Wall Street's 'Masters Of The Universe' Have Had It With Everyone In Washington

Politico's Ben White and Maggie Haberman have a deep dive into Wall Street's fraught relationship with Washington.

Writing in Politico Magazine (the publication's new longform progeny), White and Haberman characterize why bankers are so upset with both Democrats and Republicans.

Two paragraphs get to the heart of it. From Politico:

On both sides of the political spectrum, the titans of American finance today find themselves alienated from politics to a surprising degree. On the left, the rift has been precipitated by populist outrage and a damaged, difficult relationship with the White House. The discord and disappointment has simmered for years, and is now boiling toward the surface on both sides, particularly for donors who felt burned and spurned by a White House they helped elect…

Meanwhile, on the right, the estrangement owes to the failures of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign - a loss that has prompted Wall Street donors to sit on their cash and question the return that their investments in Republican politics can generate …This is not the first time that Wall Street has found itself at odds with one of the political parties in Washington. But it may be the first time since the Great Depression that the New York banker class has been this disconnected from both parties simultaneously.

The piece goes on to document how Wall Street's "initial rosy expectations" for its relationship with Obama - largely due to hefty campaign donations - have been all but dashed.

Read the full piece at Politico Magazine »