Pro-Obama Group Goes After Wall Street 'Pigs'

In a new push to sound a tougher tone with Wall Street, an outside group supportive of the White House is going up with a new television spot urging Congress to pass the president's plan for financial regulatory reform.

Americans United for Change released the spot on Monday morning. In it, the group makes the same political pitch the White House has made in recent weeks, one that elevates cleaning up Wall Street over health care reform on the legislative agenda.

"When big banks went hog wild on Wall Street they left behind one fine mess on Main Street," the ad goes. "Their greed and recklessness left the economy stuck in the mud and over seven million Americans without jobs. But the big banks were first in line at the trough for their taxpayer bailout and back to their old piggish ways in no time. Now the Wall Street lobbyists say they will clean up their act. But remember you can put lipstick on a pig. But it is still a pig. Tell Congress it is time to step up and pass President Obama's plan to hold Wall Street banks accountable."

Notably, the group's choice of villain is the financial industry itself and not the Republican Party that seems poised to trip up regulatory reform.
An aide with the group said that the overarching push is to get Congress on board comprehensive financial regulatory reform legislation and its various components: a strong, independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency, a tax to recoup TARP funds, and a proposed rule to cap the size of banks and separate their commercial and investment activities. The spot is airing on cable news stations in Washington D.C. and will have "five figures" behind it.

"Lipstick on a pig" is the same idiom that Obama used to mock Republican presidential candidate John McCain's attempt to cast his campaign as an agent for change. Back then, it led to a fabricated controversy about whether he was being insulting to then-vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Comments

[lori572]

11:58 AM on 02/02/2010

time to read marx manifesto, if you haven't its free online. it answers a lot of questions.

[ECT]

01:31 AM on 02/02/2010

Great ad by this group.

Wonderful to see them supporting President Obamas year of hard work...for ALL USA citizens

[rosal]

12:25 AM on 02/02/2010

Time to join Americans United for Change.

[BocaMom]

11:53 PM on 02/01/2010

It's about time, but let's start with Bernanke, Summers, and Geithner. Then go after Pelosi. She spent over $2 million flying back to SF after one year! She's living the high life while 15 millions are out of work. They are all hypocrites and crooks!

[janeycat]

08:34 PM on 02/01/2010

That looks effective enough.... it's about time people get behind Obama and support his efforts to help the people...

[Middle Class Majority]

09:47 PM on 02/01/2010

You must be referring to his banker friends by "people". They are making a killing investing the cash he gave them instead of lending it to the citizen "people".

[xilduq]

08:01 PM on 02/01/2010

Obama is hypocrisy at its finest. You don't agree?

Three words should convince anyone:

Bernanke

Summers

Geithner

[catbite]

11:03 PM on 02/01/2010

The Three Pigs.

Bernanke is in for the long run. But, there is still hope that Geithner and Summers get a pink slip.

[Manchesterian]

06:12 PM on 02/01/2010

I am just happy to see that there is a group out there that is still willing to support the POTUS' agenda and show him some love.

[BocaMom]

06:06 PM on 02/01/2010

It's about time! But you need to first get rid of Geithner and all the pigs in the Administration first!

[TeeLolly]

07:24 PM on 02/01/2010

Amen to that.

[textynn]

04:29 PM on 02/01/2010

These financial institutions are run by a bunch of people with the maturity level of an infant. They take millions while continuing business practices that have thrown millions of people in the street, destroying their families, sending children off to fend for themselves, and killing the elderly. They see no reason that they shouldn't be coddled and protected and indulged like toddlers while they selfishly think everybody on this earth is put here to participate in funneling everything they have to them. It is more than obvious that these people have WAY TO MUCH power and are not subject to any laws or punishment. Just like the toddler that throws the fish bowl at the china, mom just cleans it up and rushes to make sure the child has no cuts. That's how these bankers are treated and then they are merciless to the people they have tricked into debt.

[catbite]

11:04 PM on 02/01/2010

It's unreal. One has to ask how this can possibly be happening.

[LMPE]

04:27 PM on 02/01/2010

Was that Jim Hightower narrating?

[TrueLiberty]

03:45 PM on 02/01/2010

OK, we get it, its populist to not like Wall Street, Obama is looking to score points so is stepping up his attacks against those evil bankers.... ok, now, can someone please explain how any of that is good for the economy? Ohh, wait, it was "those bankers" that caused this recession,,, got it,,,,but the banks were too important to fail so they were bailed out with TONS of money (which Obama voted for also) to save them so they could come back. (for the record, true liberals and true conservatives opposed the TARP). Ok, so, then the banks came back, made profits, but now are "bad" because they made too much money and aren't lending enough to troubled borrowers when, part of the problem that led to TARP was that banks were lending to troubled borrowers. But wait, .... I guess the banks better start lending to people and businesses that can't afford to borrow again, then, when those loans fail, we'll have to bail them out again, then can blame them again for making irresponsible loans giving the feds more of an excuse to take over more control, once again. and on and on and on.....

[janeycat]

08:45 PM on 02/01/2010

All this you mintioned is exactly why we need regulations and the tax pool to keep them from doing this again....

[ProudNeoCon]

03:26 PM on 02/01/2010

Do you like ETFs? They lowered the average cost of owming stocks by over 4 times - they were created by Wall Street

do you like internet? - it would not be possible without Wall Street IPOs (even though many of them went bust)

Home insurance rates are down 27% due to the "catastrophic bonds" done by Wall Street...

Wall Street is not perfect but it is also not evil...

[Jase84]

04:13 PM on 02/01/2010

When it's doing what it is supposed to be doing, it does great things. Right now, it is absolutely evil.

[Bogstomper]

05:02 PM on 02/01/2010

Wall Street napalmed our economy and paid themselves a bonus for doing such a good job. Maybe you have a different definition of "evil."

[Middle Class Majority]

09:51 PM on 02/01/2010

My definition is so called leaders that are enriching their backers by giving them free money to invest.

[The Power To Unelect]

02:39 PM on 02/01/2010

The American people now hold all politicians accountable for their...........ACTIONS

WORDS......mean nothing

[unwashedmasses]

01:34 PM on 02/01/2010

What a great color for the lips!

I need a stick of it myself.

[jasev01]

12:45 PM on 02/01/2010

Animal abuse call PETA

[hypnotoad72]

01:42 PM on 02/01/2010

PETA would rather advertise giant posters of naked women.

Human abuse.

BTW: it's obvious the logos were superimposed over the pigs. Good special effects, but not perfect...

[pbley68]

06:09 PM on 02/01/2010

I thought that was Sarah Palin.

[Middle Class Majority]

09:51 PM on 02/01/2010

She thought it was you!