Re: Robert Reich: Who's Killing Financial Reform?

On Feb 5, 2:14�pm, Tom Davos <tda...@gmail.com> wrote:

http://robertreich.org/

Who's Killing Financial Reform?

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Senator Chris Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee,
scolded Wall Street representatives at a hearing Thursday for sending
ban army of lobbyists whose only mission is to kill the common-sense
financial reformsb needed by the public. bThe fact is,b Dodd said, bI
am frustrated, and so are the American people.b He charged that Wall
Streetbs intransigence was the reason for Congressbs failure to pass
any bill to regulate the Street. bThe refusal of large financial firms
to work constructively with Congress on this effort borders on
insulting to the American people who have lost so much in this
crisis.b

In other words, it isnbt Congressbs fault. It isnbt the Senate Banking
Committeebs fault. It certainly isnbt Doddbs fault. The reason more
than a year has passed since the biggest bailout in the history of the
world and nothing has been done to prevent a repeat performance b even
as the biggest banks are doling out more than $30 billion of bonuses,
even as Goldman Sachs is awarding its big traders $16 billion in
bonuses (more than the $13 billion Goldman collected from taxpayers
via the bailout of AIG), even as AIG itself is handing out bonuses b
the reason is b& what, exactly, Senator? Because the Street has sent an
army of lobbyists to Capitol Hill?

Call me old fashioned, but I thought Congress was in charge of passing
legislation, not Wall Street.

Dodd left out the most telling detail, of course. Wall Street is where
the campaign money is. Dodd of all people knows that. Hebs been on the
receiving end of lots of it over the years.

Wall Street firms and their executives have been uniquely generous to
both political parties, emerging recently as one of the largest
benefactors of the Democratic Party. Between November 2008 and
November 2009, Wall Street firms and executives handed out $42 million
to lawmakers, mostly to members of the House and Senate banking
committees and House and Senate leaders. During the 2008 elections,
Wall Street showered Democratic candidates with well over $88 million
and Republicans with over $67 million, putting the Street right up
there with the insurance industry as among the nationbs largest
equal-opportunity donors.

Some Democrats are quietly grumbling that all the tough talk emanating
from the White House in recent weeks b the President calling the
Streetbs denizens bfat catsb and threatening them with limits on their
size and the risks they can take, even waiving a watered-down version
of Glass-Steagall in their faces b is making it harder to collect
money from the Street this mid-term election year. And the Street is
quietly threatening that it may well give Republicans more, if the
saber-rattling doesnbt stop.

Congress isnbt doing a thing about Wall Street because itbs in the
pocket of Wall Street. Doddbs outburst at the Street is like the
alcoholic who screams at a bartender bhow dare you give me another
drink when all Ibve done is pleaded with you for one!b

Dodd is right about one thing. The American people are frustrated, and
the failure of Congress to pass real financial reform is insulting.
But in trying to place responsibility for this appalling failure on
Wall Street, Dodd insults us even more.