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“I’m not about to sit here and indict private equity,” Booker added. “If you look at the totality of Bain Capital’s record, they’ve done a lot to support businesses — to grow businesses. And this to me, I’m very uncomfortable.” – Mayor Cory Booker on “Meet the Press” [HuffPost]
THERE GOES Cory’s cred, or what’s left of it after siding with Gov. Christie on education reform.
The problem for Democrats is that he’s not the first to say something like this. Former Obama administration official Steve Rattner defended Bain on “Morning Joe” months ago.
Fair is fair. … But I think these attacks are unfair. I think Mitt Romney, not only had a very successful career throughout business, but Bain Capital is a terrific, first class firm. Managing money mostly for foundations, for endowments, for pension funds on behalf of exactly the people Rick Perry thinks he’s trying to harm, and they had a great record with 80 or 90 investments, all of which made a lot of money for their investors… and he did it in a perfectly honorably, appropriate way. … – Steve Rattner, on “Morning Joe” (comes at around 3:11 in video above) [TM]
It illustrates there’s not much difference between Democrats and Republicans in many things and one in particularly. When it comes to their penchant to excuse big business and big banks, both bend over backward.
It’s not that business or the banks are evil, because capitalism is run by individuals. It’s the deck is stacked in their favor by Congress and the Executive branch, no matter who’s in charge. The big money machine stands as more important in the eyes of today’s politicians, with very few exceptions. This isn’t a false equivalency between Dems and the GOP, but the truth about our political systems that pretends to be looking out for we the people, but really is all about sucking up to the powers in the financial system so they’ll put them in charge.
Political preservation depends on having big business and big banks on your side.
One difference is that there is at least a small coterie of Democrats, including Sen. Sherrod Brown, plus Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, who do work alone and against the congressional tide on these issues, starting with strengthening Dodd-Frank and crafting a stronger Volker Rule.
Unfortunately, when Republicans get involved their first instinct is to gut or weaken regulations, as well as expand tax advantages for private equity, something Mitt Romney hails as a good thing. This is a fact, so you have to ask yourself why Democrats aren’t making that case on “Meet the Press.” The answer is obvious.
Republicans and most Democrats today think the very wealthy are the “job creators.” It’s what ails this country.
Mitt Romney, who made just over $20 million in investment income in 2010, wasn’t having any of it. During an August 2007 appearance on Kudlow & Company, Romney was asked what he thought of the effort to close the loophole. He wasn’t happy. “I want people to be able to save their money and invest in America’s economy tax-free,” Romney said. “I want to lower taxes. I want to lower marginal rates across the board. I want to lower taxes for corporations,” he told Kudlow.
[...] From 1998 to 2006, private equity and investment firms spent $3 million a year lobbying Congress, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Bain got into the game in 2007, registering with prominent Washington lobbying firms Public Strategies, Inc. and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. To date, Bain has paid some $3 million to these firms to make sure corporate taxes stay low and CEOs remain fat and happy.
… Of course, private equity isn’t the exclusive terrain of one party or the other. As Hacker and Pierson outlined in their book, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has been one of the carried interest loophole’s most ardent defenders. And as Kosman points out, four of the past eight Treasury secretaries have direct ties to the private equity industry. …
No doubt about it, heroics not withstanding, Booker is a corporate centrist right in the same mold as Obama. If you close your eyes and listen to him talk about ed reform you could almost be listening to Gov Christie, Gov Kasich of Ohio or Gov Walker of Wisconsin, not to mention Arne Duncan and Barack Obama. Anyone concerned about the tipping toward privatizing public education has no port with either party in this storm.
Although I am supporting President Obama, this is an area where I have a big bone of contention with him, StrideHyde. I agree with you on this one. And Booker is right in there with those wanting to blame urban teachers for the problems in the schools, most of whom try very hard and work their tails off. He’s right in there with Michelle Rhee and that corporate crowd, most of whom have no or little teaching experience themselves. Not that we can’t always improve and progress, but these people have a different agenda entirely. They want to do away with the teacher unions period. They are succeeding in getting the urban communities to believe that if only the schools had new and different teachers, everything would be great, but that’s not necessarily so.
exactly taylor, “preservation depends on having big business and big banks on your side.”
independent investors predict the next big bank crises is assured. though repubs opposed reform. a TBTF bank crises will be on Obamas shoulders. he was the president
who failed to reduce the size of these institutions.
mf global, jp morgan tick tick tick. .
ps perhaps if romney pulls ahead in swing states we’ll see a perp walk?
One thing about the Republicans, they stick together through thick and thin.
Well . . . except during the primary season. But generally speaking, you attack the leader and it’s like touching a hornet’s nest.
Sadly, one can always find a Democrat to be a traitor to the cause. Ryan found Wyden. Davis/Ritter found Larry Elder. Jimmy Carter thinks Romney is a moderate. I’m positive that during slavery there must have been some slaves fighting to AGAINST abolition.
Cory Booker gave Romney a gift he can use in campaign ads, he found a Democrat agreeing with him. This is our corporate owned parties.
When I started hearing about the Cory Booker story all the way out here on the West Coast, I kinda figured there was some big money behind him. His story strikes me as being about as genuine as a three dollar bill, but how things seem is often a long way from how they are.
How things are is that politicians must pursue power. It’s what they need to do their jobs. As long as that’s true, if there are no consequences to aligning themselves to folks like Bain, Democratic politicians will do that, by and large. And there will be no consequences for Booker or any of the other Democrats who do this, because most progressives will continue to support them no matter what, and they know that. Progressive advocacy groups are largely toothless, when they’re not colluding with Democrats outright. Whether that’s because progressives generally are uninterested in making waves, or they just don’t know enough thanks to relying on those same advocacy groups for information is perhaps a worthy subject for debate, though I think it’s a feedback loop.
When progressives punish this sort of behavior by not supporting or voting for politicians like this, their behavior may change. It certainly won’t until then.
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will.
Corey Booker is a very ambitious politician. In 2014 he can run for re-election for Mayor of Newark, as a Democratic candidate for Senate for the seat held by Frank Lautenberg who will probably retire or as a Democratic candidate up against Chris Christie who is also up for re-election 2014..
If he runs for the Democratic nomination for Governor it is a crowded field and his toughest opponents may be Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), and Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ), both members of the Democratic House Progressive Caucus.
He could make a run at Chris Christie who is up for re-election.
Non Progressive Democratic nominees for Governor or Senate have always been financed by NJ’s largest industry, the pharmaceutical industry and by the Wall Street operators see Sen. Frank Lautenberg, Sen Robert Menendez and former Gov. Corzine.
Coery Booker is already polishing up his credentials as a friend to Wall Street and the pharmaceutical industry in case he decides to run for Governor or the the Senate in 2010.
He went overboard in his praise for the hedge fund operators like Bain Capital and had to immediatly backtrack.
My guess is that he is too ambitious to run for re-election for Mayor, If he does, the next run for Governor can’t happen until 2016. The Senate race not until 2018 where he would have to face Sen. Menendez who will run for re-election