Democrats Shackled By Wall Street Ties

Democrats are enjoying having Wall Street as a villain as they push for financial reform, but there's one nagging problem: they've gotten pretty close to Wall Street in recent years. Thanks to some maneuvering from Chuck Schumer and Rahm Emanuel, many Democrats raised a lot of money from Wall Street donors in recent campaign cycles—including Barack Obama, who took in nearly $1 million from Goldman Sachs employees, Politico reports.

Democrats are hoping they can get the stink off by vigorously pursuing a reform package that Wall Street clearly despises, but they're not there yet. When Obama slammed Mitch McConnell for hobnobbing with Wall Street, John Cornyn shot back that the president had “demeaned himself and his office” by attacking McConnell for “doing what Rahm Emanuel did.” Emanuel, for his part, is still talking with Wall Street, trying to convince them that reform is necessary. (More Wall Street stories.)