > Three days before Senator Obama ex­pressed that fateful yea vote, 14 > state attorneys general, including Lisa Madigan of Senator Obama's > home state of Illinois, filed a letter with the Senate and House, > pleading to stop the passage of this cor­porate giveaway. The AGs > wrote: "State attorneys general frequently investigate and bring > actions against defendants who have caused harm to our citizens... In > some instances, such actions have been brought with the attorney > general acting as the class representative for the con­sumers of the > state. We are concerned that certain provisions of S.5 might be > misinterpreted to impede the ability of the attorneys general to > bring such ac­tions..." > > The Senate also received a desper­ate plea from more than 40 civil > rights and labor organizations, including the NAACP, Lawyers > Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Human Rights Campaign, American > Civil Liberties Union, Center for Justice and Democracy, Legal > Momentum (formerly NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund), and > Alliance for Justice. They wrote as fol­lows: > > "Under the [Class Action Fairness Act of 2005], citizens are denied > the right to use their own state courts to bring class actions > against corporations that violate these state wage and hour and state > civil rights laws, even where that corporation has hundreds of > employees in that state. Moving these state law cases into federal > court will delay and likely deny justice for working men and women > and victims of discrimination. The federal courts are al­ready > overburdened. Additionally, federal courts are less likely to certify > classes or provide relief for violations of state law". > > This legislation, which dramatically im­paired labor rights, consumer > rights and civil rights, involved five years of pres­sure from 100 > corporations, 475 lobby­ists, tens of millions of corporate dollars > buying influence in our government, and the active participation of > the Wall Street firms now funding the Obama campaign. "The Civil > Justice Reform Group, a busi­ness alliance comprising general counsels > from Fortune 100 firms, was instrumen­tal in drafting the class- action > bill", says Public Citizen. > > One of the hardest-working registered lobbyists to push this > corporate giveaway was the law firm Mayer-Brown, hired by the leading > business lobby group, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. According to the > Center for Responsive Politics, the Chamber of Commerce spent $16 > million in just 2003, lobbying the government on various business > issues, including class action reform. > > According to a 2003 report from Public Citizen, Mayer-Brown's class- > action lobbyists included "Mark Gitenstein, for­mer chief counsel to > the Senate Judiciary Committee and a leading architect of the Senate > strategy in support of class-action legislation; John Schmitz, who > was deputy counsel to President George H.W. Bush; David McIntosh, > former Republican congressman from Indiana; and Jeffrey Lewis, who > was on the staffs of both Sen. John Breaux (D-La) and Rep. Billy > Tauzin (R-La)." > > While not on the Center for Responsive Politics list of the top 20 > contributors to the Obama presidential campaign, Mayer-Brown's > partners and employees are in rarefied company, giving a total of > $92,817 through December 31, 2007, to the Obama campaign. (The firm > is also defending Merrill Lynch in court against charges of racial > discrimination.) > > Senator Obama graduated Harvard Law magna cum laude and was the first > black president of the Harvard Law Review. Given those credentials, > one assumes that he understood the ramifica­tions to the poor and > middle class in this country as he helped to gut one of the few > weapons left to seek justice against giant corporations and their > legions of giant law firms. The class-action vehicle confers upon > each citizen one of the most powerful rights in our society: the > ability to function as a private attorney general and seek redress > for wrongs inflicted on ourselves as well as for those similarly > injured that might not otherwise have a voice. > > Those rights should have been strengthened, not restricted, at this > dangerous time in our nation's history. According to a comprehensive > report from the nonprofit group, United for a Fair Economy, over the > past eight years the total loss of wealth for people of color is > between $164 billion and $213 billion, for subprime loans which is > the greatest loss of wealth for people of color in mod­ern history: > > "According to federal data, people of color are three times more > likely to have subprime loans: high-cost loans account for 55 per > cent of loans to blacks, but only 17 per cent of loans to whites". > > If there had been equitable distribution of subprime loans, losses > for white people would be 44.5 per cent higher and losses for people > of color would be about 24 per cent lower. "This is evidence of > systemic prejudice and institutional racism." > > Before the current crisis, based on improvements in median household > net worth, it would take 594 more years for blacks to achieve parity > with whites. The current crisis is likely to stretch this even > further. > > So, how should we react when we learn that the top contributors to > the Obama campaign are the very Wall Street firms whose shady > mortgage lenders buried the elderly and the poor and minority under > predatory loans? How should we react when we learn that on the big > donor list is Citigroup, whose former employee at CitiFinancial > testified to the Federal Trade Commission that it was standard > practice to target people based on race and educational level, with > the sales force winning bonuses called "Rocopoly Money" (like a sick > board game), after "blitz" nights of soliciting loans by phone? How > should we react when we learn that these very same firms, arm in arm > with their corporate lawyers and registered lobbyists, have weakened > our ability to fight back with the class-action vehicle? > > Should there be any doubt left as to who owns our government? The > very same cast of characters making the Obama hit parade of campaign > loot are the clever creators of the industry solu­tions to the wave of > foreclosures gripping this nation's poor and middle class, effec­ > tively putting the solution in the hands of the robbers. The names of > these pro­grams (that have failed to make a dent in the problem) have > the same vacuous ring: Hope Now; Project Lifeline. > > Senator Obama has become the in­spiration and role model to millions > of children and young people in this coun­try. He has only two paths > now: to be a dream maker or a dream killer. > > > Pam Martens worked on Wall Street for 21 years; she has no securities > position, long or short, in any company mentioned in this article. > She writes on public interest issues from New Hampshire. She can be > reached at pamk741@... > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. >