Labor & Employment Law

Blanche Lincoln Got $1.3 Million from Wall Street

By Tula Connell

Speaking yesterday to members of the Machinists, Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter didn’t mince words about why Big Banks haven’t been held accountable by Congress: Washington insiders like Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln have failed to pass financial reform legislation because they owe Wall Street.

Halter, who’s challenging Sen. Blanche Lincoln in the state’s Democratic primary, said that while taxpayers put $700 billion into a bailout for these Wall Street investment banks and commercial banks,

you and I wake up to see front-page headlines about Wall Street investment bankers and investment executives pulling down literally tens of billions of dollars in bonuses at the same time this is going on.

Two years after the bailout, we still don’t have appropriate oversight of Big Banks’ investment activities.

Why? Well I think it has something to do with the fact that the financial industry has spent $340 million just in the last two years against doing anything in the way of reform. At the same time, our incumbent Senator has taken over $1.3 million in contributions from Wall Street banks, commercial banks, executives and so forth.

Arkansas working families have endorsed Halter, and just today, the Alliance for Retired Americans Political Action Fund, representing nearly 4 million retirees and community activists, endorsed Halter for Senate.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on April 14, 2010 (boomark / email).