If There Were Ever A Pick To Overshadow Clinton And Highlight Her
Weaknesses, The Massachusetts Senator Fits The Bill
Today, Clinton campaigns
with Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts Senator pushed by liberals as their
"dream vice presidential pick."
•Warren has been at odds with
Clinton over the regulation of Wall Street, a Sanders voter cause celebre, on
which Warren has accused Clinton of kowtowing to donors and shifting positions.
•Warren slams politicians, like
Clinton, who have embraced large amounts of outside spending in campaigns.
•Warren criticized the Transpacific
Partnership and other free trade deals that Clinton championed until recently.
•Warren's criticism of the Iraq War
and opposition to arming Syrian rebels contrasts with Clinton's Iraq War vote
and desire to escalate U.S. involvement in Syria.
•Warren supports limiting
surveillance programs that Clinton defends.
•Warren wants to expand social
security benefits, but Clinton refuses to rule out cuts.
•Given their stark differences, it's
no surprise Warren dragged her feet before selling out to endorse Clinton.
WARREN ATTACKS THE SAME WALL STREET INTERESTS THAT HAVE BANKROLLED
THE CLINTONS FOR YEARS
Warren Claimed "Powerful Wall
Street Businesses Pay Barely Disguised Bribes" To Obtain Laws That Will
Benefit Them And Protect Corporate Interests. "
•Corporate executives and government
officials spin through a revolving door, making sure that the interests of
powerful corporations are carefully protected.
•Powerful Wall Street businesses pay
barely disguised bribes, offering millions of dollars to trusted employees to
go to Washington for a few years to make policies that will benefit exactly
those same Wall Street businesses.
•And corporations and trade groups
fund study after study that just so happen to support the special rule or
exception the industry is looking for."
Clinton Is Steadfastly
Refusing To Release The Transcripts Of The Paid Speeches She Gave To Wall
Street Banks.
Over A 15 Year Period, The Clintons
Gave 164 Speeches To The Financial Sector, Earning At Least $35 Million.
•Clinton efforts capped a
nearly 15-year period in which Clinton and her husband, former President Bill
Clinton, made at least $35 million by giving 164 speeches to financial
services, real estate and insurance companies after leaving the White House in
2001, according to an Associated Press analysis of public disclosure forms and
records released by her campaign.
(Lisa Lerer and Ken Thomas,
"Since '01, Clintons Collected $35M From Financial Businesses, The Associated Press , 11/24/15)
The Clintons Have Long Been Cozy With Wall Street And Profited
Personally From Their Financial Industry Connections
•Clinton's windfalls from Wall
Street banks and other financial services firms - $3 million in paid speeches
and $17 million in campaign contributions over the years - have become a major
vulnerability in states with early nomination contests.
•Some party officials who remain
undecided in the 2016 presidential race see her as overly cozy with big banks
and other special interests.
•At a time when liberals are
ascendant in the party, many Democrats believe her merely having
"represented Wall Street as a senator from New York," as Clinton
reminded viewers in an October debate, is bad enough.
(Patrick Healy, "Wall Street
Ties Linger As Image Issue For Hillary Clinton," The New York Times , 11/21/15)
Clinton's Top Contributors
To Her Senate And Presidential Campaigns Have Been Wall Street Employees.
•Clinton's top two contributors
over those years were employees from Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, the center
found.
(Lisa Lerer and Ken Thomas,
"Since '01, Clintons Collected $35M From Financial Businesses, The Associated Press , 11/24/15)
For Decades, The Clintons
"Made Historic Inroads On Wall Street, Pulling In At Least $69 Million In
Political Contributions."
•The Clintons kept big contributors
in their orbit for decades by methodically wooing competing interest groups -
toggling between their liberal base and powerful constituencies, according to
donors, friends and aides who have known the couple since their Arkansas days.
•They made historic inroads on Wall
Street, pulling in at least $69 million in political contributions from the
employees and PACs of banks, insurance companies, and securities and investment
firms.
•Wealthy hedge fund managers S.
Donald Sussman and David E. Shaw are among their top campaign supporters,
having given more than $1 million each.
(Matea Gold, Tom Hamburger and Anu
Marayanswamy, "Inside The Clinton Donor Network," The Washington Post, 11/19/15)
Wall Street Strongly
Supported Clinton's 2000 Senate Campaign According To The Washington Post's
Analysis.
•Clinton had just been elected with
the strong support of the financial sector, which contributed $2.1 million of
the $30 million she raised in 2000, one of the largest industries to back her,
The Post's analysis found.
(Matea Gold, Tom Hamburger and Anu
Marayanswamy, "Inside The Clinton Donor Network," The Washington Post, 11/19/15)
Complied by the RNC.
