Over the weekend, Bernie Sanders generated quite a bit of buzz by accurately noting, “I believe the business model of Wall Street is fraud,” during an interview on CNN. Although Hillary strains herself to sound populist for the cameras every now and again, her plunging popularity is not merely the result of high profile scandals. Rather, she has a long history as a dedicated Wall Street coddler, and no amount of soundbites will convince anyone to the contrary.

Of course, we’ve seen some grassroots acknowledgement of this fact earlier this year, when the following cartoon appeared across New York City:

Fast forward a couple of months, and there’s currently a bill in Congress known as the “Financial Services Conflict of Interest Act,” which aims to crack down on Wall Street golden parachutes. Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley have already come out in favor of it. Hillary has not. Perhaps this is why.

From the Intercept:

A coalition of eight progressive organizations, using material previously published at The Intercept, have challenged Hillary Clinton to disavow the use of “golden parachute” bonuses for former Wall Street executives who enter government service. In a letter to the Clinton campaign delivered today, the organizations, including Rootstrikers, Democracy for America, CREDO and MoveOn.org Political Action, refer to two top aides to Clinton when she served as secretary of state, Thomas Nides and Robert Hormats. As The Intercept reported in July, Nides and Hormats received millions of dollars in golden parachute payments from their respective ex-employers, investment banks Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, after becoming Clinton’s deputies. Goldman Sachs paid out Hormats’ unvested restricted stock units, valued between $250,000 and $500,000. Morgan Stanley’s accelerated payout for Nides of restricted stock units was worth between $5 million and $25 million. Deferred compensation awards like these would have been forfeited, had the executives left their jobs for somewhere other than the government. Bonuses are typically granted to executives who stay with a company rather than leave it. “Awarding outsized bonuses and gifts of equity to Wall Street executives who temporarily leave to go into public service is either a breach of a public corporation’s fiduciary duty to its stockholders, or a down payment on future services rendered,” the progressive groups write to Clinton. They describe the practice as “a barely legal, backdoor form of bribery.” In the letter, the groups ask Clinton if she supports the practice of golden parachute bonuses from the financial sector, and if she would allow officials in her administration to receive them. “Golden parachutes have become so common and corrosive to the public trust that it has become clear the next president should prohibit executive branch employees from receiving them altogether,” the letter concludes. It was also signed by American Family Voices, the Center for Popular Democracy, Friends of the Earth and The Other 98%. Last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., publicly challenged presidential candidates to support the Baldwin/Cummings legislation. Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley, two Democratic hopefuls, have already endorsed it; Sanders is a co-sponsor of the bill. But the Clinton campaign has yet to make their position clear, prompting the escalation by these progressive groups.

Just like Hillary went radio silent during the TPP debate (see: Where Does Hillary Stand on the TPP? 45 Public Statements Tell You Everything You Need to Know), she apparently has “no opinion” once again.

Nides, a six-figure bundler in Clinton’s former and current presidential campaigns, returned right back to Morgan Stanley after Clinton left the State Department. He has been touted for a potential chief of staff position in a Clinton White House. Hormats has been part of a small group of economic advisers to Clinton during her 2016 presidential run. “It’s hard to imagine Democrats’ 2016 nominee will be truly tough on Wall Street banks that break the law,” said Charles Chamberlain, executive director of Democracy for America, “if they won’t commit to banning their advisers from receiving legalized bribes from those same banks.”

Just in case you were still wondering why Hillary is imploding while Bernie soars.

I’ve covered the Wall Street golden parachute issue previously, see:

Crony States of America – Wall Street Firms are Trying to Hide Payoffs Made to Employees Entering Government

For additional related articles, see:

How UBS Sent Millions to the Clintons After Hillary Saved the Mega Bank While Secretary of State

Hillary Clinton Blasts High Frequency Trading Ahead of Fundraiser with High Frequency Trader

Where Does Hillary Stand on the TPP? 45 Public Statements Tell You Everything You Need to Know

Cartoons Mocking “Goldman Rats” and Hillary Clinton Appear All Over NYC

Video of the Day – Bernie Sanders Says “I Think the Business Model of Wall Street is Fraud”

Bernie Sanders Takes the Lead from Hillary in Latest New Hampshire Poll

In Liberty,

Michael Krieger



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