Having bought and paid for a whole slew of new Republican members of Congress, apparently Wall Street feels they have to protect them from disgruntled constituents, as well. They're trying to
stack the decks at town hall meetings with conservative activists asking softball quesitons.
Slate’s Dave Weigel reports that American Action Network, a relatively new conservative front group founded by a group of Wall Street bankers, is loading up conservative activists with softball questions and talking points to bolster Republican lawmakers on the Ryan plan:
Meanwhile, the American Action Network, the think tank and campaign shop run by former Republican Sen. Norm Coleman, is making Ryan budget talking points and questions available for conservatives who want to buck up their members.
American Action Network did not return ThinkProgress’ request for more information on the budget talking points. As we reported last year, the group was founded by investment banker Ken Langone, former Goldman Sachs executive Robert Steel, and investor and former Nixon official Fred Malek.
If the tough questioning of these Republicans at town meetings continues, it wouldn't be at all surprising to see the Koch/Fox/Armey network really engage, and start busing in their minions to try to outnumber and shout down others. It's their playbook, after all, and they have an investment to protect, an investment that is working out for them so far:
The Ryan plan repeals provisions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law that allow "the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) to designate some firms as systemically significant and subject them to stiffer regulation"— a major reform Wall Street has lobbied aggressively to stop. The American Action Network board features a number of executives and lobbyists with a potential interest in rolling back financial regulations.