Rachel Maddow Show: Somebody Saw It Coming -- Byron Dorgan
Rachel Maddow talks to Byron Dorgan who back in 1999 warned about repealing the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933.
Maddow: Did you really foresee that there would be a crisis this big?
Dorgan: Well I'm not necessarily sure I saw this big a crisis but I said at the time to the banks that if you want to gamble go to Las Vegas. I mean this was not about a crystal ball. It was just common sense at the time. You know in the 1930's we saw banks merge with you know real estate and security risks and the whole thing collapsed in the 20's and 30's and so we put in place, I wasn't here, but we put in place laws like Glass-Steagall to prevent all of that and then 1999 we were told that's all old fashioned. Let's strip that away and allow big financial holding companies one stop financial shopping and I thought it was nuts.
I mean how on earth can we forget the lessons that were so important that we learned so well and with such pain about seven decades prior?
Good question Senator. From the article a reminder on just who was right and who was wrong back in 1999:
"I think we will look back in 10 years' time and say we should not have done this but we did because we forgot the lessons of the past, and that that which is true in the 1930's is true in 2010," said Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota. "I wasn't around during the 1930's or the debate over Glass-Steagall. But I was here in the early 1980's when it was decided to allow the expansion of savings and loans. We have now decided in the name of modernization to forget the lessons of the past, of safety and of soundness."
Senator Paul Wellstone, Democrat of Minnesota, said that Congress had "seemed determined to unlearn the lessons from our past mistakes."
"Scores of banks failed in the Great Depression as a result of unsound banking practices, and their failure only deepened the crisis,'' Mr. Wellstone said. ''Glass-Steagall was intended to protect our financial system by insulating commercial banking from other forms of risk. It was one of several stabilizers designed to keep a similar tragedy from recurring. Now Congress is about to repeal that economic stabilizer without putting any comparable safeguard in its place."
Supporters of the legislation rejected those arguments. They responded that historians and economists have concluded that the Glass-Steagall Act was not the correct response to the banking crisis because it was the failure of the Federal Reserve in carrying out monetary policy, not speculation in the stock market, that caused the collapse of 11,000 banks. If anything, the supporters said, the new law will give financial companies the ability to diversify and therefore reduce their risks. The new law, they said, will also give regulators new tools to supervise shaky institutions.
"The concerns that we will have a meltdown like 1929 are dramatically overblown," said Senator Bob Kerrey, Democrat of Nebraska.
Others said the legislation was essential for the future leadership of the American banking system.
"If we don't pass this bill, we could find London or Frankfurt or years down the road Shanghai becoming the financial capital of the world,'' said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York. ''There are many reasons for this bill, but first and foremost is to ensure that U.S. financial firms remain competitive."
But other lawmakers criticized the provisions of the legislation aimed at discouraging community groups from pressing banks to make more loans to the disadvantaged. Representative Maxine Waters, Democrat of California, said during the House debate that the legislation was ''mean-spirited in the way it had tried to undermine the Community Reinvestment Act.'' And Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, said it was ironic that while the legislation was deregulating financial services, it had begun a new system of onerous regulation on community advocates.
Many experts predict that, even though the legislation has been trailing market trends that have begun to see the cross-ownership of banks, securities firms and insurers, the new law is certain to lead to a wave of large financial mergers.
The White House has estimated the legislation could save consumers as much as $18 billion a year as new financial conglomerates gain economies of scale and cut costs.
Other experts have disputed those estimates as overly optimistic, and said that the bulk of any profits seen from the deregulation of financial services would be returned not to customers but to shareholders.
These are some of the key provisions of the legislation:
*Banks will be able to affiliate with insurance companies and securities concerns with far fewer restrictions than in the past.
*The legislation preserves the regulatory structure in Washington and gives the Federal Reserve and the Office of Comptroller of the Currency roles in regulating new financial conglomerates. The Securities and Exchange Commission will oversee securities operations at any bank, and the states will continue to regulate insurance.
*It will be more difficult for industrial companies to control a bank. The measure closes a loophole that had permitted a number of commercial enterprises to open savings associations known as unitary thrifts.
One Republican Senator, Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, voted against the legislation. He was joined by seven Democrats: Barbara Boxer of California, Richard H. Bryan of Nevada, Russell D. Feingold of Wisconsin, Tom Harkin of Iowa, Barbara A. Mikulski of Maryland, Mr. Dorgan and Mr. Wellstone.
In the House, 155 Democrats and 207 Republicans voted for the measure, while 51 Democrats, 5 Republicans and 1 independent opposed it. Fifteen members did not vote.
We got into this mess because the powers-that-be were overly greedy! Why could more people just have used their common sense like Byron Dorgan and have been a little more skeptical of the plan?
TINA(Their Is No Alternative):This belief about our current economic set-up must be abandoned if we are to extricate ourselves from this capitalist debacle.
4. There are definite reasons why serious explanations of the origins of the crisis—that is, explanations that go beyond descriptions of the present situation, and even beyond the identification of the proximate causes of the unfolding disaster—are not be to be found. First, the fundamental viability of the capitalist system, particularly within the United States, and its historical immutability cannot be questioned. As Martin Wolf declares categorically in the column quoted above, "no credible alternative to the market economy exists..." This view, held even by more thoughtful analysts like Wolf, is bound up with another conception: that this crisis is the product of circumstances that, however dreadful in their cumulative impact, are somehow external to the economic system. The cause of the crisis is not to be found in the essential nature of the profit system. Rather, the problem lies in the environment within which it presently operates.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/mar2009/dno...
K.Robb | Homepage | 03.26.09 - 12:06 pm | #
about accountability for the crooks.. we like to call them wingers but the ones responsible for the mess are mainly crooks.. sincere idealogues are part of democratic discourse, white color crooks, like those responsible for the current tragedy and suffering, hide behind principle.. these are the guys who say we need them now to clean up their mess.. these guys are vying for positions of power right now
I do not disagree with your analysis..but who among Obama's economic team isn't from this milieu?-they are not vying for power, they have the power.
This guy needs lifted up and put in the spot light allot more, a real American.
in 2000 when Bush Jr showed up. Quite a few did actually.
as he was appointed, that A) we were goin to invade somewhere...and B) our economy was fucked.
Few believed me.
I knew where this was going when he announced for president. I too tried to tell people about what they were supporting and was ostracized and ridiculed. I still haven't gotten an apology from any of them. Not one.
Barack Obama: Change we can only imagine
I'm still waiting for USA to apologize at 'old europe' for being so wise and try to warn the USA not to go down its path of destruction in Iraq just to steal some oil. But no we were 'pussies', fringe peace-loving hippies with no grasp of reality and unaware of the imminent and immediate danger of Iraqi WMD.
Remembering freedom fries, and 'no French's mustard is by nooo way french, we need to assert it again, continue buying our all-American-retard low value food product', or 'hey look Kerry looks so french (yes trust me it's an insult : it stands for reasonable intelligent book-reading intelectual, not someone you want to have a bear with!)'.
By the way www.fuckfrance.com is still up, fuckgermany didn't last long.
It always amazed me why they singled out only France as to make believe 'mericans that opposition was only comming from a tiny portion of the world population contrary to the massive support for US action by the huuuuuuge coalition of the wannabees (of the willing is the US term). Which was actually the total opposite of the real situation: worldwide opposition against US actions, even overwhelming opposition by populations opposed to their government's decision to support USA in Iraq (Spain, Netherlands, Sout-America etc...)
That really showed the world this nations level of sophistication didn't it?
But, I didn't really want them...I was like "Great! A little late for an apology innit?"
They shoulda pulled their heads outta their asses before the idiot king was forced upon the world.
My father, who I loved dearly was a Regan Dems. It drove me crazy, and I happened to be with him when Bush stole the election. I told him we would be at war within a year, and he laughed and said Bush would surround himself with smart people. My answer was, "how would Bush recognize a smart person if he saw one"? My father died before he could see I was right.
But I stopped using bank accounts when Glass-Steagall was repealed along with the rest of banking regulations. It's a huge pain in the ass living without a bank account but I'll be dead and in my grave before I allow those greedy, money hungry assholes to abuse my money that way.
Barack Obama: Change we can only imagine
...with credit unions. Only bank accounts I keep are savings accounts that allow me to cash checks there.
My job kept trying to push me into a direct deposit account but I couldn't find a bank that just did banking. They are all into each others pockets in such a way that assets are counted by all of them. Nope, until the banking structure is changed, I'll go to the corner check cashing place and pay the 1%. It's worth it so they don't have their hooks in me. When it is regulated and partitioned again, I will be glad to open an account.
Barack Obama: Change we can only imagine
...aren't banks. They are regulated completely differently and are mostly run much more locally. Your deposits are also federally protected, but not by FDIC. I believe it is by the FCUIC or some such. I'd encourage you to look into joining one. They offer all the services of traditional banks (usually without charging fees).
But I'll be a lot more serious about it when we have meaningful regulation again.
Barack Obama: Change we can only imagine
You feel so strongly about regulation that you have been dealing in cash for the past 10 years. Really?
Really
Barack Obama: Change we can only imagine
I'm not going to allow anyone to use my hard earned money to SCREW other people out of theirs. I have never been to a re-po lot or tried to buy a foreclosed home for similar reasons. I'll never be wealthy but that isn't my goal.
Barack Obama: Change we can only imagine
until I got ripped off.
Two of them just failed.
Are credit unions really safer than banks?
They may still be subject to failure, especially in the current economy, but they are essentially run by the shareholders (you and me). You elect the officers and have a say in how it's run. And again, your deposits are federally backed, so yes. Much safer than banks.
Membership does require paying attention and reading what they send you. It's a responsibility like paying attention to what is happening in Washington.
Also, my credit union affiliations are associated with non-profits versus corporate. Not sure if that makes a difference or not.
I hear you devil dog they are a little better. But they have diversified into a host of financial service providers, they emulate some of the same exorbitant fees that banks do.
I believe in something I recently read: Consumers should finance nothing. Except a house. because it will eventually appreciate in value. Even then only with in their means.
Could you imagine that? All Americans free of finance charges and living only on what they bring in? What role does a bank play then? Meager interest on savings that they loan out at the rate of at least 10 dollars per dollar.
I know its a pipe dream. But for most Americans, banks have taken more money than they have ever saved anyone. That's why they call them banks.
it was just a lucky guess.
Like Paul Krugman et al were just "lucky" guessers? Yeah, and let me know when Elvis arrives...
Barack Obama: Change we can only imagine
any regrets about being a GE employee now.
...you know nothing about history. Obviously Senator Dorgan and the other senators who voted against it do.
In particular, Feingold always seems to be on the right side of stupid government regulation and deregulation. Can you name the one nay vote for the Patriot Act.
Pull out a history book and read some before you make uninformed comments on a blog.
Those who ignore the mistakes of history, are doomed to repeat them.
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
there is no such thing as infinity in this world. And that's what Gramm/Leach/Bliley was based on. Infinite increase, infinite profit. And the groundwork for this was laid by the St Ronnie admin.
me-oww!
you are a hit and run commenter.
lucky guess to others.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
No surprise to see that of the tiny number of Democratic senators who voted against the repeal, both Wellstone and Feingold are there . . .
Obviously, the reasons why Wellstone had to be assinated, along with his whole family!!! Minnesota told King Geo not to come to the funeral, too! That was the reason the brown-shirts moved into Minnesota, and took over! Everyone knows that until the jack-boots, Minnesota had always been stauchly Democratic!!, and NOT bluedog dems either! As soon as Florida was told to stop counting, I knew that the ASSINS of Kennedy were making their move. I ex-patriated to a third world country and am very happy to be out of the cursed US. GOOD BYE Camolot.
a total idiot to have not seen it coming.
It's like that credit card commercial years back . .
"Hey dude it doesn't matter any more just go down to the bank and sign up"
down the street living on welfare and food stamps who got a mortgage for a house.
Duhhhhhhhhh? Otay!!
The bank said, just sign here and ur now the proud "owner" of a . .
please
Via RawStory I saw an article at NBC Connecticut about AIG execs getting threats. My comment was:
Without the Republican deregulation of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act AIG could never have committed the acts that lead to where we're at now. Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), Rep. Jim Leach (R-Iowa), and Rep. Thomas J. Bliley, Jr. (R-Virginia) are the ones who should be feeling the wrath of the taxpaying electoriate!
...misplaced wrath. Just shows how easily manipulated the general public still is by our shameful excuse for a news media.
What was he thinking?
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
Those of us who play by honest rules are stuck bailing out all the cons who got this country into this mess.
All the while, the foxes are claiming to be poor and put upon chickens. Reality doesn't matter to wingers and most of these no regulation people are just that.
Barack Obama: Change we can only imagine
Please, leave us alone in our mansions. Let me have my Mercedes and my Private jet and my Country Club. Stop bothering us and just leave us alone!"
that significant numbers of people who qualified for regular loans were sold sub prime and these people were disproportionately people of color
Nobody could've seen this one coming - Jim Cramer says so!
I suppose some people will not only believe it but repeat it.
Nobody could've seen this one coming!
Nobody could've seen this one coming!
The guy on TV said said so!
No one could have dreamed that unscrupulous financiers would crash Collateralized Mortgage Obligations into our economy!!
Vote GOP and move forward to the 18th Century.
But nobody could have anticipated that the Credit Default Swaps holding back the deluge of defaulting sub-prime Mortgage Backed Securities would fail!
Human beings either forget or refuse to admit that in "situations of acquisition" without oversight or regulations or limits, greed will win out every time. Many people cannot or will not discipline themselves to obtain only what they need for themselves and their families and have never taken other people into account. Well, I guess you'd call it "selfishness" in this circumstance.
But that's true of everything. Traffic laws guide our behavior on the road. Criminal laws guide our behavior toward each other. Rules guide our commerce and government (supposed to). Without these "guides and prohibitions" with unpleasant consequences, many would never bother to take their fellow human beings into account, and we'd all be harmed - killed, beaten up, robbed, raped, cheated, defrauded, dominated by others will the will to do that.
We all need a strong guiding hand, and we're the only ones who can give it to ourselves. Until lawmakers recognize this need in human society, we'll always be preyed upon by some.
he's from North Dakota!
...sarcastic. Look at all those who voted against this in '99. Only one was even on the East coast. Maybe the fact that he is from ND is what allowed him to see the issue more clearly. The fact that Obama is counting on Wall Street insiders to fix their own problems is precisely why it will probably fail.
Maybe he should have asked Dorgan to be Treasury.
keeps Dorgan's brain warm and functional.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
You start to see how much we miss Paul Wellstone here in Minnesota. It was such a tragic loss for us Liberal Democrats that we still can't talk about it.
Michelle Bachman
:P
me-oww!
That was harsh - apologies.
that another Wellstone would stand up. We sure could use one.
NOBODY 2012
Wellstone was the real deal. I may be the only one, but I believe Al Franken when he says he wants to be like him. I sure wish the Governor and Secretary of State would give him a shot.
from various politicians and economists quite a few wall street players saw what was happening and took positions that made them literally billions of dollars. They definitely saw it coming.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
And the game goes on
http://dynamicbear.com/yogisdesk.jpg
compete with that? Sitting around watching Crammer? Orman?
LOL right sure you do.
In late 2003 GW Bush unveiled the "American Dream Downpayment Initiative" designed specifically for minority first-time home buyers with less than perfect credit earning less than 80% of the local family median income. It covered the down payment and all closing costs, and put the Federal Government on the hook for the tab.
Here's the warning that was issued at that time:
American Dream Downpayment Act: Fiscally Irresponsible and Redundant to Existing Homeownership Programs
When will government of the people, by the politicians, for the corporations perish from this Earth?
Not soon enough!
It's a nice narrative, but can you explain why FHA loans have failed at a rate less than the average rate of all mortgages? FHA doesn't deal in subprime. FHA doesn't deal in ARMs.
Regardless of what Instapundit says, scapegoating brown people offers no solution.
Fact is, all those sub-prime loans were collateralized into securities that were given an inflated bond rating because they were insured with credit default swaps. The credit default swaps were unregulated, so you had AIG writing insurance policies with values 40 times the assets of the company. Ta-dah! Instant economic meltdown, just shake it and the whole thing goes off like nitroglycerin.
The Congress of the US has been full of thieves and cutthroats for years, But this problems also lies with the People , the individuals who don't write, who never call their Congressmen and Women. Americans need to become more active, take it back to the sixties ... get pissed off people.
BB
Only they can shake their fist at a Plasma TV or shout through the keyboard these days. In the comfort and safety of the home.
We proved that in the last two Elections, I still say ppl have to get off their fat asses and make noise ..................If you not DOING something about the problem ...You are the Problem.
but people aren't into self discovery anymore. They let the media and marketing define it for them.
Welcome back BB!
Long time!
I reside in Second Life, if you ever come in, I'm Dino Ferina ... I Create and Sell
a little elaboration please?
If you don't have a Second Life, you haven't really lived at all.
Okay, lol!
I'm still squandering,(I mean LIVING) this, my First Life.
But not a cheesy...
I have to say, I have a hard enough time staying away from
my PS3 and the FPS games on that infernal machine...if I got into that...I'd never leave the house.
Damn those Amish!
heater. Ot they hose a mean...well... bless their little carriages.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
Just watched this the other night and is another good explanation of how we got here.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tentr...
is that Patriot Act being used to incarcerate some white collar economic terrorists.
We needed another FDR, instead we got another clinton.
Thank You!
NOBODY 2012
for an expanded view.RE: "Rachel Maddow Show: Deregulation for Dummies"> http://crooksandliars.com/tags/rachel-maddow-...
Note the presentation of the (H.R. 5660: Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000) at about the 2:45 minute mark of the clip it displays just a portion of the page, excluding everything below,
Status:
Occurred: Introduced Dec 14, 2000
Occurred: Referred to Committee View Committee Assignments
Further down the page it...
(Notes: Last Action: Dec 14, 2000: Referred to House Judiciary
[ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill... ]
That is because it was eventually tucked into, (H.R. 4577:Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001)
[ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill... ]
If you'll scroll down, you'll notice, (Other Titles:)"Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000", it was married into "H.R. 4577" and
"Last Action: Dec 21, 2000: Became Public Law No: 106-554.
Amended:
I'm not sure if that is why they blanked out the
whole, a portion of the "screen capture" in her excellent coverage that day, though as I said at the start, I just wanted to expand the subject to compliment her fine work. You can click-around or see related links. Thanks Heather[ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id... ]
[ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill... ]
[ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill... ]
[ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill... ]
[ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote... ]
Study the symptoms not the virus...
In defending his signing of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to replace the Glass-Steagall Act, handed to him with an overwhelming veto-proof majority vote in both the House and the Senate in November 1999, President Clinton (a very lame-duck president in November, 1999, btw) said banks, notably Citibank, were ALREADY blending commercial banking and investment (equities, mutual funds, etc) banking by then.
He was right.
In the midst of the economic downturn and crashing home values disaster resulting from "Reaganomics" in the late-80s and early 90s, Citibank sought and won a Supreme Court Ruling (yes, THAT Rehnquist Supreme Court again) that allowed them to legally blend the two forms of banking (effectively overturning Glass-Steagall years before the introduction of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) no later than early 1992, one year before Bill Clinton first took office as president.
An archived BUSINESSWEEK report:
TO HELL AND BACK
http://www.businessweek.com/chapter/zweigch.htm
[[…Even as Citibank's difficulties worsened, Reed was confident that as long as the economy grew at all Citi would be able to earn its way out of them. But if, as some predicted, the recession deepened to a negative 3 percent growth, Citibank would be in dire straits. If that happened, Reed would be forced to consider selling his crown jewels--even the credit-card business.
He was not pleased with the Bush administration's economic policy. The problem was that there was none. At one point, as the recession took a turn for the worse, Reed spent a weekend on the phone talking to Treasury secretary Brady and other Washington officials. ""Let me tell you, they heard the riot act,'' he said. ""I haven't gone down and yelled and screamed,'' he said at the time. ""Maybe I should.''
By 1991, Wriston was also fed up with the Bush administration and its economic non-policy--and not just because Bush didn't play tennis with him anymore. ""What is frightening to me is I don't think the current incumbent [Bush] appears to have any fixed values other than loving his grandchildren. I don't see any direction in economic policy,'' he said in 1992.
…Ironically, in John Reed's newly refocused Citicorp, Wriston's fifth ""I''--insurance--was relegated to a minor role just as Citibank won a major battle for insurance powers. In early 1992, the Supreme Court let stand an appeals court ruling that allowed the bank to circumvent prohibitions against bank underwriting of insurance by doing it through a Delaware banking unit. Now Citibank could sell its own insurance through New York branches, along with mutual funds and annuities.]]
"The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) allowed commercial and investment banks to consolidate. For example, Citibank merged with Travelers Group, an insurance company, and in 1998 formed the conglomerate Citigroup, a corporation combining banking and insurance underwriting services under brands including Smith-Barney, Shearson, Primerica and Travelers Insurance Corporation. This combination, announced in 1993 and finalized in 1994, would have violated the Glass-Steagall Act and the Bank Holding Company Act by combining insurance and securities companies, if not for a temporary waiver process. The law was passed to legalize these mergers on a permanent basis. Historically, the combined industry has been known as the financial services industry.
Study the symptoms not the virus...
Don't forget the Commodities Futures Modernization Act snuck into the omnibus spending bill in the last hours of the 2000 Congress (by none other than the same Phil Gramm). Allowed those new financial leviathans to trade commodities with no actual investment. Zoom goes the "energy trading" business, oil goes to 160$/barrel and hello Credit Default Swaps!
Look up ▲ ▲ ▲ just a bit... :-)
Thanks for you intentions though...
Opinion an observations...
Thu, 03/26/2009 - 11:49 — Truth_Critic
"That is because it was eventually tucked into,
(H.R. 4577:Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001)
[ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill... ]
If you'll scroll down, you'll notice,
(Other Titles:)"Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000", it was married into "H.R. 4577"
and "Last Action: Dec 21, 2000: Became Public Law No: 106-554."
Study the symptoms not the virus...
H.R. 5660:
106th Congress
This is a bill in the U.S. Congress originating in the House of Representatives ("H.R."). A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate and then be signed by the President before it becomes law.
Bill numbers restart from 1 every two years. Each two-year cycle is called a session of Congress. This bill was created in the 106th Congress, in 1999-2000.
The titles of bills are written by the bill's sponsor and are a part of the legislation itself. GovTrack does not editorialize bill summaries.
1999-2000
Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000
Sponsor: Rep. Thomas Ewing [R-IL]
Cosponsors [as of 2006-07-17]
Rep. Tom Bliley [R-VA]
Rep. Larry Combest [R-TX]
Rep. John LaFalce [D-NY]
Rep. James Leach [R-IA]
Last Action: Dec 14, 2000: Referred to House Judiciary
Study the symptoms not the virus...
could you show me how it worked out?
RE: "snuck into the omnibus spending bill in the last hours of the 2000 Congress (by none other than the same Phil Gramm)".
H.R. 4577: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2001
Sponsor: Rep. John Porter [R-IL](no cosponsors)
I can't tell how it got into H.R. 4577, though it did! I can only see that H.R. 5660 Last Action: Dec 14, 2000: Referred to House Judiciary
Phil Gramm's Voting Record: [ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes.xpd?yea... ]
Study the symptoms not the virus...
I'm not sure why he said it, but the bill was opposed by 44 senators, not eight. The bill passed by eight votes (and pretty much along party lines).
bottom.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
The original bill was. The final draft was approved by 90 senators.
Oops. My bad. Thanks!
And I prepared for it.
I have been telling my family and friends not to be fooled.
The economy HAS to collapse.
You can't build a house on sand. It WILL LIQUIFY when the earth moves or water comes.
The signs are all around us for anyone looking to see.
But alas, our leadership is mis-named. They aren't leaders at all. They are LEECHES living on the tax dollars they extract from the working people of America. And when that isn't enough, they live on the passive income of USURY they extract from us.
Altogether, they have built an insulated wealthy passive society that can't see beyond their own walls of wealth. They hire people to do that for them. Unfortunately for them, they decided NOT to educate the wall watchers. Instead they spoiled their own young with free passage to all those college seats that might have been better filled with people that can think.
They fiddled and fiddled while we ants put away for winter.
Now is the winter of their discontent.
I will NOT feed the grasshoppers.
After all they wouldn't help the ants either.
So goes the American dream.
PETER SCHIFF SAW IT COMING. You may not like the guy, but he predicted the financial meltdown. But not from the regulation stand point, but from the fact that America has to produce something. We have to have a product. Look him up on youtube!!! He was talking about derivatives and default swaps failing back in 2006
-steve
If a country does not product it's own food and manufactures most of it's products , then will be a third world country except for the elite..
The Global World Corporate Empire has placed them in a position that disregard what happens to U.S. they still have "most" of their feet placed in foreign countries.. With they tax free profits , they pollute free environment , no overhead with worker's rights protection and a world slave market pool. Every country's workers will be fighting each other for a job while their wealth and power keeps growing in leaps and bounds...
None
Knew this would happen... Matter of fact most of the financial personal were stating years age that they would take as much as they could before the whole bottom dropped out...
This was not a surprise to most people... The only surprise for Bush and the other criminals was that it happen before Bush and the republicans rode out out town in 2008...
None
back in the early 80s, when the DIDC (a bank regulatory committee!) was instrumental in deregulating the S&L industry--which went belly up shortly thereafter. I told my friends that the actual train wreck happened during Reagan's tenure in office, but that we might not see the full catastrophic outcome for years.
Well, it is upon us. And, the CDOs haven't even hit the fan yet. It will get much worse, I assure you. Indeed, we don't have a frame of reference for how bad it's going to be.
"The only surprise for Bush and the other criminals was that it happen before Bush and the republicans rode out out town in 2008..."
Although he doesn't spell it out specifically, Matt Taibbi's Rolling Stone article, The Big Takeover, discussed in another thread, fills in the blanks FOR ME on why the Bush administration didn't do what we all know they wanted to do; kick the can of the revelation about their total economic failure down the road just past January 20th, when they could then say the incoming administration "got it all wrong" or was just "making it up" for political purposes.
As Taibbi does point out, a bailout for AIG was ultimately also a bailout for Goldman Sachs.
Considering Bush Treasurer Hank Paulson's loyalty to Goldman Sachs, I believe it was Paulson who convinced Bush there was no chance to kick this one down the road to the next administration the way I have no doubt whatsoever Bush hoped to do. Paulson wanted to make sure the AIG > Goldman Sachs bailout got done on his watch in order to make sure it GOT done.
I further believe that and that alone was the reason Bush didn't demand it be kept quiet, kick it down the road and let the next administration take all the blame for him.
DUH! i wish i had larger letters to spell that out. i worried about the prospect of another depression when i was a kid, it was like the boogie man to me. my father explained to me at the tender age of nine that steps were taken by our law-makers to assure it would never happen again. the names glass and steagal stuck with me into adulthood. gramm leach and bliley should be horse whipped. bill clinton should have his ass kicked for signing their time bomb into law.
Even if Bill Clinton had thrown himself into the battle of a lifetime as a lame-duck president in November, 1999, in order to prevent Gramm-Leach-Bliley from replacing Glass-Steagall, it still would have passed into law. After huge sums of Citibank money were spent buying support from the Republican-controlled Congress and concessions being made for the minority side, the legislation was handed to Bill Clinton with an overwhelming veto-proof majority of votes for it; 90-8 in the Senate (1 not voting) and 362-57 in the House (15 not voting).
Moreover, imagine if the very lame-duck Bill Clinton HAD miraculously won that battle and somehow managed to reverse enough Congressional votes to see the November, 1999, legislation go down in flames...how much WORSE of a NEW-AND-IMPROVED "Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act" would have landed on the NEXT president's desk just 14 months later when the House, Senate AND the White House was controlled by Republicans...one of them being GEORGE W. BUSH!
The outcome was cooked-in-the-cake; with or without Bill Clinton's signature, the Glass-Steagall Act was going to be overturned sometime within 14 months of November, 1999, GUARRANTEED.
Imagine that. Holding crooks accountable for past law breaking! Well isn't that something special. Or is that pre-9/11 thinking?
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