Voters Say ‘Yes’ to the Republican Who Said ‘No’ to Wall Street
http://www.thenation.com/blog/179719/voters-say-yes-republican-who-said-no-wall-street
US Representative Walter Jones (L) (R-NC), meets with constituents. (Reuters/Mannie Garcia)
House Speaker John Boehner and his cronies removed North Carolina Congressman Walter Jones from the House Financial Services Committee in late 2012, as part of a purge that removed Republicans who were not all in for Wall Streetand for Boehners brand of service to the industries that are supposed to be regulated by Congressfrom the one panel with the power to hold bankers and brokers to account.
But Jones, who had opposed bank bailouts and favored Wall Street regulation, did not go quietly. He spoke up about the purge and made little secret of his sense thatthough he had split with Boehner on a number of issueshis biggest sin in the eyes of the party leadership was his refusal to bow to the demands of big campaign donors.
This whole place is all about money. Money is more important than policy, complained Jones, who has in recent years co-sponsored most major pieces of campaign-finance reform legislation in the Houseincluding a call for a constitutional amendment designed to restore the ability of federal, state and local officials to regulate campaign spending.
The congressmans bluntness did not go over well with the masters of the universe on Wall Street. So, this spring, they set out to purge Walter Jones from Congress altogether.