Wall Street Investors Donated Big to Scott Brown
Scott Brown’s 11th-hour fundraising surge was one of the great stories of the Massachusetts special election, a watershed moment when the conservative netroots proved they could hit the “donate” button as fast as liberals could. But Casey Ross discovered another angle to that story: the late burst of donations included nearly half a million dollars from financial company employees worried about Democrats’ regulatory ambitions.
“„Martin Gruss, owner of a West Palm Beach, Fla., investment firm, said he gave $2,400 to Brown because he vehemently disagrees with the policies being pursued by Obama and his economic aides.
“„… “People like me are scouring the country for conservative candidates,’’ said John Mumford, a California venture capitalist who gave the maximum $2,400 contribution to Brown four days before the election. “What’s going on in Washington is against everything I believe in, which is small government, balanced budgets, and support for free enterprise.’’
“„“They have no real understanding of the business implications of their actions,’’ he said, adding that limits on trading securities would undermine the position of the United States as the world’s financial capital.
That’s not the kind of talk (remember, money is speech) likely to make Democrats optimistic about financial reform.
