The common narrative, echoed by Mitt Romney supporters and others who hate dogs, is that Wall Street types are dropping the President like Randolph and Mortimer Duke tried to drop Billy Ray Valentine in Trading Places. It’s like all of Wall Street said, “A Negro running our country, don’t be ridiculous.”
That’s the movie the GOP would like to write.
But, as happens so often, Republican fantasies bear little relationship to reality. A new report from Bloomberg shows that Obama is doing just fine when it comes to support from employees working at Wall Street’s best banks. It’s probably because female contraception is a lot cheaper than paying child support.
Obama isn’t just raising money from employees at banks. Quite a few lawyers are also in the tank for Obama. Employees at one Biglaw firm are leading the charge, and given the firm, we imagine that the money is pouring in from all parts of America, parts of Europe, and perhaps even the firm’s exploratory office in the Marianas Trench….
Bloomberg reports that Obama’s Super PAC is doing quite well with large money donations:
Jim Messina, Obama’s campaign manager, said on Feb. 6 that White House and Cabinet officials would begin helping the super- PAC raise money to take on Republican groups which are amassing millions to oppose him.
Employees of the law and lobbying firm DLA Piper (1191L) gave $41,728, second only to Microsoft, bringing their total to more than $200,000. DLA Piper last year was paid $8.2 million for lobbying services by such clients as Comcast Corp. and Raytheon Co. (RTN)
If you need more evidence that there’s too much money in politics, consider how much more influence DLA Piper has in choosing the next president than you do.
Of course, Mitt Romney is doing pretty well among big money donors, too:
Eight of the 10 biggest donors to Romney through Jan. 31 worked for banks and investment funds. In February, there were four: Bank of America Corp. of Charlotte, North Carolina; New York-based Morgan Stanley (MS); JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs. Romney took in $13,500 from Goldman employees last month, less than Obama did.
Romney’s two largest sources of contributions in February were employees of insurance companies, Hartford, Connecticut- based Aetna Inc., (AET) which gave $43,000, and Liberty Mutual Holding Co. of Boston, which donated $37,250.
No matter who wins, Goldman will win. You can best believe that.
Really, when you look at any list for the top donors giving to major party candidates, you’ll accept an inescapable truth about our system: we don’t have two parties, we have one party with a wing that slightly favors white males, and a wing that slightly favors everybody else. We’re fighting in a sand pit, oblivious to the rest of the beach.
JPMorgan Employees Join Goldman Sachs Among Top Obama Donors [Bloomberg]
