Labor & Employment Law

Gordon Gekkos Running for Office All Over Ohio

By admin

Andy Richards, AFL-CIO Field Communications director in Ohio, sends us this report.

Some of you may remember Gordon Gekko, the unscrupulous Wall Street trader from the 1987 Academy Award-winning film “Wall Street.” Gekko?played by Michael Douglas and returning this Friday in a new sequel “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps”?uses unethical and deceitful tactics to amass an immense amount of wealth on the backs of working families. ?Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works,? says Gekko, a phrase that has become part of popular usage.

Flash forward more than 20 years and you can see the spirit of Gordon Gekko channeled by candidates right here in Ohio. These Wall Street cheerleaders?John Kasich, Rob Portman, Steve Chabot, Tom Ganley, Bob Gibbs, Jim Renacci and Steve Stivers?have voting records that would make Gekko drool. Whether it’s direct ties to corrupt Wall Street corporations, taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from Wall Street firms or general unethical and greedy business practices, these candidates rightfully earn the title of Gordon Gekkos of Ohio.

Gubernatorial candidate John Kasich is the ultimate Gordon Gekko of Ohio. After leaving Congress, where he voted for the legislation that killed Ohio jobs, Kasich became a managing director of Lehman Brothers. During his seven years at Lehman, Kasich made millions of dollars in salary and bonuses. He also used his political connections to set up meetings and sell Ohio pension officials on his firm?s risky investments. Lehman went bankrupt in 2008 and Ohio pension funds lost $480 million . To top it off, Kasich received a $432,000 bonus in 2008 while Ohio seniors lost millions from their retirement funds.

Although Kasich has tried to downplay his connections to Wall Street on the campaign trail, he continues to reveal his Wall Street values. Recently, he presented a proposal to privatize the Department of Development and put it under the control of a 12-member board of handpicked CEOs from across the country. He said transparency and accountability of the board would not necessarily be guaranteed and that board members would be paid taxpayer-funded bonuses with no requirement of disclosure. Gordon Gekko would be so proud.

Ohio outsourcer Rob Portman is another Gordon Gekko-incarnate. Like Kasich, he voted for trade deals that shipped jobs overseas. He also served as trade director for President George W. Bush and supported agreements that outsourced more jobs from Ohio. Now Portman is running for the Ohio Senate seat,  funded in large part by Wall Street donations. Earlier this month, The Hill reported Portman has received $820,000 in campaign contributions from Wall Street companies, making him the second largest recipient of the Wall Street donations. I wonder where his interests would lie if he was elected senator?

The spirit of Gordon Gekko is alive and well in several Ohio congressional districts races, too. Anti-worker candidate Steve Chabot, running against labor-endorsed incumbent Steve Driehaus, supported Wall Street deregulation legislation. This legislation allowed Wall Street firms to use Gordon Gekko-style tactics and led to the 2008 financial collapse.

Tom Ganley may not have worked on Wall Street but he certainly is not afraid of emulating Gordon Gekko. Ganley, who is running against working family champion Betty Sutton, owns one of the largest used car empires in Ohio. He has been sued more than 400 times for unethical business practices, including violating lemon laws, misleading customers and even forgery. Cick here to read more about Tom Ganley’s Gordon Gekko business character.

Steve Stivers, running against union-endorsed candidate Mary Jo Kilroy, is another Gordon Gekko of Ohio. Stivers worked as a bank lobbyist for Bank One, where he lobbied for financial deregulation laws that facilitated the economic collapse. Bankers and financial industry officials have also been major contributors to Stivers’ campaign.

Jim Renacci would fit in well with Gekko and his Wall Street buddies. In 2007, Renacci was ordered to pay more than $1 million in back taxes. Two years earlier, Renacci was kicked out of the Better Business Bureau for not paying former employees thousands of dollars owed them in back wages. Renacci has also been a lobbyist on foreign trade issues. Click here to find out more about Renacci?s dirty dealings.

Rounding out the list of Gordon Gekkos of Ohio is Bob Gibbs. Gibbs does not support regulating the Wall Street bankers who created the economic crisis. He also lobbied for trade deals with China that shipped Ohio jobs overseas and proudly calls himself a ?free trader.?

It?s time to stand up to the Gordon Gekkos of the world. We can support candidates who will fight Wall Street influence and work for Ohio?s working families. Candidates like Ted Strickland, Lee Fisher, Steve Driehaus, Betty Sutton, Mary Jo Kilroy, John Boccieri and Zack Space have supported Wall Street reform and pushed for other policies to help workers and their families.

Paid for by the AFL-CIO Committee on Political Education Political Contributions Committee, www.aflcio.org, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate?s committee.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on September 22, 2010 (boomark / email).