&quot;Here you have an industry that has undercut the business of the big banks, irritated hedge fund managers and been great for small investors. Why would cracking down on that business be populist? Why would it alienate wealthy donors?&quot;<p>For the same reason that people don&#x27;t generally cheer when a gang war happens. Just because the gangsters are mainly shooting other gangsters doesn&#x27;t mean the violence isn&#x27;t costly to society. The same with Wall Street. Just because people don&#x27;t trust big banks and suspect them of rooking the common man doesn&#x27;t mean that they want to legitimize said rooking, or that it isn&#x27;t costly to society when banks rip each other off.