Is Your Senator a Bankster?

The one main benefit to the financial reform effort so far is that it helps further do away with the false paradigms of "left" or "right" and "Democrat" or "Republican" - fewer and fewer people are falling for those lies anymore. Try to get an ideological conservative to explain why Republicans love spending and so eagerly give welfare to banks. Try to get your local liberal to explain why it was a good idea to make backroom deals with abhorrent corporations and drill, baby, drill. Heck, even try to get a Tea Partier to explain choosing bailout-lover Sarah Palin to keynote their convention, especially when that movement once had at least some pre-astroturf roots in protesting government giveaways.

What we have now is a group of politicians with shifting alliances on a case-by-case basis to the special interests who fund them. And currently, the most damaging one to our nation is the rise of the Bankster Party. Thankfully, we can now better identify its members.

Anyone who voted for the Kaufman-Brown SAFE amendment deserves to be considered a member of the "People's Party", at least for today. And while I may not agree, I am also OK with someone voting no on Kaufman-Brown if they voted no on the bailout in the first place. That at least shows a consistent ideology and we wouldn't need to break up the banks into smaller parts if our leaders had the will to let them fail.

But there is a special place for those who have the audacity to do something as incredibly un-American as voting to provide unencumbered welfare for rich bankers and then subsequently do absolutely nothing to fix the problem. And that special place (for now) is in what we should call from this point forward the "Bankster Party". Allow me to present to you its current members:

BANKSTER PARTY
Daniel Akaka (B-HI)
Lamar Alexander (B-TN)
Max Baucus (B-MT)
Evan Bayh (B-IN)
Christopher S. Bond (B-MO)
Richard Burr (B-NC)
Thomas R. Carper (B-DE)
Saxby Chambliss (B-GA)
Susan M. Collins (B-ME)
Kent Conrad (B-ND)
Bob Corker (B-TN)
John Cornyn (B-TX)
Christopher J. Dodd (B-CT)
Dianne Feinstein (B-CA)
Lindsey Graham (B-SC)
Chuck Grassley (B-IA)
Judd Gregg (B-NH)
Orrin G. Hatch (B-UT)
Kay Bailey Hutchinson (B-TX)
Daniel K. Inouye (B-HI)
Johnny Isakson (B-GA)
John F. Kerry (B-MA)
Amy Klobuchar (B-MN)
Herb Kohl (B-WI)
Jon Kyl (B-AZ)
Frank R. Lautenberg (B-NJ)
Joseph Lieberman (B-CT)
John McCain (B-AZ)
Claire McCaskill (B-MO)
Mitch McConnell (B-KY)
Robert Menendez (B-NJ)
Lisa Murkowski (B-AK)
Bill Nelson (B-FL)
Jack Reed (B-RI)
Charles Schumer (B-NY)
Olympia Snowe (B-ME)
John Thune (B-SD)
Mark Udall (B-CO)
George Voinovich (B-OH)
Mark Warner (B-VA)

PEOPLE'S PARTY
Mark Begich (P-AK)
Jeff Bingaman (P-NM)
Barbara Boxer (P-CA)
Sherrod Brown (P-OH)
Roland Burris (P-IL)
Maria Cantwell (P-WA)
Bejamin Cardin (P-MD)
Robert Casey Jr. (P-PA)
Tom Coburn (P-OK)
Byron Dorgan (P-ND)
Richard Durbin (P-IL)
John Ensign (P-NV)
Russell Feingold (P-WI)
Al Franken (P-MN)
Tom Harkin (P-IA)
Edward Kaufman (P-DE)
Patrick Leahy (P-VT)
Carl Levin (P-MI)
Blanche Lincoln (P-AR)
Jeff Merkley (P-OR)
Barbara Mikulski (P-MD)
Patty Murray (P-WA)
Mark Pryor (P-AR)
Harry Reid (P-NV)
John D. Rockefeller IV (P-WV)
Bernard Sanders (P-VT)
Richard Shelby (P-AL)
Arlen Specter (P-PA)
Debbie Stabenow (P-MI)
Tom Udall (P-NM)
Jim Webb (P-VA)
Sheldon Whitehouse (P-RI)
Ron Wyden (P-OR)

 

Follow Dylan Ratigan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DylanRatigan

Comments

[illusionofchoice]

11:15 AM on 05/19/2010

Well I totally agree. I've been saying the same thing on these forums for over a year now, to the consternation of the Obama-can-do-no-wrong crowd. All you have to do is look at who he has appointed to his economic team.

[Ken Dreger]

10:36 AM on 05/17/2010

Is the Huffington Post becoming a news site for banksters?

Why are they removing names of politicians who voted against reform from this article?

[ColoradoMike]

05:01 PM on 05/16/2010

Where did Michael Bennet B-CO go? Can you explain why you removed him from the list?

[DonsBlog]

05:01 PM on 05/14/2010

Can't find Kay Hagain, B-NC. Clearly a bankster. Also very pro-pharma.

[ErnestineBass]

09:10 PM on 05/15/2010

Hmmm...I don't see Bennet, D-Colorado, on either list. He voted nay, BTW.

[ipogo]

10:57 AM on 05/16/2010

Hmmm indeed. Especially since his name was on the list when the article was first published.
This raises a serious question? Who edited the article and why?

[hardrain77]

08:38 PM on 05/12/2010

Right on, Dylan.

I"m glad MSNBC is allowing you to be truthful and throwing some consciousness into the zombies they market the afternoon news shows for. You're vitriol at the Banksters is catching on and you know it.

Although truthfully a lot of the senators on the people party are actually Banksters. I mean, the Rockefellers own Chase JP Morgan. They're own of the controlling arms of the Fed. I wouldn't trust anyone with that last name unless he spends his life working on a leper colony, or something.

[kww355]

11:40 AM on 05/15/2010

I live in West Virginia. When Jay first came here, he was viewed with suspicion. But I can tell you he has ALWAYS had the best interest of the people at heart. He's like a Kennedy in that even though he comes from money, his family always stressed public service as a way of giving back.

[ShowFan]

05:34 PM on 05/12/2010

Financial cartels with the support of the Banksters Party have already destroyed our society. The amount of money they extract from us is much more than their bonuses and salaries. There is no remedy as long as we ruled by lifetime oligarchs.

[Robert Cantor]

05:55 PM on 05/10/2010

keep up the good work Dylan!

[ThomastonPaine]

01:57 PM on 05/10/2010

Again, "Thank you" Mr. Ratigan…You have simply become the media’s most effective and honest voice on financial reform.

2 “Must Watch” MSNBC “Dylan Ratigan Show” interviews on the causes of this past Thursday’s “Flash Crash.” First with The Chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Phil Angelides, and the second with John Najarian, the co-founder of OptionMonster.com:

“The Real Story Behind Wall Street’s Flash Crash”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31510813/ns/msnbc_tv-the_dylan_ratigan_show

Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission:
http://fcic.gov/

*Additional ” “Must Watch/ D.R. Show Segment” on the remarkable bipartisan support for Senator Sanders’ effort to audit the Federal Reserve:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31510813/ns/msnbc_tv-the_dylan_ratigan_show#36970864

Critical quote from Senator Sanders:

“ Look, I frankly have never seen and amendment with the kind of right-left support that we are seeing right now.”

*Senator Sanders thank you as well for your efforts to stop unconscionable lending practices:

*Interesting Site Regarding the History of Usury:
http://www.affil.org/consumer_rsc/usury2.php

[StephenJK]

06:40 AM on 05/10/2010

And if you want to find the people who are truly running the entire world, you have to go above the people who run GS, the TBTF banks and the governments of the world. These are the people behind globalization. Capitalism as religion. They are JUST getting started. They want a piece of every soul on earth. Where we see a person, a human being, they see money, wealth and domain. They control the media, the government and the money. With these three things they can easily control the MIC.

"that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies..." TJ

[veracity]

11:07 PM on 05/09/2010

< The one main benefit to the financial reform effort so far is that it helps further do away with the false paradigms of "left" or "right" and "Democrat" or "Republican" - fewer and fewer people are falling for those lies anymore.
Try to get an ideological conservative to explain why Republicans love spending and so eagerly give welfare to banks.
Try to get your local liberal to explain why it was a good idea to make backroom deals with abhorrent corporations & drill, baby, drill.
Heck, even try to get a Tea Partier to explain choosing bailout-lover Sarah Palin to keynote their convention, especially when that movement once had at least some pre-astroturf roots in protesting government giveaways.

What we have now is a group of politicians with shifting alliances on a case-by-case basis to the special interests who fund them. And currently, the most damaging one to our nation is the rise of the Bankster Party. Thankfully, we can now better identify its members. >

Thank you, Mr. Ratigan.
today's Congress & Senate legislators are a PALE, PATHETIC shadow of those Congressman & Senators who passed the SHERMAN ANTI-TRUST Act, UNANIMOUSLY in the Congress (242 to 0), and with ONLY ONE dissenting vote in the Senate (51-1) in 1890.
It was well understood by the senators & congressmen that BANKING and FINANCIAL CARTELS - the "monopoly TRUSTS" - represented A THREAT to American citizens, consumers, businessmen, farmers, and financial investors.

[veracity]

11:10 PM on 05/09/2010

In America today, we have a PRETEND "opposition party," with President Obama hisself WINING and DINING Jamie Dimon, the Chairman of JPMorgan-Chase the other evening....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/03/jamie-dimon-business-coun_n_561817.html

no doubt Pres. Obama hoping for "CAMPAIGN DONATIONS", in return for PROMISES of LAX ENFORCEMENT of financial rules, laws & regulations ALREADY ON THE BOOKS.

[mad tn dem]

02:21 AM on 05/09/2010

I am deeply saddened when I read remarks from individuals I assume are fellow citizens that appear to want nothing more than see us fail as a nation, that care nothing about the families that are in deep crisis, not having a small bump in the road, but are an inch from homeless, and worrying about keeping food on the table. We are embarrassing ourselves in front of the world. Our leaders have no problem invading nations that have something we want (oil), but do nothing to end what's happening in Darfur or the Congo..The motto about defending out freedoms doesn't cut it..I'm ashamed of us in so many ways..to be continued.

[Aaror]

11:31 PM on 05/08/2010

You know, the huffpost idea of asking people to move their money didn't go far enough!
How about next weekend everyone goes to the nearest big bank and protests. Ask every customer to switch to a small bank.
If we get 20% to switch, we will take the top 5 banks from having over 50% of deposits to under 50%, which is a start at least...

[Mr Fife]

11:18 PM on 05/08/2010

NASCAR jumpsuits for all elected officials...

[jdoeremi]

11:12 AM on 05/09/2010

yep. Instead of Dupont and Tide, they might as well stitch in logo patches from Goldman Sachs, Citibank, AIG, Fannie, Mae, and Freddy Mac. I hope we can boot all these political whores from both parties sooner rather than later.

[PS9]

10:49 PM on 05/09/2010

Don't forget the unions.

[wmholt]

11:11 PM on 05/08/2010

Dylan, well done (again)! Glad you are on our side.

[stoptalkingdosomething]

10:02 PM on 05/08/2010

What this is telling us agaiin, again, and again is it is time to reform the way these people have to get their money to keep their job or run for office. Until we change that we desire what we get. What would you do or who would you listen to raise enough money to keep your job, espeically when it is legal to do so? A lot of these people are begging for reform, but we won't give it to them, and we look down on them when they do what is natural. If there was ever a time for the teaparty, coffeeparty, moveOn and the rest to join a movement to change this issue it is now. If we really want change this is what we have to do.

[Aaror]

11:32 PM on 05/08/2010

federal funding for elections for 10 years would cost less than pork costs every year-and would cost less than the department of the interior, for example!