Sen. Barack Obama has made a big deal of his refusal to take money from lobbyists, but he’s been quieter on another campaign finance fact: from the industries behind our financial crisis, Obama has taken much more money than John McCain has. Now, with his open-ended and unspecific calls for new financial regulations, Obama has issued a dog-whistle call to financial firms and their lobbyists.
On Tuesday night, in the second debate, Obama answered a question on the economy by stating, “we’re going to have to change the culture in Washington so that lobbyists and special interests aren’t driving the process and your voices aren’t being drowned out.” He’s absolutely correct. Wall Street and banks have outsize influence in Washington, driving policies (pushed by both parties) that helped lead to our current mess.
