Third Way - the power behind the throne in DC

Thanks to Lambert for his post "Schrodinger's Banksters" on correntewire.com. It references a posting by Yves Smith titled "Third Way Document Proves Democratic Party Supports Institutionalized Looting by Banks" on the blog naked capitalism.

I had always seen the Third Way as the evil spawn of the DLC and New Democrats. Boy was I wrong. It is way more important and much more dangerous than I ever imagined.

First some of the Democratic Congressional power players involved in Third Way:

Third Way Honorary Co-Chairs
HOUSE
James Clyburn
John Dingell
Ron Kind
Joseph Crowley
Allyson Schwartz
Gabrielle Giffords
Jared Polis

SENATE
Thomas Carper
Claire McCaskill
Mark Udall
Jeanne Shaheen
Kay Hagan
Chris Coons

EMERITUS
Kathleen Sebelius
Ken Salazar
Ellen Tauscher
Blanche Lambert Lincoln
Evan Bayh
Jane Harman
Mark Pryor
Melissa Bean
Artur Davis

And then the real power behind the throne - the members of the Board of Trustees.

The Board of Trustees:
Trustees currently/previously involved in Banking & Finance
John L. Vogelstein - Chairman
Bernard L. Schwartz - Chairman Emeritus
David Heller - Vice-Chairman
Dwight Anderson
Lewis Cullman
John Dyson
Robert Dyson
Brian Frank
Derek Kirkland
Ronald A. Klain
Daniel Loeb
Thurgood Marshall, Jr.
Michael Novogratz
Andrew Parmentier
David Roberts
Howard Rossman
Barbara Manfrey Vogelstein
Joseph Zimlich

Trustees I don't think are involved in Banking & Finance
Georgette Bennett
William D. Budinger
Jonathan Cowan
Peter A. Joseph
General Claudia Kennedy
Susan McCue
Herbert Miller
Tim Sweeney
Ted Trimpa

While most understandably seem to focus on the Democrats in the House and Senate that are involved in Third Way I also wondered who was on its Board of Trustees. Looking at their bios on Third Way's web site I was stuck by the number of Trustees involved in Investing and Finance. So, I decided to divide them into two groups based on that criteria and make a list. By my count 18 of 27 or 66.7% of the Trustees are or were in the Financial field. That's a stunning and frightening percentage for a group that is so influential in the Democratic Party (for more on this see Yves Smith's article referenced above).

Here's what Third Way's web site says about one of the Trustee Thurgood Marshall, Jr. in a particularly informative bio:

Mr. Marshall is a partner at Bingham McCutchen LLP, and a Principal of Bingham Consulting Group. Mr. Marshall counsels and devises strategies for advancing clients’ interests before Congress, the executive branch and independent regulatory agencies. He provides guidance regarding ethics compliance and corporate governance. He has developed legislative and regulatory strategies for clients involved in corporate mergers, professional and amateur sports, commercial aviation, utility and banking regulation, and legal process reforms.(emphasis mine)

The line:

"Mr. Marshall counsels and devises strategies for advancing clients’ interests before Congress, the executive branch and independent regulatory agencies."

pretty much says it all! All we need to do is replace "Mr. Marshall" with "Third Way" and there you have it:

Third Way counsels and devises strategies for advancing clients’ interests before Congress, the executive branch and independent regulatory agencies."

Third Way is the Corporate vehicle to control and direct the Democratic Party for the benefit of those Third Way represents. It is stunning that they say what they did about Mr Marshall so publicly but sometimes folks just screw up and let slip the truth.

((Please note this is a slightly revised and expanded version of a post I just posted here.))