Fixing Wall Street's relationship with Washington starts with fixing Washington

Fixing Washington's relationship with Wall Street needs to start with fixing Washington. “Right now the intersection between Washington and Wall Street is more strained than it has been in my lifetime,” Gregory Fleming, president of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, said Thursday in Las Vegas at the SkyBridge Capital SALT conference. “From a private-sector perspective, the United States looks like the best game in town, and not just now but for some time to come,” he added. “Washington needs to do more to positively reinforce that.” (More: T. Boone Pickens expects to see oil at $75 a barrel by year-end) On the increased level of polarization in the nation's capital, David McCormick, president of Bridgewater Associates, attributed at least part of it to petty bickering by elected officials. “Just imagine how much progress you would make with your spouse or business partner if every time you disagreed on something you questioned their integrity or patriotism,” he said. “It's disappointing and frustrating.” BITTERNESS AND NASTINESS William Daley, managing partner at Argentiere Capital and a White House chief of staff to President Barack Obama in 2011 and 2012, said the political rhetoric used to be mostly for show, but that now it represents the way the politicians actually feel about one another. “You can feel the bitterness and nastiness, it's palpable,” he said. “I think cable television is a big part of it; the first thing I'd do is do away with cable.” Randal Quarles, managing partner at Cynosure Group, and undersecretary of the Treasury for domestic finance from 2005 to 2007, also blamed the news media for fueling the political bickering. “The media environment today is driven by the number of eyeballs they can attract to whatever train wreck they can create that day,” he said. However, Mr. Quarles added that he is optimistic that if Washington can focus on some specific goals they can get some things accomplished. He cited trade and corporate tax reform among the issues he thinks Congress can address. “I believe there are enough people in Washington that want something to happen,” he said.