Oligarchs

28 March 2008



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Hillary’s Rich Pals Threaten Pelosi

Some people think their money entitles them to bully people. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) received a letter yesterday from 20 Clinton donors in which they insisted that she change her view on how superdelegates should act. Her view is that they should endorse the will of the people. What has these oligarchs upset is that the will of the people at the moment favors Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) rather than Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY).

The letter threatened, not very subtly, “We have been strong supporters of the DCCC [Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee].” That means, “We’ve ponied up a lot of dough in the past and if you want any in the future, you’ll do things our way.” They continued, “We therefore urge you to clarify your position on superdelegates and reflect in your comments a more open view to the optional independent actions of each of the delegates at the national convention in August.”

The AP says the signatories are:

  • Marc Aronchick (attorney in Pennsylvania with the law firm Segal and Pudlin)
  • Clarence Avant (co-owner of MoTown Records and of Polygram Records)
  • Susie Tompkins Buell (founder of Esprit clothing)
  • Sim Farar (LA investment banker)
  • Robert L. Johnson (founder of Black Entertainment Television
  • Chris Korge (insists he an attorney, but lobbyist might be more accurate)
  • Marc Lasry (a founder and managing oartner of Avenue Capital Group, the distressed fund manager, that is vulture fund)
  • Cathy Lasry, (married to Marc, she does charity work. Formerly a book editor until 1990)
  • Hassan Nemazee (venture capitalist)
  • Alan Patricof (co-founder of Apax Partners, Inc., a private equity firm)
  • Susan Patricof (Described as a “homemaker” in FEC filings)
  • JB Pritzker (partner/founder of New World Ventures in 1996; managing partner of The Pritzker Group)
  • Amy Rao (founder and CEO of Integrated Archive Services, a computer company)
  • Lynn de Rothschild (uses old money to play in wireless phones, pretty successfully, too)
  • Haim Saban (his company brought the world the Power Rangers)
  • Bernard Schwartz (chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Loral Space & Communications Inc.)
  • Stanley S. Shuman (made his millions as managing director of Allen & Company LLC, the investment banking firm)
  • Jay Snyder, (principal of HBJ Investments, LLC, and Ashfield Consulting Group, a financial services firm)
  • Steven Rattner, (venture capitalist, founder and managing principal at private investment firm Quadrangle Group, formerly of Morgan Stanley and Lazard) and
  • Maureen White (former National Finance Chair of the Democratic Party, former assistant vice president at the First Boston Corporation, and also is Mrs. Steven Rattner)
In other words, these are the same corporate Democrats who have bankrolled the Clintons for decades, and who don’t like the idea that their investment is flaming out. Like most rich people who don’t get what they believed they paid for (DailyKos.com estimates they have given $25,912,969 to the Dems over the years, and $491,459 to the DCCC specifically), they are threatening to sell their stock.

Mrs. Pelosi’s office issued a statement that essentially called their bluff, “The Speaker believes it would do great harm to the Democratic Party if superdelegates are perceived to overturn the will of the voters. This has been her position throughout this primary season, regardless of who was ahead at any particular point in delegates or votes.”

What is appalling to these American oligarchs is the fact that small donations by a great many people to the Obama campaign have amounted to more than theirs. The internet has rendered their checkbooks secondary. Jerry Brown noted in 1992 (when he limited donations to individual who could give no more than $100 each), if a million people give the maximum, he would have both $100 million and a million activists supporters. Mr. Obama has more money and more votes than the oligarchs' palls. Only Russian-style democracy can save Mrs. Clinton, and her investors are angry.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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