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Warren Takes Down Brookings Scholar

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) “launched a surprise attack Tuesday against Washington’s most revered Democratic-leaning think tanks — and drew blood,” the Washington Post reports.

“Warren, stepping up her crusade against the power of wealthy interests, accused a Brookings Institution scholar of writing a research paper to benefit his corporate patrons. Warren’s charge prompted a swift response, with Brookings seeking and receiving the resignation of the economist, Robert Litan, whose report criticized a Warren-backed consumer protection rule targeting the financial services industry.”

Wall Street Worries Trump Could Actually Win

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“Wall Street is growing increasingly terrified that Donald Trump — once viewed as an amusing summertime distraction — could actually win the Republican nomination for president,” Politico reports.

“The real estate billionaire, who took another populist shot on Sunday by ripping into lavish executive pay, continues to rise in the polls. Would-be Wall Street saviors like Jeb Bush are languishing in single digits. The belief that Trump’s candidacy would quickly fade is now evaporating in a wave of fear.”

Stock Market Collapse Would Hurt Democratic Chances

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“U.S. stocks continued their sharp decline on Tuesday, fueling talk of a worst-case scenario for both Wall Street and the broader U.S. economy heading into 2016. And it is one that could make it all but impossible for Hillary Clinton or any other Democrat to win the White House,” Politico reports.

“Under this scenario, a further collapse in China reignites fear in U.S. markets. A strengthening dollar hurts exports while job growth, which is already slowing, stalls out completely. Meanwhile, Janet Yellen and the Federal Reserve make a huge policy mistake and raise interest rates too soon, choking off what little growth we have. If all this comes to pass, markets could return to free-fall, the U.S. economy could tip back into recession and voter attitudes about the direction of the country — already highly negative — could hit historic lows.”

Pat Robertson Says Market Turmoil Is God’s Punishment

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Pat Robertson says he believes the stock market’s massive sell-off this morning was God’s way of punishing the Obama administration for supporting abortion rights, Politico reports.

Said Robertson: “We will pay dearly as a nation for this thing going on. And possibly if we were to stop all this slaughter the judgment of God might be lifted from us. But it’s coming, ladies and gentlemen.”

Senate Resurrects Export-Import Bank

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“In a rare and fiery weekend session, the Senate voted on Sunday to resurrect the federal Export-Import Bank, handing the Republican Party’s most conservative wing a major defeat and setting up a showdown this week with House leaders divided over the moribund export credit agency,” the New York Times reports.

Politico: “Ted Cruz just wanted a roll call vote on Sunday. Instead, he got a smackdown.”

Greek Voters Reject Bailout Terms

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“Greek voters were set to resoundingly reject the terms of an international bailout on Sunday, an outcome that would set the country on a collision course with the rest of the eurozone,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The projected outcome would strengthen the domestic standing of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who campaigned vehemently for Greeks to reject lenders’ terms for further bailout funding.”

Financial Times: “But the result is also likely to plunge Greece deeper into turmoil as it tries to prevent the collapse of a financial system that is rapidly running out of cash.”

BBC: “Given the bad blood of the past two weeks – Greece’s Finance Minister, Yanis Varoufakis, calling the eurozone’s strategy ‘terrorism’ – it will be hard to get back around the negotiating table. And with the banking crisis and tax revenues plummeting amidst the instability, Greece’s economy has weakened again, making a deal even harder to reach.”

Quote of the Day

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“The problem is not that I don’t understand the global banking system. The problem for these guys is that I fully understand the system and I understand how they make their money. And that’s what they don’t like about me.”

— Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), quoted by Politico, firing back at JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon for suggesting she has no clue what she’s talking about in her attacks on Wall Street.

Quote of the Day

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“These people are so greedy, they’re so out of touch with reality. They think they own the world…I’m sorry to have to tell them, they live in the United States, they benefit from the United States, we have kids who are hungry in this country. We have people who are working two, three, four jobs, who can’t send their kids to college. Sorry, you’re all going to have to pay your fair share of taxes.”

— Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), in an interview with CNBC, on Wall Street executives.

Cruz Slams Wife’s Employer for ‘Crony Capitalism’

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In an interview with Bloomberg, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) took a shot at Goldman Sachs, his wife’s employer, when asked if the bank was a positive or negative force on society.

Said Crus: “Goldman is one of the biggest banks on Wall Street, and my criticism with Washington is they engage in crony capitalism. They give favors to Wall Street and big business… Like many other players on Wall Street and big business, they seek out and get special favors from government. I think they’re entitled to practice their business, but without subsidies or special benefits.”

Lobbyist Had Role In Cuomo Financial Crisis Investigation

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“Previously undisclosed emails by a mortgage industry lobbyist doubling as a consultant for then Attorney General Andrew Cuomo show the lobbyist played a self-described ‘critical role’ in one of Cuomo’s signature financial crisis investigations,” ProPublica reports.

“The emails from 2007 and 2008 detail how the lobbyist, longtime Cuomo confidant Howard Glaser, was involved in an investigation of mortgage industry players that included Glaser’s own clients.”

Buffett Says Warren Should Be ‘Less Angry’

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Billionaire Warren Buffett isn’t a fan of Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) populist rhetoric, Business Insider reports.

Said Buffett: “I think that she would do better if she was less angry and demonizing. I believe in ‘hate the sin but love the sinner.’ And I’m not sure that I’ve fully convinced Elizabeth Warren that that’s the way to go.”

Weiss Playing Same Role But Without Senate Confirmation

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Bloomberg: “Eight days after joining the Treasury Department as an adviser, Antonio Weiss was the lead U.S. official listed at a meeting with Wall Street executives. It’s a role typically played by the undersecretary for domestic finance — the same post Weiss lost after Democratic senators stymied his nomination.”

“The sequence of events has raised questions about whether the administration is trying to circumvent the normal Senate confirmation process.”

Wall Street Worried About Paul Candidacy

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Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) “bash-the-Fed routine” “is political gold with libertarian voters suspicious of all federal authority, especially a central bank with a $4.5 trillion balance sheet,” Politico reports.

“But Paul could face a significant challenge if he emerges from Iowa with a legitimate shot at the Republican nomination. Because experts say he gets many of his arguments about the Fed flat wrong. And the establishment wing of the GOP — backed by piles of Wall Street money — views Paul’s approach to the Fed as dangerous and irresponsible.”

Wall Street Nervous About Another Romney Run

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“Add Wall Streeters to the growing list of Republican power players uneasy about the prospect of another Mitt Romney bid for the White House,” CNN reports.

“The corridors of high finance were the target of intense hostility during Romney’s last presidential run. President Barack Obama’s campaign successfully seized on the former Massachusetts governor’s time at private equity firm Bain Capital to paint a picture of an industry that destroys middle-class jobs while wealthy executives reap generous profits — often taxed at lower rates.”

Wall Street Succeeds in Undermining Financial Reform

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“In the span of a month, the nation’s biggest banks and investment firms have twice won passage of measures to weaken regulations intended to help lessen the risk of another financial crisis, setting their sights on narrow, arcane provisions and greasing their efforts with a surge of lobbying and campaign contributions,” the New York Times reports.

“The continuing assault on the 2010 Dodd-Frank law has achieved remarkable success, especially compared with the repeated failures of opponents of another 2010 law, the Affordable Care Act.”

Bailouts Actually Yielded $15 Billion in Profits

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“Six years after President George W. Bush began the auto bailout, the Obama administration on Friday declared a profitable end to the sweeping federal interventions in Wall Street and Detroit, saying a final sale of stock from General Motors’ former finance arm had closed a turbulent chapter of the financial crisis, the New York Times reports.

“The government actions, initially seen as necessary in Washington and on Wall Street to prevent a collapse of the economy on the order of the Great Depression, agitated the political world, helping give rise to the Tea Party movement on the right and the Occupy Wall Street movement on the left.”

“In all, through TARP and other efforts, taxpayers injected $426.35 billion into banks and auto companies. The sale of stock and interest payments brought in $441.7 billion.”

Bush to Sever Ties with Barclays

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Barclays announced that Jeb Bush’s role with the bank would end on December 31, the Financial Times reports.

“Mr Bush, who served as an adviser to Lehman Brothers before its collapse during the financial crisis, has rarely spoken about his work at the British bank, which has been ensnared by scandals such as the manipulation of key benchmark interest rates and the mis-selling of payment protection insurance in recent years.”

Politico: “Meanwhile, the Washington Speakers Bureau, which has arranged Bush’s paid speeches since he stepped down as governor in 2007, has deleted any mention of the Republican from its web site. A page promoting Bush was live on the bureau’s site as recently as Monday.”

GOP Lawmaker Paves Way for Another Bank Bailout

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Huffington Post: “For all the anger among progressives about a Wall Street bailout provision that made its way into the just-passed $1.1 trillion government spending bill, there’s been little attention on the person who put it in there. Meet Congressman Kevin Yoder (R-KS).”

“Yoder, a second-term congressman whose largest contributors are in the finance industry, introduced the provision last summer. It was literally written by Citigroup executives, but Yoder took their language and rolled it into an amendment to a spending bill in a House subcommittee meeting. It got swept into the year-end spending package because it ‘was within the scope of negotiations’ on it, according to an Appropriations Committee aide.”

Wonk Wire: Congress quietly ends medical marijuana ban

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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