During the overheated debate on health insurance reform, the Republicans stated the bill would create death panels that would kill grandma. They made it up, of course, but now they are ignoring a key aspect of the House and Senate Wall Street reform bill proposed by Democrats: death panels to shut down failing financial institutions.
In fact, yesterday, Senator McConnell took to the Senate floor to say the following: "We cannot allow endless taxpayer-funded bailouts for big Wall Street banks,'' McConnell said. "The way to solve this problem is to let the people who make the mistakes pay for them. We won't solve this problem until the biggest banks are allowed to fail.''
The House bill does just that. The bill creates a Financial Stability Oversight Board that will monitor the activities and practices of large financial institutions, but if they run into trouble the Board becomes a death panel. If a Wall Street bank or investment bank begins to fail, threatening the safety of the financial system, it will be put to death. End of story. Shareholders are wiped out, unsecured creditors are out of luck, management and every employee that is not required to shut down the company is fired. And even secured creditors may be required to take haircuts. The industry pays into a fund to put the institution to death, and this fund is only used to protect the system and our economy when the bank fails.
Republicans just don't want to believe it: Under the Democratic plan, the taxpayer is not put on the hook. Not now, not ever. Taxpayer bailouts, like the one President Bush authorized, are over.
Senator McConnell and every Republican member of the House should know that the cost of doing nothing is more bailouts. Republicans had every opportunity during President Bush's two terms to regulate derivatives, rein in subprime lending, end "too big to fail" financial institutions and restrict bank practices. Unfortunately for the American people, Republicans failed time and time again. The result: President Bush's bailouts.
In December, the House passed the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, legislation that will protect Main Street from the worst of Wall Street abuses after years of non-existent regulation and oversight by the Bush Administration and Congressional Republicans. Details on how the Democrats end bailouts and protect taxpayers can be found here.
Charlie Cray: Breaking up Citi and Other Mega-Banks: the Missing Blueprints
We asked a group of industry experts and watchdogs to tell us if they thought the government should leverage its stake in Citi to break up the bank -- and if so, how? Our new report provides some interesting answers to these fundamental questions.
TARP was a hugely underregulated bail out. The democrats must accept some of the blame for this. Unfortunately, a TARP bailout was necessary because, when Lehman Brothers fell, the world's credit markets ceased to function.
Appointing Alan Greenspan to Chairman of the Fed was a disaster of absolutely epic proportions. He held the highest regulatory position in the financial world, but did not believe in regulation. Deregulation ALWAYS leads to fraud and criminality.
Fannie and Freddie became problematic when they allowed their executives to be compensated in the same manner as Wall Street executives were compensated. Fannie and Freddie are part of the mortgage crisis, but were not instrumental in halting the world's credit markets. In fact, since they were the only entities purchasing mortgages after the fall of Lehman, they have been hugely important in unfreezing the world's credit markets.
http://video.mpt.tv/video/1302794657
You really need to explain this to me, because Barney is a representative, not a senator. He is just one vote.
I wonder if the liberal twit who came up with this knows that he will now lose his job. Mitch McConnell is never going to allow his paymasters to be harmed by any law that might protect the bottom 90% from the mistakes of the top 10%.
Why do you think trust funds exist? They insure no trickling will occur.
You really need to explain this to me, because Barney is a representative, not a senator. He is just one vote.
Get one of your Senator buddies to try this:
On Monday (pick any Monday), have a Democratic Senator stand up and offer a resolution stating that the sun comes up in the East.
Expected outcome: On Tuesday, Mitch McConnell will stand in the same place and declare that that is all wrong, that the Republicans think that is hogwash; the sun obviously comes up in the West.
On Wednesday, have Barak Obama agree with Mitch; the sun could conceivably come up in the West, so the Democrats will embrace that notion, and revise Monday's resolution to incorporate that.
Expected outcome: On Thursday, Mitch McConnell will stand up in the Senate and, in an almost apoplectic manner, quivering and shaking, literally sputtering in indignation (Mitch is really good at this!), vehemently declare that the President is expressing socialist ideas; it is OBVIOUS the sun comes up in the East!
That is all we are seeing from Republicans. It's not only the "Party of NO!" and the "Party of Hell NO!", but it is the Party of Self-Contradiction. Except for one thing: no matter what Obama supports, it is against. No matter what. No matter how ridiculous the Republican argument. No matter that is disagrees with what they said yesterday. No matter how it might damage the country.
There ZERO chance of bipartisanship from the current Republican leadership. By their intent, the country be damned.
It is...disgusting.
Oh, my. Wasn't there an applicable parable about foxes and henhouses?
Since Reagan, Republicans have said government is the problem, and then set out to prove it when they are in power. Reaganomics and changes in the law prevented the Fed from doing its job. The new bill returns regulatory powers to the Fed, and it will work again. Look at real history, instead of recent neocon revisionism; everything they say about the economy, and what made it work in the past, is a lie.
My concern is not that the Fed cannot oversee banks, or that it never has before; my concern is that, in its present form, it has been too badly corrupted by the, um, "banking reforms" that you allude to, to be an honest or effective regulator any more. I think that a thorough house cleaning at the Federal Reserve is very much in order before that august organization is tasked to regulate anyone else!
By the way, he's a Republican.
Mitch: being a trained Luntz monkey isn’t going to get it this time!
Give that man a cap and organ grinder.
Oh and that meeting with Hedge Fund folks we want the transcripts. Is there a quid pro quo here. I think an investigation is in order.
Mitch looks out for main street. Now that’s funny
for doubting dave
poor boys been lied to boo hoo hoo
This is something that the Dems who supported the Bush TARP realised. In fact they would have been acting against the countrys' best interests if they hadn't backed him, no matter how distastefull they found it.
The priority was to gain some stability, not stand back and gloat whilst the financial system collapsed. Hanging out the banks to dry was not an option at the time. Now is the time to crack the whip, not then.
Republican supporters who're busy whinging about the economy should thank God that the Dems supported Bush, otherwise their situation would be far worse than it is.
The "too big to fail" situation is not an a partisan issue. Both Dems and Repubs have ruined the system by not keeping oversight of the Fed, creating GSE's like Fannie and Freddie (which fed the subprime debacle because lending institutions didn't need lending standards when Fannie and Freddie would buy up any mortgage), repealing Glass-Steagal thanks to Repub controlled congress and Clinton in the White House with stooges like Geithner and Summers promoting it(why are they back in the White House??)
All we need to do is abolish or nationalize the Fed, and follow the Constitution. The Constitution doesn't authorize bailouts. Then again, no one in Congress except for maybe Ron Paul care about following the Constitution.
I'm glad you helped get the HR 1207 through the house but please stop playing these silly partisan games.
Appointing Alan Greenspan to Chairman of the Fed was a disaster of absolutely epic proportions. He did not believe in regulation.
Fannie and Freddie became problematic when they allowed their executives to be compensated in the same manner as Wall Street executives were compensated. Fannie and Freddie are part of the mortgage crisis, but were not instrumental in halting the world's credit markets. In fact, since they were the only entities purchasing mortgages after the fall of Lehman, they have been hugely important in unfreezing the world's credit markets.
http://financialservices.house.gov/Key_Issues/Financial_Regulatory_Reform/FinancialRegulatoryReform/talking_points.pdf
http://financialservices.house.gov/Key_Issues/Financial_Regulatory_Reform/FinancialRegulatoryReform/Wall_Street_Reform_and_Consumer_Protection_Act_Myth_vs._Facts.pdf
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/financialsvcs_dem/pressRepRes_121009.shtml
Problem is, I don't think the majority of opponents of either the House or Senate bill would ever do the hard work of reading carfully to learn what's true. They prefer to simply follow their ideological beliefs, accepting the explanations of their ideological leaders regardless of whether they're truthful or deceptive, and carry on opposing, vociferously name-calling.
I loved Congressman Frank's remark to Chris Matthews yesterday to the effect that the Republicans had justifed their argument for less government with the 6 years they were in the majority in the House and Senate with a Republican Administration. Sorry I can't recall more accurately how Mr. Frank put it. He expressed it brilliantly.
I have to ask Congressman Frank, you really believe you are the appropriate person to be writing that?
Between yourself, your staff, and whatever editorial staff might exist on this site nobody took a moment to consider your personal history with this particular issue.
I have to say, that amazes me.
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Fanned.
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R/ PRONESE
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