Each October the cliff swallows leave California and in March they come back to Capistrano. Similarly, Hillary Clinton spends a few weeks on the road but then has to return to Wall St. bankers, her one true constituency. Hillary did several cameos (including bowling!) doing her best to convince the people of Iowa that gives a damn about them. But then, one the eve of the Iowa caucuses, the call of the greenback was too strong to resist.
Despite being dogged with questions about her ties to Wall Street, Hillary Clinton will take a detour from the campaign trail in Iowa to do a finance industry fundraiser on Wednesday.
Clinton will appear in Philadelphia at a “gala” fundraiser hosted by executives at Franklin Square Capital Partners, a $17 billion investment fund. Rocker Bon Jovi will reportedly play an acoustic set for “friends” who pledge $1,000 and hosts who bundle up to $27,000. (Giancarlo Stefanoni, a Clinton campaign staffer, confirmed that as of Tuesday afternoon, the event is still on.)
The Philadelphia Inquirernotes that “Franklin Square employs Ivy League-educated money managers and salespeople with experience at big Wall Street firms — plus four personal trainers and a dietitian to keep staff happy and productive amid the gym, yoga and nap rooms, Sol LeWitt art installations, and fancy cafeteria.”
Clinton was supposed to do another fundraiser with the top executives of Black Rock, a New York firm.
Clinton was then scheduled to head to New York City on Thursday, where she was to speak at a lunchtime “Conversations With Hillary” fundraiser, now set for next month. This one is co-hosted by Matt Mallow, a senior managing director and general counsel at BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm. As we’ve reported before, having a conversation with Hillary is not cheap.
Hillary’s relationship with Black Rock is quite illuminating:
BlackRock’s ties to Clinton go particularly deep: Cheryl Mills, one of Clinton’s closest advisers at the State Department, sits on BlackRock’s board, and perhaps not surprisingly, Clinton’s plans for the industry align with the company’s financial strategy.
Bernie Sanders wasn’t about to let this slide.
“I do not believe that you can get huge speaking fees from Goldman Sachs,” Sanders told him, “and then with a straight face tell the American people that you’re prepared to do what is necessary to take on the greed and illegal behavior on Wall Street. I don’t think people think that passes the laugh test. . . . Why do special powerful interests give you money? Are they dumb? I don’t think so.”
Morning Joe piled on:
“She certainly handed Bernie that line on a silver platter,” co-host Willie Geist agreed. “The group is called Franklin Square Capital.” (“You can’t make this up!” Scarborough laughed.)
“Here’s the mitigating factor; it featured a concert by Bon Jovi,” Geist said. “And it’s telling, she canceled two fundraisers tonight in New York City.”
“She was going to be in New York tonight raising money three days before Iowa?” piled on host Mika Bzrezinski.
“Wow, she must be very confident that the people of Iowa don’t care whether she’s there or with bankers raising money on the East Coast,” Scarborough snarked. “Well, and Bon Jovi, too… must be a really, really wealthy investment bank to afford Bon Jovi.”
It’s not her fault. Hillary is just not comfortable with people having a net worth of less than $10 million. Here’s a list of Hillary’s top career contributors:
|
Contributor
|
Total
|
Indivs
|
PACs
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 21st Century Fox | $340,936 | $340,936 | $0 |
| Akin, Gump et al | $364,478 | $360,978 | $3,500 |
| Cablevision Systems | $336,613 | $307,225 | $29,388 |
| Citigroup Inc | $824,402 | $816,402 | $8,000 |
| Corning Inc | $322,450 | $304,450 | $18,000 |
| Credit Suisse Group | $318,120 | $308,120 | $10,000 |
| DLA Piper | $700,530 | $673,530 | $27,000 |
| EMILY’s List | $609,684 | $605,764 | $3,920 |
| Goldman Sachs | $760,740 | $750,740 | $10,000 |
| Greenberg Traurig LLP | $327,890 | $319,790 | $8,100 |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co | $696,456 | $693,456 | $3,000 |
| Kirkland & Ellis | $329,141 | $312,141 | $17,000 |
| Lehman Brothers | $362,853 | $359,853 | $3,000 |
| Morgan Stanley | $636,564 | $631,564 | $5,000 |
| National Amusements Inc | $328,312 | $325,312 | $3,000 |
| Skadden, Arps et al | $469,290 | $464,790 | $4,500 |
| Squire Patton Boggs | $328,306 | $322,868 | $5,438 |
| Sullivan & Cromwell | $369,150 | $369,150 | $0 |
| Time Warner | $501,831 | $476,831 | $25,000 |
| University of California | $417,327 | $417,327 | $0 |
Clinton must be feeling the disdain. She put off the New York gig until February. She’s got to race back to Iowa to convince Iowans that she really, really does give a sh*t about them.
She doesn’t. And everyone knows it. Her dumbass move could not have spoken more loudly, but she did try.
Democratic primary front-runner Hillary Clinton on Thursday said she does not regret taking extravagant speaking fees from Wall Street firms before she ran for president, arguing that she cannot be bought at any price.
“Anybody who thinks they can buy me doesn’t know me,” she said in an interview with the Des Moines Register.
Oh sure, these Goldman Sachs types are morons. It’s not like they invest money where they might see a return. They only want to hear about her Bin Laden exploits. It’s not like they know she’ll care for their interests above all others or anything.
DrJohn has been a health care professional for more than 30 years. In addition to clinical practice he has done extensive research and has published widely with over 70 original articles and abstracts in the peer-reviewed literature. DrJohn is well known in his field and has lectured on every continent except for Antarctica. He has been married to the same wonderful lady for over 30 years and has three kids- two sons, both of whom are attorneys and one daughter on her way into the field of education.
DrJohn was brought up with the concept that one can do well if one is prepared to work hard but nothing in life is guaranteed.
Except for liberals being foolish.