Did you know the "greed" on Wall Street comes from Democrats?

I didnt realize it either until i read this article by Kevin Williamson (published in March 2009 in National Review magazine) titled "Losing Gordon Gecko." Remember Gecko from the movie "Wall Street"? Excellent article. The following are the key excerpts:

"The Democrats - the party of George Soros and dodgy cattle futures - have long profited by denouncing Republicans as the party of Wall Street, a raggedy front for a gang of amoral money-runners pulling the strings of their puppets in Washington. It's a useful narrative for Democrats, but it isn't true. [...] Goldman Sachs is one firm that's learned that politics matters: The sinking investment bank received some $12,000,000,000 in bailout funds while its competitor, Lehman Brothers, was allowed to go bankrupt. Goldman operatives move easily between government and the private sector and have played key roles in both Democrat and Republican administrations. But like the rest of Wall Street, they have tilted heavily democrat of late. Goldman Sachs was the biggest donor to Democrats in 2008 according to a Center for Responsive Politics report. Some 73% of Goldman Sachs' millions in 2006-2008 donations went to Democrats, [...] The banking bailout [...] was marketed by Goldman Sachs alumnus Hank Paulson, who literally begged, on bended knee, for the money. It was managed by Assist. Treasury Secretary and former Goldman Sachs foot soldier Neel Kashkari and was politically nudged along by [President] Bush's Chief of Staff Josh Bolton, another Goldman veteran."

"With Democrats now controlling the elected branches in Washington, Goldman has an even stronger hand: Former chairman Robert Rubin is the dean of the Goldman Sachs Democrats, the group that ran economic policy under the Clinton administration and is doing the same under [President] Obama. [...]."

"Other major nodes on the Goldman-Democratic nexus include Al Gore's London-based private-equity firm, Generation Investment Management, which was founded with assistance from former Goldman boss Paulson and includes in its ranks a half dozen prominent Goldman veterans. Former Goldman Sachs Asset Management CEO David Blood is its CEO, earning the firm its nickname, 'Blood for Gore.' Goldman Sachs is a significant investor in E+Co, Blue Source, and APX, all firms positioned to profit from the cap-and-trade schemes that are at the heart of Gore's global warming crusade."

"[...] Senator Schumer, the New York grandee who sits on the Senate finance and banking committees, and who is infamous for his aggressive methods of shaking campaign contributions out of the money movers, raised $6 million from Wall Street for his last race - a pro forma campaign against an obscure Republican with one-tenth the cash. Schumer's tactics for extracting campaign money from Wall Street when he was head of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee were so aggressive that Senator Arlen Specter accused him of using congressional inquiries in part as a fundraising tool. But it's hard to weep for Wall Street when it is getting such a rich return on its political investments: Schumer drove a stake through the heart of tax-code changes that would have treated 'carried interest' - the source of many private equity fortunes - as regular income for tax purposes, instead of taxing it as a capital gain. As it stands, a private-equity manager who makes a billion dollars pays 15% in taxes on carried interest, while a guy earning a salary of $34,000 is in the 25% tax bracket."

"In 2006 to 2008 Wall Street poured money on Democrats. Big Wall Street firms that made major political contributions - including Citi Group, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Lehman - gave the majority of their contributions to Democrats. The hedge funds followed suit [...]."

"The Democrats have figured out that they can keep Wall Street in their coalition by offering them easygoing social liberalism, a few sweet tax breaks, and good access to government revenue streams. [...] The Republicans' philosophy is informed by free-market idealists who celebrate the wonders of Schumpeterian 'creative destruction', but the guys flying business class would much rather sink into a nice warm bailout and let capitalism creatively destroy somebody else's money - the tax payers' money for instance. The bankers are the last guys who want free markets right now, and so it's no surprise to find them writing big checks to the Democrats. But against all evidence, Republicans remain the party of Wall Street in the public imagination. 'That's the irony of it all' says David Smick, a financial market adviser, 'but really, isn't that the job of a CEO, in addition to managing, to get a special deal? To get yourself protection? That's what you do, whether it's a monopoly, or the ultimate backstop, the ultimate hedge: the taxpayer.' Welcome to the hedge-fund racket America." Welcome to politics and greed as usual, this time from the Congressional Democrats.

Vote the bums out 2010.