Just Kill Me Now

NOT Elizabeth Warren

At a recent meeting of the Editorial Board of G&S, your humble and obedient servant expressed the view that he was already tired of the 2012 political campaign. We've not changed our view, but sometimes we just can't help ourselves, and something shiny catches our attention.

You've no doubt heard that JP Morgan Chase, home to thousands of people way smarter than you, managed to rack up $2 billion in trading losses over the course of six weeks. Yes, that's "billion" with a "B", and "six weeks" as in 30 business days. And, "yes" yet again, the "d" word is involved.

Massachusetts Democratic candidate for Senate Elizabeth Warren is on the case, and on the warpath, calling for Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon's scalp:

BOSTON, MA - In the wake of $2 billion in losses at JP Morgan Chase due to risky trading, Elizabeth Warren, the architect of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, today called on Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan's CEO, to resign from his position on the Board of Directors of the New York Federal Reserve Bank as a first step to signal to the American people that Wall Street understands the need for greater responsibility and accountability.

"Wall Street banks continue to have fundamental problems, and tough oversight and accountability are urgently needed. Jamie Dimon deserves credit for taking public responsibility for $2 billion in losses based on a trading strategy he called 'poorly reviewed,' 'poorly monitored,' and even 'sloppy.' But Dimon is not only the CEO of JP Morgan, he is also a member of the Board of Directors of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, where he advises the Federal Reserve on the oversight of the financial industry," Warren said.

"After the biggest financial crisis in generations, the American people are frustrated that Wall Street has still not been held accountable and does not appear to consider itself responsible. Dimon should resign from his post at the New York Fed to send a signal to the American people that Wall Street bankers get it and to show that they understand the need for responsibility and accountability," Warren said.

Nothing much new here, of course, "Wall Street" and "Big Banks" and so on and so forth need to be "held responsible" and so on. But, you see, here's the thing: while Ms. Warren is prattling on about Wall Street, her Big Chief, the President of the United States, relies on those very same bankers to finance his political campaign. According to OpenSecrets.org, during the 2008 presidential campaign cycle, Mr. Obama received contributions to the tune of $808,000 from JPMorgan folks, over $1,000,000 from Goldman Sachs people, and over $700,000 from Citigroup. Of course, this represents only contributions to Mr. Obama's campaign itself, and doesn't include cash provided to political action committees and the like.

We did some Googling, but couldn't find any statements from Ms. Warren calling on the president to return those contributions, or to refuse to accept Wall Street money this time around.

But that's just us.