Does anyone really question who the Republicans in DC are fighting for?

Fighting for Wall Street after Wall Street's recklessness created the largest recession since the Great Depression tells you all you need to know about Republican priorities in DC right now.... 

 

April 12 FoxBusiness.com Street Execs Give Pols Earful on Financial Reform: 

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.

The stated topic of the meeting: The Financial reform bill being sponsored by Senator Chris Dodd, the Democrat and chairman of the senate banking committee. Both McConnell and Cornyn listened to numerous complaints the executives have with the bill. These included complaints about provisions that allow the government to continue to prop up financial institutions that are “too big to fail.”

The undercurrent of the gathering, however, was undeniably political. It came on the heels of President Obama and Democrats in Congress passing health-care reform by a narrow margin, and who are now turning their attention to passing financial services reform a little more than a year after the Wall Street meltdown.

The Senators explained they can’t just oppose the Dodd bill — they need to come up with a reform plan of their own, as they fight its least free-market components, such as the notion that the government can determine which banks are “too big to fail.”

In the meantime, they need to increase numbers of Republicans in both the House and the Senate if they are going to make an impact on not just this bill, but other measures to increase Washington’s control of the financial business. To do that they need the support of the financial community. At one point McConnell quoted something he attributed to Democrat Barney Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

McConnell, according to a person who was present, said “Barney likes to say ‘Wall Street used to say we have Washington by the (neck), and we’re going to change that.’”

Spokespeople for McConnell and Cornyn didn’t return calls for comment.

During the meetings, both predicted that the Republicans will likely add at least six senate seats to their current total of 41, meaning they would come up just shy of control of the Senate. They predicted victories in Nevada, unseating the unpopular Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid, and said Republican Pat Toomey has a great shot at unseating Republican-turned-Democrat Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania.

They also said that they have a shot at taking control of the House by adding 40 additional seats to their current total. In New York State alone, the senators predicted a six-seat pickup.

But in order to assure those gains, and add even more, McConnell and Cornyn made it clear they need Wall Street's help. “There was no arm twisting but they did say that we should feel uncomfortable living in any country where one party has unfettered ability to pass anything including health care and anything else President Obama dreams up,” said another executive who was present.

In addition to Too Big To Fail, other parts of the bill that drew concern included what one executive from JP Morgan (JPM: 45.88, 0.49, 1.08%) said is a provision that would give authority to government to override bankruptcy laws, and determine which class of bondholders should get paid off first. During liquidation, bonds that have a higher priority and are considered “senior” are paid off first, thus they trade higher in the markets.

“I wouldn’t say this around the office,” said the executive, according to two people who were present, “but if that aspect survives, it will kill the market for distressed debt.”

Posted via email from Jim Nichols