Obama Has Wall Street Cronies Too and It's Damned Upsetting

"It's startling the number of high-ranking Obama officials who have spun through the revolving door between the White House and the sacred halls of investment banking."

- From respected journalist Bill Moyers, in the introduction to his "Crony Capitalism" interview (linked below) with former Reagan budget director David Stockman.

Liberals love Bill Moyers. Though best known for his numerous PBS series and broadcasts, Moyers was also a White House Press Secretary during the LBJ administration. Bill Moyers exudes intelligence and integrity in every fiber of his being, and when he endorses or champions a particular perspective, he adds gravitas and legitimacy to the issue. He represents the best of the left.

It is precisely because I view Bill Moyers as the soulful conscience of liberal America that it sucked so much to hear his indictment of President Obama's dismal failure to permanently resolve the issues that led to the financial crisis he inherited. Worse than that, in his interview with Stockman, Moyers points out not only the administration's inability to implement long-term solutions, but also President Obama's unexpected (to me at least) cronyism with finance industry bigwigs. According to Moyers and Stockman, Obama has taken just as much care of Wall Street as his Republican predecessors, and he has done so, in large part for the same reasons - because money owns politics.

I believe Obama is still the wisest choice in November 2012, but this interview was a sobering gut check, and an important lesson in keeping it real.

Thanks to Jeanne Joesten for the tip on this interview. You said to let you know what I thought about it, and now you do. I kind of wish you never mentioned it :) 

David Stockman on Crony Capitalism from BillMoyers.com on Vimeo.

On a side note, after seeing this video I thought - if David Stockman had a tent, an acoustic guitar, and some spare time, the Occupy Movement could really use him.