Sarah Palin: Obama Is "Institutionalizing Crony Capitalism"
Sarah Palin is testifying against the young man who allegedly hacked into her email account today, but she still had time to get a Facebook post up last night hammering the Obama administration for pushing financial industry regulations "that institutionalize the 'too big to fail' mentality."
The former GOP vice presidential nominee takes a populist tone in her post, suggesting that the legislation, which is widely opposed on Wall Street, was written in part by "lobbyists from the very industry that the new laws are supposed to regulate."
"It should surprise no one that financial lobbyists are flocking to DC this week," she writes. "Of course, the big players who can afford lobbyists work the regulations in their favor, while their smaller competitors are left out in the cold."
Under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, smaller banks are already subject to some of the sort of regulation being proposed for larger Wall Street institutions by the Obama administration.
President Obama has also suggested that lobbyists are trying to influence the legislation -- though he says that's in an effort to counteract the Democrats' plans.
Palin suggests that the bill "gives regulators the power to pick winners and losers." She writes: "Does anyone doubt that firms with the most lobbyists and the biggest campaign donations will be the ones who get seats in the lifeboat?"
"The president is trying to convince us that he's taking on the Wall Street 'fat cats,' but firms like Goldman Sachs are happy with federal regulation because, as one of their lobbyists recently stated, "We partner with regulators,'" she writes.
Palin writes that Goldman Sachs "showered" Mr. Obama with campaign contributions and notes that "You'll find the name Goldman Sachs on many an Obama administration resume, including Rahm Emanuel's and Tim Geithner's chief of staff's." (Emanuel did not work for Goldman; Palin supports the line with a link to an opinion piece in the conservative Washington Examiner stating that he "was paid $35,000 as a consultant to Goldman while also working as Bill Clinton's top fundraiser." The Goldman/White House ties are detailed here.)
In the 2010 campaign season, 62 percent of the money from the securities and investment industry has been donated to Democrats, while just 37 percent went to Republicans. However, in the first two months of this year, Citigroup, Goldman, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley gave twice as much to Republicans than Democrats.
As for last month: CBS News' Emily Rand reportsthat "Goldman Sachs & Co.'s PAC contributed $290,500 to candidates and other PACs in March, more than 8 times the amount its PAC contributed the previous two months ($32,500). The largest chunks of cash went to committees dedicated to the reelection of Republicans, with $15,000 going to both the National Republican Senatorial Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee."
In her Facebook post, Palin goes on to warn of the dangers of "crony capitalism."
"We're listening closely to the reform discussion in Washington, and we know that government should not burden the market with unnecessary bureaucracy and distorted incentives, nor make a dangerous 'too-big-to-fail' mentality the law of the land."
Palin does not offer an alternative vision for financial industry reform in the post, though she does link to this story from National Affairs entitled "Curbing Risk on Wall Street."
MORE: What Bipartisanship? Financial Reform Gamesmanship Back on