John Carney Adding the Koch Brothers to the Banking Interests He Represents

Filed in Delaware, National by on June 10, 2014

The House is currently working on a bill that would re-authorize the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, usually not a controversial event, but this year, those who are looking to unravel Dodd-Frank have wrapped into this bill a number of items that specifically work to give banks more freedom to bankrupt us again. John Carney is right in the middle of this effort to continue to destabilize Dodd-Frank, and in the process, give the Koch Brothers an assist. Here’s the earlier Huffington Post front page announcing how Democrats — even our Democrat — are working to help the Koch Brothers:
Carney.Koch

In a bitter irony for Democrats, two of the people who stand to gain the most from the fracas are none other than Charles and David Koch, the Republican billionaires who have tapped one of the world’s largest fortunes to cut down Democrats in elections and fuel conservative reforms. According to a lobbying disclosure form, lobbyists for the Koch empire have pushed for four of the most controversial deregulation provisions in Cantor’s latest endeavor.

The Koch and Wall Street-backed deregulation items have all been folded into a bill formally reauthorizing the existence of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — the regulator that oversees the multi-trillion-dollar derivatives market. The agency has been functioning without authorization since October, and financial oversight advocates are confident that it can continue to do so unless the GOP passes legislation to defund it.

By lumping a host of bipartisan bills together, the CFTC bill is Wall Street’s best chance yet to defang Dodd-Frank. The most consequential deregulation bill in the package was introduced in early 2013 as HR 1256. Critics on Capitol Hill blast it as the “London Whale Loophole Act,” because it allows U.S. firms to skip Dodd-Frank’s trading rules on derivatives, provided they conduct trades in other countries with supposedly similar regulatory regimes.

The bill’s two Democratic co-sponsors Reps. David Scott (D-Ga.) and John Carney (D-Del.), denied meeting with Koch lobbyists, as did two Democrats who co-sponsored a previous version of the bill in 2011, Reps. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) and Jim Himes (D-Conn.). Of the 17 Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee who voted for the bill in committee last spring, 10 denied meeting with the Kochs, and seven did not respond to requests to comment. Most insisted they had no idea the Kochs were pushing for the bill.

This election cycle, Moore has collected $243,400 from the financial industry, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics — nearly triple the $89,750 she’s raised from organized labor, her next-highest backer. Scott has pulled in $220,160 from finance, compared with $68,000 from unions. The $353,632 Carney has drawn from the financial industry is more than five times what he’s received from his next-biggest supporter, lawyers and lobbyists. Himes, who has been in charge of national fundraising for House Democrats since early 2013, has secured $733,600 from the banking sector for his own war chest and political action committee (the Center for Responsive Politics categorizes his next-highest sector as simply “other”).

You should read the whole thing to get the entire context. But keep in mind that John Carney is doing more work to make sure that Too Big To Fail is permanent government policy than he is in making sure that your Social Security is secure and available to you. He will tell you that your Social Security benefits need to be reduced for the good of the system, yet making it easier for Banks to make their way to the trough is the (not very fiscally responsible) work he is committed to doing.

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"You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas." -Shirley Chisholm

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  1. John Carney Primary Challenge Imminent ? : Delaware Liberal | June 11, 2014
  1. Jason330 says:

    Fucking carney. What a joke. He’ll say some nice things about his gay friends or make a daring stand in favor of MLK day and everyone will say “what a great Democrat.”

  2. FenceSitter says:

    I want some Chipster bashing! Guilty pleasure.

  3. In The Know says:

    Say what you want about the Chipster but, unlike Carney, you’re not likely to find him sucking up to the Koch Brothers. (Unless, of course, they sweeten their contributions with some paid travel.)

  4. Thing about Carney is he’s instinctively in tune with what the Kochs are selling when it comes to rigging the system for the rich.

    He’s so used to ‘reaching across the aisle’ that they don’t even have to talk to him for him to do their bidding.

    Of course, over $350K in campaign contributions to Carney from the financial services industry says more than even the Koch Brothers could.

    Have YOU called your congressman today?

  5. Jason330 says:

    I think I have to primary John Carney. Not because I want to be in Congress, or be a O’Donell type spoiler and risk throwing the seat to the Republicans. John Carney will easily beat me in the primary.

    But I want to do it to just have a chance to tell him to his face that he is wrong to take $300k from the financial services industry. That he is wrong to enable the Tea Party like he does by giving “bipartisan” gloss to all the bullshit they are pulling. That he is wrong to use his seat to benefit billionaires like Pete Peterson at the expense of Delawareans he is supposed to be representing.

    What’s the filling fee? I would surely lose – but if I could just tell him to be a Democrat to his face it might shame him into thinking twice about being the Republicans boy on the other side of the isle. Even if is didn’t; it would make me feel better.

  6. puck says:

    I always figured Carney was earnestly playing to Reagan Democrats, which to be fair used to be the way to get elected in Delaware. But that era is over and now Delaware voters, unless I miss my guess, are more in tune with actual Democratic values. But somehow we are low-information enough to keep incumbents rolling along simply out of name recognition.

    But now I have to consider the possibility that Carney is actually a Republican in all but party registration.

  7. Jason330 says:

    So that’s an endorsement? You are now my chief policy advisor. Welcome aboard.

  8. Jason330 says:

    Doable. (With a little help from kindred spirits…) You are my new finance chair. Welcome to the campaign. I know this conflicts with your other duties, but it is a summer lark. They will understand.

  9. liberalgeek says:

    I’m fundraising already. David Koch wants to know if you’ll support his plan to privatize the Department of Energy (if you do, there will be a bag of $500K in cash on your back porch tomorrow morning).

    Let me know. We can pay the filing fee out of that money.

  10. Jason330 says:

    lol. My one true skill it spotting talent.

  11. Bane says:

    What is the actually Koch connection? Other than the fact that 4 lobbying firms that have Koch contracts as well as contracts with other entities have endorsed the bills? Also, what does the Carney bill actually do? Neither of those point were really explained in the original blog post. Anybody know?

  12. pandora says:

    Can I be your Communication’s Director, J? My “tone” is pitch perfect! 😉

  13. Jason330 says:

    You are in. Welcome to the WTF? party.

  14. Jason, I hereby pledge $100 to help pay the filing fee. All I ask is that, following your election, I be appointed as Outreach Director to the Wine Aficionado community. Here and, of course, all over the globe. I’ll see if some banks can pick up my travel and leisure tab. Now that we have a precedent, shouldn’t be too difficult.

    Or I could be your press secretary. I already know how to say ‘unavailable for comment’. Beau’s press secretary taught me that.

  15. pandora says:

    Put me down for 100.00, as well. Do it, Jason!

  16. Jason330 says:

    I will endeavor be worthy of your support. Welcome cocktails at 4:30pm

  17. pandora says:

    Welcome cocktails where????

  18. Jason330 says:

    We need a “Chair of Welcome Cocktails” when someone else comments on this thread, I’ll draft them.

  19. Geezer says:

    @Bane: Click on the link.

    I can’t handle the cocktails ’cause I’m off the sauce.