As the media continues to parrot
American intelligence agencies’ as-of-yet unsubstantiated claims
that Russia hacked the U.S. election, there is far more evidence to
implicate an equally dangerous infiltrator: Goldman Sachs.
The infamous banking company,
which was widely implicated in the 2008 economic crash, appears to
have come out on top in the most recent U.S. presidential election.
On one hand, Goldman Sachs was
hedging its bets on a Hillary Clinton victory. Considering the
banking monolith was one of her top donors — and that she received
harsh criticism for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in
speaking fees from the firm — it’s clear the powerful financiers
had every intent of influencing the election and politics in general.
When Clinton lost, many Americans
celebrated the electoral rebuke of policies past. In contrast to many
politicians, Trump aggressively criticized Goldman Sachs on the
campaign trail, scolding Clinton for her ties to the company. He also
criticized Ted Cruz because his wife worked for Goldman Sachs and
because he received loans from the bank. By electing Trump, according
to some narratives, the people rejected candidates funded by special
interests in direct defiance of the established order.
“I know the guys at Goldman
Sachs,” Trump said last February. “They have total, total control
over [Cruz]. Just like they have total control over Hillary Clinton,”
he claimed, referencing the funding Clinton and Cruz received.
But as much as Trump’s rhetoric
reflected the sentiments of millions of Americans — and though he
refused donations from bankers — his actions since clinching the
role of commander-in-chief have betrayed his initial position. In
fact, before he even won the presidency, Trump was employing Steven
Mnunchin, a former Goldman Sachs executive, as his campaign finance
chairman.
Trump rewarded Mnunchin for his
campaign efforts by nominating him for the position of treasury
secretary. But one affiliation with a former Goldman Sachs employee
admittedly does not mean Trump is siding with corporate banking
interests.
Appointing several Goldman Sachs
employees, however, begins to cast doubt on his priorities. This
week, the President-elect added two more former Goldman Sachs
employees to his administration. His top donor, Anthony Scaramucci,
is a former Goldman employee who will now serve as a senior White
House advisor. Dina Habib Powell, who heads “charitable efforts”
for the firm, will be a “senior counselor for economic
initiatives.” She previously worked in the Bush administration.
But there’s more. As the New
York Daily News summarized:
“They’ll join White House
Chief Strategist Steve Bannon…National Economic Council
Chairman-appointee Gary Cohn and Securities and Exchange Commission
Chairman nominee Jay Clayton as top Trump appointees who held senior
Goldman positions.”
Cohn, a registered Democrat, is
particularly worrisome considering he still works as Goldman Sachs’
COO (Chief Operating Officer), a top position.
Regardless of who won the 2016
election, apparently, Goldman Sachs has retained its influence —
just as it did throughout the Obama administration, demonstrating the
financial giant ‘hacked’ not just the 2016 election, but also the
2012 and 2008 elections, as well as others before.
Goldman Sachs employees were top
donors to Barack Obama in 2008 and also contributed to his campaign
in 2012. John McCain and Mitt Romney also received funding from the
company.
Once elected in 2008, Obama lined
his cabinet with former employees of major banking firms who cashed
in on government bailouts and donated to his campaign. For example,
Rahm Emanuel, who served as his chief of staff from 2008 to 2010
before successfully running for mayor in Chicago, had previously been
on Goldman Sachs payroll, both during his time in the Clinton
administration and when he was an elected congressman.
Obama’s administration failed to
produce any significant prosecutions for the 2008 crisis and,
incidentally, between 2009 to 2012, 95% of income gains went to the
top 1 percent of Americans.
Though some Trump supporters might
espouse argument that Trump needs experts in business and industry to
truly effect change and beat back government corruption, Barack Obama
already took that approach — and it failed.
Goldman Sachs leaves nothing to
chance. Its employees and political action committee donate not only
to presidential candidates but also to individual lawmakers and both
the Republican and Democratic national committees. Former Goldman
Sachs employees make up four of twelve Federal Reserve board
chairman.
Considering Trump’s slew of
Goldman Sachs appointments, it’s likely this established order will
continue to prevail despite the President-elect’s vows to drain the
swamp.
As Trump’s pick for treasury
secretary, Steven Mnunchin, said last May: “I wouldn’t in any
way say I distanced myself from Wall Street. I have very good friends
on Wall Street.”
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