Despite her best efforts and most passionate gesticulations, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) failed to shut down the government on Thursday, thus proving her political clout is vastly inferior to that of GOP colleague Ted Cruz.
Warren had urged House Democrats to block a controversial spending package, which included a provision to roll back a portion of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill known as the "swaps pushout" rule. Warren, for the record, does not like Wall Street.
"It is time for all of us to stand up and fight," she said on the Senate floor. In the end, more than 50 House Democrats supported the spending package, which was also backed by the White House.
Warren, who many consider to be the Democratic frontrunner in 2016 should Joe Biden stay out of the race, specifically attacked Citigroup, the financial firm who helped write the pro-Wall Street provision. As it turns out, Citigroup is one of the most generous supporters of Hillary Clinton’s political career. The firm has paid Bill Clinton hundreds of thousands of dollars to for speeches. Shots fired, as they say.
Citigroup is holding government funding hostage to ram through its government bailout provision. Join me in opposing the #CitigroupShutdown
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) December 11, 2014
JPMorgan Chase, another prominent Hillary backer, also lobbied for the provision; CEO Jamie Dimon made personal calls to lawmakers to rally support. Hillary has an account with JP Morgan worth between $5 million and $25 million, according to financial disclosure forms. Some Democrats were not impressed with Warren’s efforts, as Dave Weigel reports:
This rattled the Democrats' appropriators, some of whom were heading for the exits. Virginia Rep. Jim Moran spent a good part of Thursday telling reporters that Warren was "running for president" and drowning Democrats in her ambition.
"She obviously has a lot of influence," said Moran after the votes. "The media listens to everything she says."
But many liberals sided with Warren, and rallied for a government shutdown:
Citigroup should be ashamed for bringing us to the brink of shutdown #CitigroupShutdown http://t.co/t41bkCbaaX — Richard L. Trumka (@RichardTrumka) December 11, 2014
A really inspiring effort underway to keep the gov't open and make sure Citigroup gets exactly what it wants
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) December 11, 2014
One thing, however, is clear. Hillary Clinton won this round. Her Wall Street allies successfully crushed the Warren-led rebellion and will enjoy even bigger profits as a result. The episode proved that close ties to Wall Street are essential to the Democratic Party's ability to win elections. It proved that greed, more than any other human impulse, is the most important. Liberal voters may not like it, but there's nothing they can do about it.
Wall Street firms are getting ready for Hillary by donating millions in support of New York City’s bid to host the Democratic National Convention in 2016. Citigroup is among the top contributors, as is Goldman Sachs, a firm that paid Hillary $400,000 for two speeches last year, and is her second largest financial donor over the course of her political career.
Are you ready?