For nearly two years now we have waited for a speech. We need a simple speech and a direct speech -- most of all a political speech -- about what exactly happened to our financial system, and therefore to our economy, and what we must do to make sure it can never happen again.
President George W. Bush apparently did not consider giving such a speech, and Secretary Paulson could never talk in this way. President Obama seemed, at some moments, close to making things clear -- when he talked on Wall Street in September and, most notably, when he launched the Volcker Rules in January. But President Obama has always come up short on the prescriptive part -- i.e., what we need to do -- and his implementation people still move as if there were lead weights in their shoes.
Without a definitive speech, there is no political reference point, there is no convergence in the debate, and there is not even any clarity regarding what we should be arguing about. Without the right kind of speech, there are just many lobbyists working the corridors and a lot of backroom deals that most people do not understand -- by design.
Thursday, hopefully, we should finally get the speech. Not - sadly - from the White House, not from anyone in the executive branch, and not even from within the Senate Banking Committee (although Senators Merkley and Levin took a big step today), but rather on the floor of the Senate.
On Thursday, Senator Ted Kaufman (D., DE) is due to deliver a strong blow to the overly powerful and unproductively mighty within our financial sector. He will say, according to what is now on his website,
To be sure, a speech is not legislation. And, as yet, this is just one senator's point of view. But because the administration so completely lost the narrative regarding what happened and why, there is now a free, open, and fair competition to explain what we need to do.
The lobbyists will still prevail on this round. But a big debate around the nature of our financial system is exactly what we need.
People who want to defend finance as-is now need come out of the woodwork. Senator Kaufman has set a very high standard. If you wish to oppose this agenda, speak clearly and in public about why we should not pursue exactly what the senator proposes.
If opponents of reform do not come out and argue the merits of their case, people will reasonably and increasingly infer that Senator Kaufman and his allies are right on all the substance.
Reform is blocked by a perverse combination of bankrupt ideology and deep-pocketed corporate interests. The only way to break through is to bring a lot of sunshine into the true affairs of finance -- including by speeches like the one we will hear Thursday.
Very smart.
Very well-planned.
I still think if he can find a way to change things, he'll do it.
Tough job, especially post-Bush.
Tighten the rules that these companies work under, ensure that the companies have more of their own "skin" in the "game", work to make sure that our regulators can actually effectively regulate items, like credit default swaps, and make sure that the separation between mundane ordinary banking and financial speculation is separated; just also make sure that the government doesn't jump into the business of setting arbitrary caps for what they deem to be "too big" businesses.
If the rules are firmly put into place and implemented, the size question should take care of itself, period.
Namely,
Geitner - current secretary of treasury who was a protege of ron rubin and became head of the NY federal reserve from 2003 to 2008 which is tasked with supervising and regulating the major financial institutions in NY. Obviously, his agencies failed to either prevent or curb the crisis.
Wolin - current deputy secretary of treasury who drafted gramm-leach-bliley act that repealed the glass-steagall act that ultimately led to the crisis.
Summers - former secretary of treasury and current director of economic advisory council who deregulated the risky derivitives that caused the crisis and hailed the repeal of glass-steagall which obama himself acknowledged led directly to the crisis (PLEASE READ COMMENT BELOW)
Shapiro - chair of the SEC who has stated that she believes risky derivitives should not be regulated, Former chairwoman of the financial industry regulatory authority who missed numerous crimes against investors in her 3 years there including madoff who madoff said was a good friend
Apparently, Obama's decision on who to appoint as the leading regulators of the financial industry was not at all impacted by the financial crisis and subsequent great recession and his choices reflect more of the people that would have likely been chosen if their past leadership had not led to such miserable failures. Obama seems entirely ignorant of whatever they had done in the past outside of their illustrious resumes representing a giant disconnect between reality and such appointments.
http://www.extravaganzi.com/1-billion-dollars-in-cash/
Senator Kaufman,
Thank you for your honesty in addressing the causes of the ongoing crisis and your expressed willingness to actually act on effective reforms...Especially your intention to get at the root in calling for a restoration of the firewall of Glass Steagall:
Please also work to:
Pass a functionally independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency and Fully Support Professor Elizabeth Warren's Reform Efforts.
Pass the Volcker Rule and Fully Support Chairman Paul Volcker's Reform Efforts.
Pass Strict Regulation of Derivatives--transparency--clearinghouses
End Off Shore Exemptions
End Naked Credit Default Swaps
End Black Box Trading
End Naked Short Selling
Pass a Windfall Profits Tax On Wall Street
It will never happen.
Wall Street, Banks and Insurance companies own the US Congress and the Executive branch.
it's really that simple folks.
by the way, the next leg down of the Depression is starting. you'll see soon. sad to say.
"apply the same general principles that were behind the Glass-Steagall", boy, that's a mouthful. Translation, we'll talk Glass-Steagall but we'll do a giveaway as usual. Loopholes galore, all 30,000 pages of it.
The real issue is this: Does either party do something to decrease the rampant corruption and special interest giveaways? Do they plan to outlaw lobbying? No of course, they simply fight to divide the pie between their own friends, but the majority of those are common anyway... There is absolutely no reason for any elected official to serve his constituents. The lobbyists can deliver more and faster especially via some kick-back gaming.
fiery speeches? have you read the guy's speech? it's as boring as banking should be and used to be. it's level-headed, clear, comprehensive, and on the money. it should be encouraged.
It's actually pretty scary.
See what happens when you take campaign donations by Wall Street firms out of the picture?