In mafia parlance, I believe they call this the “protection racket”:
After attacking hedge funds and their managers during her tenure in the Obama administration, Anita Dunn is now working as a public relations consultant to improve the industry’s image, according to a secret proposal obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Dunn, formerly the interim White House communications director for the Obama administration and currently a managing director at the Democratic consulting firm SKDKnickerbocker (SKDK), is being promoted by the public relations firm McLean/Clark LLC as a director of “paid media” for a pro-hedge-fund campaign. The project is described by promotional material as a “comprehensive public affairs operation” to “raise awareness about the positive role hedge funds play in the American economy” and to “eliminate the need for politicians to take aim at hedge funds.”
As the Washington Free Beacon notes in its bombshell report, Dunn continues to attend frequent meetings at the White House. Incidentally, Wall Street has been pumping money into anti-Obama and anti-Democratic campaigns, Politico reported yesterday. Which means Obama certainly has an interest in making nice with the investment industry:
The beleaguered sector is pumping tens of millions of dollars into campaigns and newly dominant super PACS as one of Wall Street’s own seeks the White House and the industry looks to roll back key parts of the Dodd-Frank financial reforms. The goal is to oust a president and some members of Congress whom many bankers view as openly hostile toward them.
Employees of securities and investment firms have already given $52.8 million to candidates and party committees in the 2012 cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That makes it the No. 1 industry, up from fourth place in 2010 and third in the 2008 campaign.
The timing here is pretty perfect. While Obama ramps up attacks on Wall Street and investors, Dunn is now reaching out to offer some of them paid protection – and, implicitly, a friendly channel to the White House. If there’s a better example of the corrupt ties between Big Government and Big Business, it’s difficult to think of one.
