On Tuesday of last week, Hillary Clinton made her second joke about wiping her server and deleting emails. By Saturday, Joe Biden was meeting privately with Elizabeth Warren about jumping in the race. This morning, groups that support Elizabeth Warren and her causes are making it clear they don’t support Clinton.
In another sign that Hillary Rodham Clinton has not won over important voices on the progressive left, several liberal organizations are challenging the Democratic front-runner to support a bill intended to limit the revolving door between Washington and Wall Street.
A letter to be sent to Clinton on Wednesday prods Clinton to join challengers Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley in supporting proposed legislation that would block the payment of large payouts to Wall Street executives who leave high-paying jobs to take government positions.
Of particular interest to these groups are golden parachutes—benefits given to fired executives of companies taken over by other companies:
“Allowing Wall Street bankers who’ve recently received ‘golden parachutes’ into your administration is a little like serving a fox a chicken sandwich before sticking them on hen house guard duty,” Chamberlain said. “It would be funny if it weren’t so obviously boneheaded.”
That’s a problem for Clinton. Earlier this month, Clinton attended a fundraiser hosted by Frank Biondi, known as the “superstar of the golden parachute set,” according to a 1998 Daily Variety story.
Biondi essentially made a career on being fired. In 1996, he was fired as the CEO of Viacom and collected $15 million. Just two years later, he was fired as head of Universal Studios and got a $30 million payout. It prompted the New York Post to note: “The more Frank Biondi gets fired, the richer he gets.”
Given Clinton’s reliance of folks like Biondi to finance her campaign, it’s unlikely these Warren supporters will feel at ease with Clinton any time soon.