GOP tells Luntz Lies to whore for the pirates of Wall Street

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Republicans and their Tea Party corporate Astroturf front groups have tried to reposition themselves as "economic populists" after their laissez faire free market deregulation of the financial services industry turned Wall Street into casino capitalism and the pirates of Wall Street nearly destroyed the world's financial system and the world's economy with unbridled greed. Suddenly they were all against banks "too big to fail" that their free market economic policies were responsible for creating in the first place.

Yeah, not so much.

The GOP is still whoring for the pirates of Wall Street who want to keep the casino capitalism of Wall Street exactly the way it is so they can continue their looting of America unimpeded by such "socialist" ideas like a "consumer protection agency." Oh, the horror!

Back in February, Boehner Tells Bankers To Fight Financial Reform: ‘Don’t Let Those Little Punk Staffers Take Advantage Of You’:

In February, Boehner met “over drinks” with JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, where he “made a pitch” for Wall Street support by explaining that “Republicans had stood up to Mr. Obama’s efforts to curb pay and impose new regulations.” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, “said he visited New York about twice a month to try to tap into Wall Street’s ‘buyers remorse’” with Democrats. These pitches had some effect too; last year, “major Wall Street players began sending an increasing share of their donations to Republicans.”

On March 17, 2010 Boehner swore his fealty to the pirates of Wall Street:

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) told “an enthusiastic crowd of bankers” today that, even if the Senate passes a bill, reconciling it with the House version will take another year. “If the Senate is able to produce a bill, I think it’s just as likely that we’ll be talking about the same issue a year from now as we are right now,” Boehner said at the American Bankers Association government relations summit.

Boehner then added that the bankers should be standing up for themselves against “those little punk staffers” trying to write new regulations:

“Don’t let those little punk staffers take advantage of you and stand up for yourselves,” Boehner said.

Last week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell met with the pirates of Wall Street to swear his fealty and promise to defeat financial services regulatory reforms in the Senate. McConnell traveled alongside National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Sen. John Cornyn (TX) to New York City for a private meeting with elite hedge fund managers and other Wall Street executives. McConnell Slams Financial Reform Bill After Meeting With Hedge Fund Managers And Other Wall Street Elites:

The purpose of the meeting between the top Republicans and the financial executives was to enlist “Wall Street’s help” in funding Republican campaigns in the fall and killing any tough financial reform:

As a financial reform bill starts to take shape in Washington, two key lawmakers came to New York City last week to explain what it means for Wall Street, and how financial executives might help prevent some of its least market-friendly aspects from becoming law by electing more Republicans, FOX Business Network has learned.

About 25 Wall Street executives, many of them hedge fund managers, sat down for a private meeting Thursday afternoon with two of the most powerful Republican lawmakers in Congress: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and John Cornyn, the senior senator from Texas who runs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, one of the primary fundraising arms of the Republican Party. […]

In order to assure [Republican electoral] gains, and add even more, McConnell and Cornyn made it clear they need Wall Street’s help.

Separately, House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-IN) met with hedge fund managers this morning and told them that “Democrats’ solution for financial reform consists of two words: government control.” He added, “America will continue to be the home of freedom and the free market; the place where liberty prevails.”

To quote John Amato at crooksandliars.com, "When he says 'liberty prevails,' he means the rich will stay rich, and they will do everything they can to keep meaningful regulations out of a reform package."

Reporters pressed McConnell for details about his meetings on Wall Street. McConnell repeatedly refused to discuss the matter and claimed that he based his opposition to financial reform not on fundraising from Wall Street but rather on concerns from community banks in Kentucky. Yeah, right. McConnell Tries To Dodge Repeated Questions About His Wall Street Fundraising: 

McConnell takes more money from the finance industry than any other sector. He has taken $1,147,924 for his current re-election campaign, including PAC contributions from megabanks like Citigroup and Bank of America.

Rather than confront these facts, McConnell has chosen to echo ready-made propaganda crafted by GOP public relations consultant Frank Luntz. McConnell’s talking points are even earning derision from media pundits. CNBC’s Ron Insana laughed when trying to explain McConnell’s views, and MSNBC’s John Harwood said that “Senator McConnell’s argument is a little silly when you look at the text of the bill.”

Andrea Mitchell also was laughing at McConnell on her MSNBC show, saying she had no idea what Mitch was saying. Mitch McConnell sucks up to Wall Street and uses Luntz to attack financial reforms:

[A]s TIME Magazine's [Adam Sorenson] points out, McConnell sounded almost exactly like Frank Luntz. What a coincidence:

In a floor speech this morning, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell threw cold water on the prospects of detente, establishing a hard line of attack against the Dodd bill, and indelibly marking the party line: "We must not pass the financial reform bill that's about to hit the floor."

The crux of his criticism is that the bill "institutionalizes… taxpayer-funded bailouts of Wall Street banks." He knocked the expansion of power at the Fed and Treasury, while sounding the alarm on Wall Street accountability. If the outline of his speech sounds familiar, it's because it is the exact argument pollster Frank Luntz urged Republicans to make earlier this year in a widely publicized memo. Compare the excerpts below (emphasis mine):

Luntz: "The single best way to kill any legislation is to link it to the Big Bank Bailout."

McConnell: "We cannot allow endless taxpayer-funded bailouts for big Wall Street banks. And that's why we must not pass the financial reform bill that's about to hit the floor."

Luntz: "Taxpayers should not be held responsible for the failure of big business any longer. If a business is going to fail, not matter how big, let it fail."

McConnell: "[The Dodd bill] gives the government a new backdoor mechanism for propping up failing or failed institutions…. We won't solve this problem until the biggest banks are allowed to fail."

Luntz: "Government policies caused the bubble and its ultimate crash. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Reserve, and the Community Reinvestment Act all had a role in the catastrophe. The government inflated economic bubbles with easy credit policies."

McConnell: “It also directs the Fed to oversee 35 to 50 of the biggest firms, replicating on an even larger scale the same distortions that plagued the housing market and helped trigger a massive bubble we'll be suffering from for years. If you thought Fannie and Freddie were dangerous, how about 35 to 50 of them?" Thus begins the wrestling match for the populist mantle, both sides claiming their party as the champion of Main Street. The Democrats response to McConnell (policy-wise) will be that the tax for a "bailout fund" is levied on financial institutions that pose a risk to the system, and that such a measure would help refund taxpayers for the original cost of TARP, as well as avoid the need for Americans to foot the bill in the future. Their political response will be basically the same as McConnell's attack: to paint the opposition as protectors of Wall Street interests and the status quo.

The GOP is certainly getting their money's worth out of Luntz while America is getting short changed as usual.

Having heard enough of these "Luntz Lies" from Sen. McConnell, Sen. Chris Dodd took to the floor of the Senate to call out Mitch McConnell and to enter the "Luntz Lies" memo into the Congressional record. Caught red-handed!

McConnell's solution, as Simon Johnson writes is a dangerous laissez faire approach, "not to break up big banks; it’s to change nothing now and simply promise to let them fail in the future." Dems talk tough on financial reform:

Dems are hitting back, hard. Mark Warner, hardly a firebrand, tells Ezra "It appears that the Republican leader either doesn't understand or chooses not to understand the basic underlying premise of what this bill puts in place…. If you haven't spent time with these issues," Warner sighed, "it's easy to pop off with sound-bite solutions that don't work."

Dodd is threatening to cut them out of negotiations.

“My patience is running out,” Dodd said on the Senate floor. “I’ve extended the hand. I’ve written provisions in this bill to accommodate various interests. But I’m not going to continue doing this if all I’m getting the other side is a suggestion somehow that this is a partisan effort.”

As President Barack Obama hosted a bipartisan meeting at the White House on the legislation, Dodd lashed out at Republicans for characterizing the bill as perpetuating endless taxpayer bailouts of failing financial firms. He said critics of the bill are spreading “outright falsehoods” that are “now being repeated by people who should know better and frankly do know better.”

The White House piles on at the White House Blog.

The reality is that there’s a clear choice in this debate: to stand with American families or stand on the side of the big Wall Street banks and their lobbyists who are defending the status quo. Opponents of reform are protecting the big banks at the expense of American families — so they’re going to do whatever they can to keep the present system in place and leave the American taxpayer with the bill.

One false criticism we’re hearing is this: that the Senate bill will allow endless taxpayer-funded bailouts of financial firms. What they won’t tell you is that they are taking their marching orders from a partisan political consultant who has told them that the best way to oppose real reform is to link it to the bank bailouts. In fact, the polling memo they’re working from explicitly states that “the best way to kill any legislation is to link it to the Big Bank Bailout.” No matter what the bill actually does, they’re going to call it a bailout because that’s what the polls tell them to do.

And DSCC chair Menendez is daring them to oppose it.

"If that's what they want, I think they'll face the wrath of the electorate in the process," Menendez told reporters at the Capitol in response to Republican criticisms of the bill.

And in an interview with Greg Sargent, DCCC chief Chris Van Hollen said that the Dems are going on offense, with the intent to show the Republicans in bed with the banksters.

Dems are seizing on a report in this morning’s Wall Street Journal saying the biggest banks have been trying to dilute the reform legislation by lobbying against restrictions to the hugely lucrative derivatives trading business. The White House and Dems, resisting this push, are moving to squeeze this type of trading….

“The issue is, who pays when banks make a bad decision — the banks or the taxyapers?” Van Hollen continued. “Republicans want the taxpayers on the hook. They support business as usual on Wall Street, which means having taxpayers bail out the banks, rather than holding the banks accountable for their own mistakes.”

It's the right fight to make now, if Dodd and Obama are willing to follow through and really force Republicans to make that tough choice–vote for the banksters or for the people.

McConnell is already getting pushback for his "Luntz Lies" floor speech from Sen. Judd Gregg (NH). Gregg Says Right-Wing Claim That Financial Reform Means ‘Open-Ended Bailouts’ Is ‘A Touch Over The Top’

Keith Olbermann has more with New York Times columnist and Nobel prize winning economist Paul Krugman.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Transcript Tuesday, April 13th – Countdown with Keith Olbermann

H/t Ostroy Report for the graphic.