Meet Wall Street's Man in the Adirondacks

A funny thing is happening in upstate New York right now. The collusion between the grassroots populist anger of the “teabaggers” and the more elitist pro-Wall Street agenda of the Club for Growth is being unmasked all at once--just in time for Halloween.

Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman is either leading or in second place in the special election to replace Rep. John McHugh (R) in the upstate 23rd district of New York. The election turned into a three-way race when both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party nominated moderates. The conservative grassroots and elites revolted at once and Hoffman has become a cause célèbre of the national teabagger movement appearing recently on Glenn Beck and winning Sarah Palin’s endorsement.

The irony of a grassroots movement supposedly angry about being victimized by the financial crisis supporting the Wall Street candidate couldn’t be more obvious.

Hoffman’s candidacy was born out of the Club for Growth—an elitist cabal backed by big bankers whose founder now writes editorials for the Wall Street Journal. The Club for Growth is a right-wing Trojan Horse—wrapping itself in justifiable grassroots anger about the financial crisis in order to stop a reform agenda and investigations that would put a leash on the most outrageous Wall Street practices. With Hoffman the Club for Growth has now put a saddle and harness on the teabaggers. Doug Hoffman is Wall Street's man in the Adirondacks.

Over the last decade or more, the Club for Growth, which Hoffman has fully embraced, has opposed measures to regulate out-of-control banks and provide protections for ordinary Americans. Their only purpose is to make sure that the mainstream of the Republican Party adheres to their ideology.

What we need now more than ever are real and serious investigations ala the Pecora Commission of the 1930s. A new Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission has started their work—and will reportedly get a lot busier as they hire their investigators and move forward. Getting to the bottom of the financial crisis is critically important—America’s outrage about what is going on needs meaning. America deserves to know who got us into this mess—especially if they’re still in positions of authority.

Hoffman and the Club for Growth are ideologically opposed to government and would rather hang a “buyer beware” sign on the front of banks than do the responsible thing—investigate what happened and fix our system so it doesn’t happen again.

Accountable America, a group I founded, has a new TV ad that will air in the 23rd district continuously until Tuesday that connects the dots between Doug Hoffman, the Club for Growth and their opposition to bank investigations and reform. Check it out.

 

Follow Tom Matzzie on Twitter: www.twitter.com/tommatzzie

Comments

[old lady]

Thank you for exposing another instance of the elite taking advantage of Tbag ignorance. These guys will march to any slogan without vetting the marching order. D'ya think they think they're "hiking the Appalachian trail"

[beyondthepale9779]

I'm sure it was news to this tool that "upstate" means more than ALBANY.. There is a lot more real estate up here.

[abbienormal]

The 23rd district is not in the Adirondacks. Please consult a map.

[Luigi53102]

Wikipedia: "The district includes all or parts of Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida, Oswego and St. Lawrence counties." Counties like Essex and Hamilton will be very surprised to learn that they are not in the Adirondacks. Or else Mt. Marcy will have to be re-assigned to some other mountain range. :-)

[nancyraye1]

Actually, most of the Adirondacks are in the 23rd district... You need to look at the map. ( I live in the park and have for many years)