It is incorrect to say that “the Democrats” got nothing from surrendering to Trump again (Remember Schumer not even pretending to negotiate over March 2025 Continuing Resolution). 8 Vichy Democrats and their leader Chuck Schumer (and I know that King is an Independent voting with Democrats) will be swamped with donations from their donors/owners. Fetterman, Angus King, Catherine Cortez-Masto, Jacky Rosen, Jeanne Shaheen, and Tim Kaine will make out like bandits from grateful billionaires. The Wall Street Democrats retiring, like Durbin and Hassan will likely be rewarded in their cushy retirement jobs and/or the privilege of being welcomed into billionaire social circles.
Thousands of People who will die because they can’t afford insurance and Millions of People choosing between rent, food and health insurance lost. 70 million plus Democratic voters will get a Kabuki performance vote in which Wall Street Democrats get a purely performative vote for health care coverage which will go nowhere. Adding insult to injury, Vichy Senate Democrats will run campaign advertisements paid for by their sponsors talking about how they fought the good fight against Trump.
This would not have occurred without the blessing of Chief Wall Street Democrat Chuck Schumer. Schumer and his partner Gillibrand (Chair of 2026 DSCC) got a pass from their donor/owners to appear “independent” by not endorsing anyone for Mayor of New York and got permission to avoid surrendering to Trump on the continuing resolution vote. Like Susan Collins, Wall Street knows that Schumer and Gillibrand can be counted on in the clutch so there is no need to tarnish their schtick by forcing them to publicly bend the knee. Too open or too repeated subservience to Wall Street might give the rubes ideas.
This is not the first time that Wall Street has called in its chits from Democrats. Obama endorsed the pro-Iraq war Lieberman in 2006 after he lost the Democratic primary to the anti-war LaMont. Lieberman protected Obama’s Wall Street donors by ensuring that there would be no public option healthcare. Obama’s mea culpa in 2018 when he endorsed LaMont did not cost Wall Street anything.ctmirror.org/… Wall Street approved or Wall Street acquiescent Democrats triumphed again in writing the most corporate friendly healthcare law, the 2010 ACA. Insurance Companies made sure that coverage for those with pre-existing conditions would not go into effect for four years. Democratic Senate Finance Chair Max Baucus scheduled a hearing in 2009 on options for National Healthcare, but scheduled no witnesses supporting single payer. The closest single payer advocates got to Baucus was being hauled out of Baucus’s hearing by security. Meanwhile, Baucus appointed Senior Finance Committee Counsel Elizabeth Fowler (coincidentally former VP for Big Hospital Company Wellpoint) wrote large parts of the ACA bill. billmoyers.com/...
Bill and Hillary Clinton have also proved reliable Wall Street Democrats. The Clintons refused to campaign for Elizabeth Warren in 2012 against Republican Scott Brown because it would have offended their Hamptons, Wall Street “friends” who donated so generously to the Clinton Foundation and scheduled lucrative speaking engagements for Hillary. The Clintons proved their continuing worth to Wall Street again when they endorsed sleazy, corporatecrat Cuomo in 2025 after he lost the Democratic primary for Mayor of New York.
What is to be done about Democrats who campaign on a people’s platform then vote or govern differently? There is not a good answer. I campaigned for and donated to Bill Clinton twice, Obama twice, and Hillary Clinton. I have donated to Fetterman, Shaheen, Cortez-Masto, Jacky Rosen, and Hassan. I suspect that every Wall Street Senate Democrat has convinced themselves that their capitulation to Trump is a necessary “compromise” just as Columbia University President Claire Shipman and Big Law Firms: Paul, Weiss, and Kirkland & Ellis, and Douglas Emhoff’s (husband of Kamala Harris) firm convinced themselves that surrendering to Trump’s extortion was the best possible option. Whether Vichy Democrats have contempt for the hoi polloi who are Democratic voters or just think that us voters lack inside information or wisdom is an open question.
A good example of the issue is North Carolina Democratic Senator Kay Hagan, who campaigned for Obama’s public option in 2008, but Hagan and Obama abandoned that option without a fight after the 2008 election. Hagan’s supporters complained that they had donated to her and knocked on doors for her, but she was not there when it counted. When opportunistic Democrats run for re-election as an incumbent Wall Street can donate generously; the fact that in the previous election their money went to Republicans is forgiven.
The ultimate problem is that Billionaires can promise an elected official a lucrative, cushy no-show job if they are defeated for re-election. Arkansas Senate Democrat Blanche Lincoln, was defeated for re-election, but as a lame duck voted to drastically cut Gift and Estate Taxes for her wealthy donors because she believes that the country should be run to benefit its ruling class. She was rewarded with a lobbying job advocating lower taxes for corporations.
Make no mistake, It is Democratic voters who are Charlie Brown being fooled by Lucy again; the DC Democratic Senate “leadership” knows what they are doing.
