Bankers running to cash in on politic$

Let’s get rid of the lawyers in Washington — and bring in the bankers.

That’s the pitch from a Wall Street lobbying group that represents the $17 trillion banking industry, which said Tuesday it’s launching a program to “help bankers run for office.”

The training program — which will teach bankers everything from raising funds to kissing babies — is aimed at swelling banker ranks in elected state and federal positions, said Rob Nichols, chief executive of the American Bankers Association.

That, of course, is opposed to all of the high-level White House appointments bankers have seized at the US Treasury and elsewhere during the past several presidential administrations — most recently Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, both formerly of Goldman Sachs.

Goldman, of course, earned the nickname “Government Sachs” as it played a major role in precipitating and profiting from the financial crisis of 2008.

“We are many years post-crisis,” Nichols told The Post, noting that lobbying groups for lawyers and real estate developers routinely push for their members to get a voice in Congress.

“We do understand and are very sensitive to, and cognizant of, the reputational challenges associated with our sector — we get all that, absolutely,” Nichols added. “We’re committed to safety and soundness in the banking sector.”

Bankers have been under-represented on Capitol Hill, with only 18 of 535 Congress members having banking experience, Nichols gripes.

The ABA has been pushing for more bankfriendly candidates for years, with a “grassroots” campaign aimed at getting bankers to build relationships with lawmakers.

“We think the ultimate in political engagement goes beyond building relationships with your lawmaker to actually becoming one,” Nicholas said.

The ABA training program — at the Loews Madison Hotel in Washington, DC, Sept. 13 to 15 — costs $850.