Hillary
Clinton is campaigning as a guardian of President Barack Obama’s
progressive policy accomplishments. In recent weeks, she has called
the Affordable Care Act “one of the greatest accomplishments of
President Obama, of the Democratic Party, and of our country,” and
promised that she is “going to defend Dodd-Frank” and “defend
President Obama for taking on Wall Street.”
Meanwhile,
however, Clinton’s campaign has been relying on a team of
strategists and fundraisers, many of whom spent much of the last
seven years as consultants or lobbyists for business interests
working to obstruct Obama’s agenda in those two areas.
Consultants
associated with the Dewey Square Group, a lobbying firm that has been
retained by business interests to defeat a variety of progressive
reforms, are playing a major role in the Clinton campaign. Charles
Baker III, the co-founder of Dewey, is a senior strategist and the
campaign’s chief administrative officer. Michael Whouley, another
Dewey co-founder, played an early role in advising Clinton’s plan
for the current campaign by convening some of the very first strategy
sessions. Senior Dewey officials Jill Alper and Minyon Moore are also
close advisers and fundraisers for Clinton, while at least four other
Clinton officials have worked at Dewey within the last four years. In
addition, disclosures show that Clinton’s Super PACs Priorities USA
Action and Correct the Record have also paid Dewey Square Group for a
variety of services in this election.
[...]
On financial
reform, Clinton has similarly tied herself to Obama’s legacy.
Speaking with MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow last month, Clinton asserted
that on Dodd-Frank, Obama’s financial reform legislation, she is
one of the “many Democrats” who are “fighting to prevent it
from being turned back.”
Clinton’s
inner circle, however, has lobbied to help obstruct and roll back
many of Dodd-Frank’s signature reforms.
The Benenson
Strategy Group, the consulting firm run by Joel Benenson, now serving
as the Clinton campaign’s chief pollster and strategist, was
retained by the Financial Services Forum, a lobbying group for Wall
Street interests such as Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Lobbying
records show the Financial Services Forum has worked over the years
to weaken a variety of Dodd-Frank reforms. In 2013, the Financial
Services Forum paid Benenson’s firm $273,459 to lobby on a number
of rules that were mandated by Dodd-Frank, including capital
requirements designed to prevent another financial crisis. Danny
Franklin, a partner with the Benenson Stategy Group, wrote to The
Intercept to say the Financial Services Forum is not currently a
client of his firm, but declined to comment any further.
Last month,
Benenson convened a conference call with reporters to “deride
Bernie Sanders for airing an ad that criticized Wall Street firms and
the politicians who accept their donations,” according to a report
from International Business Times. As IBTimes reported, Benenson has
also represented JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, among other
corporate clients.
Full
report:
And that
explains now clearly what has been observed more than two years ago:
...
Obama cannot pass neither one legislation for the health and social
security. The visit received from leading bankers shortly after the
announcement of the US government shutdown is characteristic. Bankers
don't pretend anymore because they want to show clearly who is the
"big boss". [fa.ev/new-deal-vs-obamacare]
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