I THINK I SEE YOUR PROBLEM, FAT CATS

I been wondering whether Wall Streeters believe that Donald Trump would turn out to be on their side as president, but Politico's Ben White says that the Wall Street crowd is genuinely unhappy about Trump's ascendancy:

Wall Street is growing increasingly terrified that Donald Trump -- once viewed as an amusing summertime distraction -- could actually win the Republican nomination for president.

... The belief that Trump's candidacy would quickly fade is now evaporating in a wave of fear.

... "I don't know anyone who is a Donald Trump supporter. I don’t know anyone who knows anyone who is a Donald Trump supporter. They are like this huge mystery group,” [one Wall Street] CEO said. "So it's a combination of shock and bewilderment. No one really knows why this is happening. But my own belief is that the laws of gravity will apply and those who are prepared to run the marathon will benefit when Trump drops out at mile 22. Right now people think Trump is pretty hilarious but the longer it goes on the more frightening it gets."

The latest frightening broadside for the Wall Street class came on Sunday when Trump said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that executive pay in America is “a complete joke” and promised to raise taxes on “the hedge fund guys.”

The plan for dealing with Trump is just to keep doing the same old thing:

So far there is no organized effort on Wall Street to mount a “stop Trump” campaign.

Mostly such efforts entail funneling even more money to Bush, whose super PAC, Right to Rise, raised more than $100 million through the first six months of the year. To a lesser extent, Wall Street money continues to flow to Rubio, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, though Walker is largely viewed as increasingly marginalized in the race.

Supporters of Bush say they still believe that the former Florida governor’s numbers will begin to move when the campaign starts deploying some of its huge war chest to run television ads in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and other early primary and caucus states. And while they say Bush needs a strong performance at Wednesday night’s debate, they don’t expect Bush to throw haymakers Trump’s way.

Guys, Jeb isn't going to throw any effective haymakers anyone's way. In the first half of the year, Jeb couldn't even manage to get out to an early lead against Scott Walker, who now looks like the Herman Cain or Michele Bachmann of the 2016 cycle. Rubio? Kasich? In the latest YouGov/CBS poll, Rubio's at 2% in New Hampshire and 3% in South Carolina; Kasich is at 2% in Iowa. Kasich is at 2% nationwide in the latest Washington Post/ABC poll. And in a new Gravis poll, Rubio is in fifth place in his own home state of Florida. (Jeb's in third.)

You think these guys are going to save you, Wall Streeters?

Why don't you just throw a lot of money at Ben Carson? Unlike your current champions, he actually seems popular. And unlike Trump, he seems as if he'd be happy to pursue your agenda -- he certainly doesn't seem to have one of his own, apart from generalized right-wing revanchism and a distaste for "political correctness." But he's somewhat less rabid on immigration than Trump. He acknowledges that gay marriage is the law of the land. So he shouldn't be frightening to you guys on those issues. On taxes, he likes tithing, which would be a huge tax windfall for the rich. So why not? What you're doing certainly isn't working.