Watch Rep. Poliquin go on the attack for Wall Street

In my column in the Press Herald over the weekend, I discussed the very public way in which Maine Second-District Representative Bruce Poliquin has championed the interests of Wall Street, both in his votes and in a series of videos his staff have posted of the proceedings of the House Financial Services Committee.

It’s weird to write a print column that relies so heavily on a bunch of YouTube videos. Even though I tried to capture important parts in quotes and descriptions, words are no substitute for the clip itself. So, I thought I’d take this opportunity to provide some additional context and some embedded video.

Before you watch Poliquin question Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Richard Cordray in a manner I can only describe as aggressively smarmy, it might be useful to have a reminder of what the CFPB is and how important it is to have an advocate for regular people in a political and policy environment rigged in favor of the big banks.

I’ll let Senator Elizabeth Warren explain:

For some additional context, here’s a previous column I wrote on Poliquin’s record-breaking campaign contributions from Wall Street.

With all that in mind, here’s Poliquin’s performance with Cordray:

For the record, the claims about inflated office space renovation costs Poliquin raised in the clip were found to be completely baseless by an independent investigation. They’re part of an ongoing strategy by Wall Street lobbyists to weaken and discredit the Bureau in any way possible, for the benefit of the big banks. Judging by this clip and the legislation he has supported, it’s a strategy that Poliquin seems to wholeheartedly embrace.

As I noted in the column, Poliquin takes a very different tone when questioning his Wall-Street-friendly ideological allies.

Mike Tipping

About Mike Tipping

Mike is Maine's longest-writing political blogger and explores state politics and policy with a focus on analysis and explanation. He works at the Maine People's Alliance and Maine People's Resource Center.