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Wall Street Made Bank on Trump in 2017

"Corporate income tax cuts for Wall Street alone could have funded 300,000 elementary school teachers, or 6,000 teachers per state for 10 years." (Photo: Phillipp/cc/flickr)

Wall Street Made Bank on Trump in 2017

A new report documents record-high Wall Street political spending, executives in the administration, a tax cut bonanza for the finance industry, and a deregulatory free-for-all.

It's been a very good year for Wall Street. The S&P 500 reached record highs week after week, and analysts are upgrading U.S. profit estimates at a brisk pace. The finance industry spent nearly twice the amount of any other industry on campaign contributions in the 2017-2018 electoral cycle so far, and their investment in Trump and the GOP is clearly paying off. The Wall Street wins since Trump took office are almost too numerous to count, but we've cataloged them in our new report. Here are some of the lowlights:

Candidate Donald Trump referred to Wall Street as a cabal of global financiers who had robbed the working class, but instead of "draining the swamp," the Trump administration filled top positions in the White House with former Goldman Sachs insiders.

In 17 out of 20 broad policy areas, the Treasury proposals released after the inauguration mirrored those of The Clearing House, the trade association for the country's biggest banks.

Last summer, House Republicans passed the Financial CHOICE Act, a radical bill that would repeal all manner of Dodd-Frank rules that make finance safer and less abusive.

Just since October, the House Financial Services Committee has passed over 50 bills that either benefit Wall Street directly or weaken consumer or investor protections, paving the way for future Wall Street profits.

A Penn/Wharton Business School study revealed that the finance industry is the largest long-term beneficiary of corporate tax cuts, and is expected to gain $250 billion over the next decade from tax cuts for "C corporations" alone.

JPMorgan and Wells Fargo's tax cuts will total $7 billion in the first year alone. Private equity funds stand to rake in $19 billion over 10 years from the carried interest loophole remaining intact.

"All of these presents for Wall Street come at a cost to the rest of us. The American people will be paying for it for years in more potholes, larger class sizes, and climbing rents."

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