Hillary’s Top Donors are Wall Street Firms. So How are They Fighting Her? With Money?

Hillary Clinton’s doublespeak during the MSNBC Democratic debate last night was patent. To paraphrase what Clinton said as I remember it, Wall Street is coming after her. They know she has their number. They have her address because she invites them over for cocktails. Their offerings are tribute, donated out of fear more than camaraderie.

Right. I think that’s fairly accurate summary. You can check the transcript. I’m sure there’s something I’m leaving out.

But are they going after her? By flinging wads of cash?

Clinton’s game of Super-PACman has gotten so absurd, we had to come up with new terms to describe the fuckery of campaign finance: the lobbyist-cum-bundler.

What’s that? Let me explain. Though technically in the wake of Citizens United, candidates can take millions from corporations who are recognized as invincible persons, it still doesn’t sit well with voters who remain irrationally committed to their human sovereignty. So the last thing a viable candidate wants is to be seen doing is accepting “tribute” from Monsanto and Goldman Sachs. It’d be horrific PR.

So what’s a beleaguered corporate sellout to do? How does that dirty lobbyist money get clean?

Well, basically, the same way the banks like Merrill Lynch turned shit mortgages into AAA bonds: by bundling them.

Where we once had lobbyists, now we have SuperLobbyists managing MegaLobbies like Subject Matter, a K Street conglomerate comprised of Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Time-Warner, Verizon, and Monsanto, among others.

You get the former DNC finance chair, Richard Sullivan, shilling services for Capitol Counsel, representing Blackstone and drug industry lobby PhRMA.

You have the brother of Clinton’s campaign chairman heading the Podesta Group, a lobbying behemoth representing the diverse interests of Blue Cross-Blue Shield, Lockheed-Martin, Saudi Arabia, and Credit Suisse.

I could go on, but the money is just as dirty.

But these guys run cover for Clinton and the DNC. They play with Richard Sullivan so they won’t be seen sucking off Blackstone.