'Fat Cats' Invited To White House Fundraiser Now That Obama Needs Their Money Again

Weasel Zippers asks if it is legal and AmericaBlog feels betrayed and "left behind (again)" .

Seems that after begging Wall Street donors for money in 2008 which helped Barack Obama get elected, then publicly declaring war on them and calling them "fat cats", well now Obama needs their money again so he is playing nice.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) organized an event, held in the White House's Blue Room, which hosted two dozen "fat cats" aka Wall Street Donors, supposedly to talk to them about the economic recovery.

Flashback, December 2009:

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama lashed out at Wall Street, calling bankers "fat cats" who don't get it, in an escalation of tensions with the industry.

Mr. Obama, speaking on the eve of Monday's meeting with the heads of major banks at the White House, said he would try to persuade bankers to free up more credit to businesses, with the aim of boosting job growth. But the president also expressed frustration with banks that the government has assisted.

"I did not run for office to be helping out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street," Mr. Obama said in an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes" program on Sunday.

"They're still puzzled why is it that people are mad at the banks. Well, let's see," he said. "You guys are drawing down $10, $20 million bonuses after America went through the worst economic year that it's gone through in -- in decades, and you guys caused the problem. And we've got 10% unemployment."

According to the New York Times' piece about the White House fundraiser, some of these fat cats are sitting ont he sidelines so far and only a handful of such donors have been listed in Obama's campaign filings with the Democratic National Committee to date.

Others do not plan to fork over cash at all to Obama's reelection campaign and still others that supported Obama in 2008 have switched allegiance to Mitt Romney.

Last week, Mr. Romney held three fund-raisers in Greenwich, Conn., and New York, including a reception hosted by Anthony Scaramucci, a hedge fund manager who donated to Mr. Obama in 2008. Mr. Scaramucci said he wanted a president who embodied pragmatism and middle-of-the-road solutions. In 2008, that candidate was Mr. Obama, he said; today, it is Mr. Romney.

“He seemed like he was going to be a transformative candidate,” Mr. Scaramucci said of Mr. Obama in an interview. “I’m really not an ideological guy, and I think the country right now needs more practical, less partisan people.”

Speaking of Romney, Gallup reports his support is up across the board.

Barack Obama has lost much of the support he had in 2008 , from Wall Street Donors to young voters that became active in politics during the 2008 campaign season, to large Jewish donors and fundraisers with some saying they won't even vote for him in 2012.

In fact, according to some polls, it is shown that registered voters say they would definitely or probably vote for a candidate other than President Obama with only 40 percent said they would definitely or probably vote for him.

Other polls show that Obama has lost support from almost every demographic, all but well educated women.

Obama is in trouble and he knows it, with unemployment up to 9.1 percent again, the economy in the tank, foreclosure hitting highs, home buying hitting lows, job creation going nowhere and his stimulus plan failing to do as he promised, he needs those fat cats that he used in 2008, abused in 2009-2010 and now is begging to use again.

If they are stupid enough to believe his false promises again, they deserve what they get. It is good to see that some learned from their mistakes and are refusing to fall for Obama again this time around.

Buyer's remorse.

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Wall Street Helps GOP In Fight For Senate Control

The Hill reports that Wall Street is putting money into the coffers of Senate Republicans who need to win in the November midterms to take control of the Senate from Democrats.

Wall Street and financial interests are putting their money behind a handful of top-tier Senate Republican candidates as the GOP looks to win back power in the midterm elections.

The industry's contributions, which favored Democrats in recent election cycles, are now helping Republicans vie for control of the Senate.

Between February and June, financial, insurance and real estate interests contributed heavily to five Senate Republican candidates: Ohio's Rob Portman ($820,000), Pennsylvania's Pat Toomey ($728,000), California's Carly Fiorina ($650,000), Illinois' Mark Kirk ($618,000) and Florida's Marco Rubio ($613,000), according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Republicans say the shift in donations is another sign of growing concern about the Democrats’ agenda, which has included broad new financial regulations.

“We’re seeing a shift in support towards Republicans because the message of restoring accountability in Washington and serving as a check on the Democrats’ agenda of more spending and higher taxes is clearly resonating,” said Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

Democrats have long held the money advantage and any help for Republicans trying to win the net 10 seats needed to wrest control of the Senate away from Democrats and Harry Reid, is welcome.

Wall Street and financial interest groups have seen what Democrats legislation has done to their profits, the country's economy and the unemployment spike and understand that only by putting a stop to Obama's agenda being jammed through both houses of congress by Democrats that control both, can this country and therefore their own profits start to come out of this economic downfall.

The Politico reports how this change is affecting Democratic coffers.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a regular Wall Street cash recipient, has taken a big hit this year, as financial, insurance and real-estate-related donors have begun funneling more of their cash to Republican lawmakers who opposed financial reform, according to new numbers from the Center for Responsive Politics.

Reid averaged $135,572 each month in donations from the financial industry for the first half of last year, but as Democrats moved to crack down on Wall Street’s activities last fall, Reid dropped to an average of $93,415 a month between September 2009 and June 2010, according to the most recent financial disclosure figures on record.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who has enjoyed solid donation support from Wall Street, saw her monthly donations from the industry drop from $153,592 between January and August 2009, down to $143,875 from September 2009 until June 2010.

Over much of 2009, Democrats often made up the majority of the top 10 lawmakers that the financial, real estate and insurance industries gave money to.

Democrats should have known that if you continue to bite the hand that feeds you, eventually you stop getting fed.

The tides have turned.

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