The Securities and Exchange Commission's securities fraud charges against Goldman Sachs should come as no surprise. And it just scratches the surface of the widespread sham that Wall Street perpetrated on the American people. But, it is the legalized corruption of our political system that allowed this to happen. Until the Democratic Party rids itself of the corrupting influence of corporate cash--and, in particular, the influence of Wall Street--real reform will not come. And that legalized corruption starts with my opponent.
According to OpenSecrets.org, Kirsten Gillibrand is the number one recipient of Goldman Sachs-related money among ALL Senate incumbents candidate, of both parties; she ranks third in pocketing Goldman Sachs-related dollars of all incumbents candidates running for Congress from both parties.
This is the root of our corrupted system. It is a bankrupt argument to say that that is the system that exists and so everyone has to play in that system.
That is small solace to the millions of homeowners who are losing the places they lived in, or the millions of people who lost their jobs due to the behavior of Goldman Sachs and the other Wall Street firms, for whom greed and profit were the only guiding principle.
The Democratic Party can, and should, cleanse itself of this corrupting money. We cannot hope to be the party of the average person if our candidates are owed by Wall Street.
So, I have called on my opponent to immediately give back every dollar she has pocketed from Goldman Sachs. Here is the brief release:
Today, with the Securities Exchange Commission’s decision to charge Goldman Sachs with securities fraud, I am calling on my opponent, Kirsten Gillibrand, to give back the $23,800 that she has received so far from Goldman Sachs contributors. According to OpenSecrets.org, my opponent is the number one Senate candidate recipient of Goldman Sachs cash in the country.
As I said in January, when I first called on her to give back all the corrupting cash she is pocketing from Wall Street, banks and financial services, my opponent continues to pocket huge amounts of corporate-influenced cash, particularly from the elite bankers and financial manipulators who engineered the collapse of our economy, robbing Americans of their jobs, savings and retirement. By her actions, not words, my opponent stands side-by-side by the very corrupt interests who have hurt our country.
It is not a surprise that my opponent has refused to support the modest bank tax proposed by President Obama. She is in the pocket of Wall Street—and her bank account shows it.
This is such an obvious conflict of interest. This is not about who you might support in this race. This is about whether we are going to allow our elected representatives to be bought by Wall Street--and the very time that we are trying to revive and fix our financial system.