Who says money doesn't equal speech?

Just when I became convinced that Willard Mitt Romney doesn't really believe that corporations are people, it turns out that he really does:

"Well, the banks aren't bad people. They're just overwhelmed right now.... scared to death, of course," he said. "They're feeling the same thing that you're feeling. And so they just want to pretend that all this is just going to get paid some day."

(from AP; h/t to Jed Lewison at Daily Kos)

You want to know how he got so in touch with the feelings of banks? Well, it probably has something to do with this:

Employees at the five largest U.S. banks by assets, including Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co., had given Romney about $600,000 through the first three quarters of 2011, according to the most recent filings available from the Federal Election Commission.

The second-largest recipient of bank employee contributions, President Barack Obama, had far less, about $200,000, the analysis showed....

Romney received more from employees of those top five banks than all the other candidates combined.

(from McClatchy; h/t to Pat Garofalo at ThinkProgress)

Looks like money really is speech, eh? Those banks have been whispering sweet nothings in Willard's ears all year!

Cross-posted at Daily Kos.