Republicans Vote to Ban the Terms “Wall Street” and “Deregulation”
Apparently, the Republicans on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission have abandoned the commission because the other six members would not agree to ban the phrases “Wall Street” and “deregulation” from the final report.
The four Republicans appointed to the commission investigating the root causes of the financial crisis plan to bypass the bipartisan panel and release their own report Wednesday, according to people familiar with the commission’s work.
[snip]
Frustrated in part by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission’s chairman, Phil Angelides, and the tenor of the panel’s preliminary findings, the Republicans are choosing to ignore the five Democrats and lone independent and issue their document ahead of the commission’s Jan. 15 release.
[snip]
During a private commission meeting last week, all four Republicans voted in favor of banning the phrases “Wall Street” and “shadow banking” and the words “interconnection” and “deregulation” from the panel’s final report, according to a person familiar with the matter and confirmed by Brooksley E. Born, one of the six commissioners who voted against the proposal.
[snip]
“I certainly felt, and I think the majority of the commission felt, that deleting those phrases would impair the commissioners’ ability to give a full and fair and understandable report to the American people about the causes of the financial crisis,” Born said.
“Certainly, it’s hard to imagine Wall Street wasn’t involved,” she added.
It all sounds so childish. But then, it’s no more childish than holding a bunch of unemployed Americans hostage to make sure the very wealthy get tax cuts and an estate tax cut. So, as much as the Obama Administration seems intent on giving the banks what they want, Republicans seem insistent on using nuclear tactics to steal even more for the banks.
I guess both parties really are going to insist on pushing us into a Depression and/or full-on feudalism, aren’t they?
Yes, BOTH parties ARE, happily and greedily, pushing “us” into a depressing, “full on” feudalism.
Which, of course, leaves “us” with one further question – the answer to which … no one seems to know.
DW
I can’t be the only person who had a sudden flashback to George Carlin’s Seven Dirty Words routine.
In place of Wall Street, we could use Redacted Street. In place of deregulation, we could use improved operational techniques. In place of shadow banking, we could use multitasked operations. In place of interconnection, could use strategic coordanation.
Boxturtle (Or we could read the report on a delay, so Fox could bleep out the offending words)
eg. burp up & regurgitate the balderdash transcriptions handed them by donors.
Incredible really.
It doesn’t just sound childish, it IS childish.
Impudently so.
And it is this mentality that has driven the US to critical mass near implosion, gathering momentum like a snowball through BushCo/K-St. congress. Our solution to this?
Elect more of them, and a Prez who embraces compromise w/this crew. We call that: leadership.
(bangs forehead on wall).
I was sure this was an Onion article…
but, alas, no…
I actually keep thinking that Born and the anonymous source are speaking metaphorically.
“t all sounds so childish. But then, it’s no more childish than holding a bunch of unemployed Americans hostage to make sure the very wealthy get tax cuts and an estate tax cut”
And there you have it, the Republican party in a nutshell. And yet the media treats these clowns as a serious party of statesmen and women. Here we have a Democratic President and Congress and they are unable to defeat a bunch of freaking five year olds in a constant state of temper tantrums.
The Rightards love to talk about class warfare. I don’t think they really know what it is, but they may be about to find out.
No war but class war.
Wouldn’t be surprised if the “Crisis Commission” comes up with the conclusion that the cause of the economic collapse was the fault of the working and middle class. They can then officially declare class war.
It’s getting to the point that instead of drives to register voters it might be necessary to begin helping people to register as gun owners. Poor people with weapons might get the attention of the plutocrats.
Does the second amendment apply to guillotines?
The French came to the rescue during the American Revolution. Their guillotine is collecting dust in some museum basement in Paris. I’m sure in the spirit of Franco-American solidarity they’d be willing to loan it out. All that’s needed is a dusting and a blade sharpening.
==modnote: please, no violence, real or imagined.==
I think the French should request Lady Liberty back.
williambennet @ 16
interesting discussion and point. That would be worth turning into a diary.
They could send us Madame Defarge instead.
I think if they GOPers actually knew enough history to be aware that Liberty was a gift from France, they’d WANT to send it back. Cheese-eating surrender monkeys.
Boxturtle (Remember Freedom Fries at the Congressional cafe?)
I don’t know, but at this point guillotine-lovers may get NRA support.
I’m sure if Obama gets wind of this he will immediately take to the air to tell those Republicans how–in the spirit of compromise–he will agree to those terms and fire Brooksly Born and anyone else who offends them–while also taking time to scold the left.
It’s been said before, but Republican nihilism is probably the greatest threat that exists to our Republic. There seems to be a positive feedback in which an initial selection bias against government intervention has morphed into a huge bias against rational analysis of concrete problems and alternative solutions to them. Expertise means nothing. The only thing that matters is who holds power, and the kind of Republicans who now dominate the Congress care only about power, and that is what nihilism is all about.
It is hard to predict where this is all going to end up. One might suppose that an economic meltdown might provide the negative feedback to restore a modicum of morality in the conduct of public affairs at the federal level, but it is just as or even more likely, that it will result in a search for new scapegoats — namely liberals. One hopes that it will not result in more military adventurism.
The rest of the world is waking up to the fact that the United States is in a pathological state.
Plea to the rest of the world: Remember when we protected your dissidents? Remember when we protected your leakers (We called them democratic activists back then) from your leaders? Remember when we spoke out against what was happening to you?
We could use your help now.
Boxturtle (PLEASE!)
This reminds me of the co-dependent/ co-addictive parent who is unwilling to have an intervention and call out destructive behavior which is creating chaos in life. The parent who smiles and has excuses for the child’s addiction and behavior. The parent who works hard to hide the behavior and pretends it is “normal” all the while developing a “maintenance” addiction adding to the layers of deception.
This is a reflection of illness.
Re the effects of feedback: Thomas Kuhn’s “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” has always helped me with its explanation of paradigm shifts.
Hey, the bright side of this stupidity…this is great election material. It shows the GOP IS the organized crime party and they want to hide that compliant behavior.
I would appreciate another salon with Matt Taibbi just to discuss this gem of a gaffe by the GOP.
I would like to have the four Republicans investigated. Who were their big donors?
The reagan cult stranglehold on american politics in my view comes down to language. it can be invented language like “death tax” or “partial birth abortion,” or it can be the coordinated omission of “wall street” and “deregulation.” once you control the language used to frame arguments and positions, the actual or perceived debate is usually already won.
poli-sci guy on truthout had a good thing on it yesterday lambasting well-intentioned slogans like “no tax cuts for millionaires!” “millionaire” activates a positive frame as does “tax cuts.” the author pointed out that by putting “no” in front of two terms that people respond to positively, progressives paint their pitch in vindictive and pessimistic tones.
“No bailouts for billionaires” has the advantage, at least, of alliteration.
Quit Coddling Corporate Criminals? Fix Financial Fault to Feckless Financiers? :)
That’s why my bumpersticker says “no welfare for Wall St./jail not bailouts”
we need to use the dreaded W word against THEIR asses – esp. since it’s true
Language! Bang! We can add to this the names of most wars over the same time period (e.g. Operation Just Cause, Operation Iraqi Freedom). The collusion, or at least thoughtlessness, of main stream media with the interests of the owning class can be seen in the former’s unquestioned repetition of the language used to frame issues in the interests of the latter.
Thanks for the reference to the Truthout bit.
Poor people lying on mortgage applications caused the world economic collapse. I don’t know why people have a hard time understanding this. GOPs remind us of it practically every day. Also: Barney Frank is gay!
So this entire bank problem is part of The Plan by Teh Gay?!? You guys are good, even Fox never suspected.
Boxturtle (If we rescend DADT and let you marry, will you give us our mortgage notes back?)
Sounds like it’s time for O to have the 4 Republican members over for a beer summit to mend their hurt feelings.
How about some bipartisan compromise? The Reps can be allowed to purge the words “Wall Street” and “deregulation” provided no one is allowed to call their efforts an “inquiry” or take them seriously as such. :)
Of course they are upset. Everybody knows that it was feckless poor people, Fanny Mae, and those librul programs that forced banks to give money to the undeserving poor who could not pay it back that ruined the economy. Those brave Free Market Warriors on Wall and the enlightened Republican economic and tax policies had absolutely nothing to do with it!
And there you have it in a nutshell. Democracy is dead and I suggest looking out for #1.
I also highly recommend following the revised golden rule:
“Do unto other before they do unto you”
Merry fucking Christmas…
It’s newspeak.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspeak
Yes, the Gopers are deadly serious about this. Frank Luntz , their very capable word – smith and framing expert has taught them that to really win the idealogical battle they need to actively seize the language and fight for every word meaning or if necessary to ban words from popular usage because of their emotional impact. The Gopers know they will continue to win if we just continue to insist that the facts are all that is important. We need to use words that convey deep emotional connections to our ideas and facts and the Gopers will do everything possible to remove these word weapons from the public’s collective psyche. It doesn’t help these days that our fearful leader is so dispassionate either. He comes across as a cold blooded killer if you ask me and his whole persona reeks of political BO. We need to replace this guy, he’s destroying the whole Progressive brand.
The way the war of words played out this week between Obama rep Axelrod’s repeated references to compromise and Boehner’s refusal to even say the word compromise, indicating it was a dirty word caught my interest. Boehner said he preferred to use the term “They found common ground”. The whole episode made me shudder.
I guess as long as they feel they and their patrons are safely enclosed behind walls and gates that everything will be okay.
Ahhh, but feelings aren’t facts now, are they?
All this separate reporting came into vogue when Lee Hamilton allowed Dock Cheney to issue a minority report regarding Iran-contra. Everything that has entered the conventional memory about Iran-contra is what was in that minority report, a report that glanced over the subversion of the constitution, the private funding of death squads, a secret war run out of the vice president’s office, and made the impeachable crime of Iran-contra a mere indiscretion instead of the true group of crimes it really was.
This entire charade that currently passes for the United States of America was erected after the coup of November 22, 1963 and the script deviates only slightly.
On a happier note, Boston is at the Knicks and Portland is at the Mavericks tonight. I don’t miss Olbermann or Maddow at all.
It appears to be childish, but, such an effort is actually an important part of the overall system of controls.
Remember the “conservatives” actually rewriting the bible? starting their own version of wikipedia?
We know that
controlling language is a very important part of controlling people.
They are well aware of this;
They are highly skilled in this field; look at the con job they have done on climate change.
This is the area of politicians greatest expertise; and they are diligent in the application of their skills.
It’s a big part of the sleight of hand trickery that enables the carnival to continue.
And I think that this art is performed at its highest level of achievement, in the United States.
More Orwellian, Big Brother double-speak. Used to suppress freedom and or distort truth. Does anyone anywhere still believe what any politician is telling them? War is Peace. Peace
author on National Petroleum Radio admitted that the estate tax “is the most progressive tax we have.”
Great reporting, EW, the only word choice I’ll disagree with is “childish.” What is being done by the power elite in this country to working men and women in the name of partisianship and profiteering is not childish. It is fucking CRIMINAL.
Maybe Charles Shumer should get into the act, and try to ban the term “hedge fund.”
He’d be more likly to want to ban the words “Palestinian” and “Palestinian State.” Peace
Shades of George Orwell once again: four legs good, two legs better! Big brother is watching: don’t you evah say Wall St again!
Depressing to watch democracy swirl down the toilet bowl, whilst so many citizens are in complete denial, could care less or are enthralled by RushGlenn.
Iraq has a “democracy.” What it does not have is a republic. But, then, neither do we. Peace
Yes, agreed. And what US citizens are also losing are their freedom, rights to privacy, as well as peace of mind, amongst many other losses and giant steps backwards.
Fucking criminals. Petition here to urge AG’s to prosecute.
I guess this also means they’ve banned the word, “banksters” and the phrases “corporate kleptocrats” and “FIRE economy parasites” from the panel’s final report, too. Shouldn’t it be a crime to cast criminals as saints?
Ahh but these GOPers missed banning Vampire Squid, Bubble Machines, Breaking America and Inside Job. So we can just those substitute words in. But then it will just be a matter of time before ATT and Verizon will be blocking Matt Taibbi’s name, his book title, Griftopia or the movie title, Inside Job.
This is interesting to see the GOP practicing censorship. It just blows out the embers of freedom. Anti-patriots.
Conservatives love censorship in all its many guises. Don’t expect anyone from the rightwing to protest this sh*t, IF they even know about it. Traditional Democrats aren’t paying attention, and if they ever realize what’s going on, will most likely roll over, too. More’s the pity…
How long before they ban the word “revolution”?
“I guess both parties really are going to insist on pushing us into a Depression and/or full-on feudalism, aren’t they?”
Thank you for not letting the Democrats off the hook. They are just as bad–what have they done to address the root causes of this crisis?
Also from your linked article:
Several FED studies have shown conclusively CRA serviced loans over performed, yet I still see this floated across conservative media all the time.
And this:
Right… the bought-and-paid-for BUSH government and Delay led K-Street congress.
And bubble “wasn’t expected to crash” because repub gov. so aggressively and single mindlessly fed the bubble… making it the mainstay of US economy while they supported off-shoring everything w/aggressive tax policy?
More double-speak – eh? Oh they knew the d*mn housing bubble was going to crash big-time, but all the fast money boyz ‘n grrlz made sure they did their dirty double-dealings & sly insider trading stuff, and so they all made out like the big time crooks that they are. The “house” WON and won big-time when the crash came along. They got THEIRS, EFF you!!
Next big bubble, imo, is GOLD and other commodities. “They” have had their shills – esp Glenn Beck – pushing gold until the price is ridiculous. The dumbo T-Tardz are gonna get ripped off big-time on their gold holdings… but Glenn will soothe them by making it all be the big bad evil satanic Democrat’s fault.
Whatever. Investing in almost anything these days is a mug’s game. It’s all rigged, and rigged so that only the super wealthy win because there are no “rules” or regulations being followed. Regulations are for the “small people,” and only there so that the proles can be ripped off.
Don’t forget George Soros. I can already hear him yammering on that bullshit again. “See what I’ve been saying? The Soros conspiracy all connects up to Marxism, Leninism, higher taxes and Kenya, as I’m able to clearly demonstrate on my (crazy) blackboard.”
Take your Haldol, Glenn. It might quiet the voices…
Not actually being a religious man but rather a faker and a tool of the corrupt oligarchy, Beck doesn’t really understand that he’s working for the Sons of Darkness. Or maybe he does but he’s being paid too well to care. Peace
The Republicans are right that this mess began under Clinton, aided and abetted by disciples of Robert Rubin (e.g. Larry Summers) who thought they were doing a Good Thing for potential minority home owners. But the sorcerer’s apprentice (Larry Summers?) set in motion the excesses of the Bush administration, who enabled the housing bubble to inflate all out of proportion to the economy.
We can’t pin the blame for this totally on the Republicans. Without the aid and coddling of the Rubinites, the bubble might never have happened.
Bob in AZ
Bob, if “Inside Job” comes to your city, I think that you would probably find it riveting. And if it doesn’t come to your city, order at your local video shop or Netflix. It’s like watching a thriller.
One of the things covered in the movie is the way that Hank Paulson pushed for changes to leverage ratios in about 2004. With one stroke of a pen, GWBush enabled 30:1 leverage ratios.
As dreadful as Summers and Rubin turned out to be, there was no way the bubble could have exploded that big, that fast, without GWBush and his minions.
I’m not letting Clinton off the hook, but I don’t think that he could even comprehend or foresee what was to happen.
And if SCOTUS hadn’t appointed GWBush Prez, then it would not have played out the way that it did.
I’d say that Clinton maybe deserves 1/40th the responsibility that Bush bears — also recall that by 2004 or 2005, the FBI was waving red flags about rampant mortgage fraud, yet the Bushies turned a completely blind eye and put all the resources to ‘terror’.
I think that it’s accurate to put some blame on Clinton and his advisors (particularly Rubin). However, that tends to make people assume this is ’50/50′, when it is nothing of the sort. It’s more like 1:40, if its anything.
Clinton’s background was in law; he never claimed to master business, his forte was government administration.
GWBush has an MBA from Harvard, and a dreadful history of being bailed out of business losses.
Clinton got bad advice; Bush perpetrated dangerous ideology and ignored the FBI. I think the meme that Clinton was at fault lets Bush off way, way, wayyyyyyy too easy.
One more plug for “Inside Job”, because it’s definitely worth your time.
Not sure what you mean… if it’s CRA, that program was huge success.
Breakdown of issuers of sub prime loans is here (McClatchy / 10-2008):
I have links to the FED reports on CRA somewhere, but not at my fingertips. From memory, most of CRA loans were FHA (not ARM/subprime). And most of those under served (minority) areas loans outperformed (eg. less foreclosures) standard FHA nationally. Think about that.
Well, I dun’o. Surely environment created by Levitt being steamrolled in tearing down separation of bank/investment/derivatives, no question about that.
But… execution of this fraud was absolutely, unquestionably incubated and brought forth in force during Bush years under K-St. congress. SEC was systematically dismantled: even after ENRON, the trend grew under Bush years.
CRA goes way back to ’77.
Beyond that, mortgage bond market was generally successful, professionally maintained and reliable for decades, (again from memory) back to (at least) mid 70’s as well. This thing was fueled by huge issuance of bad (mostly) ARM loans, unregulated, w/most paper on those things sold for “bonding” w/in 90 days: eg. no responsibility for loan by issuer.
That had nothing to do w/’98 investment bank deregulation.
Ohh… here’s the Cleveland Fed report (2000) on CRA. Interestingly, TREASURY had a finding through their own resources here, but it’s gone now. There are a number of others earlier, but arguably not relevant. The St. Louis study, which I can’t find right now, was around ’05 (I think) and reached same conclusions.
The ploy to blame Fannie/Freddie similar (but not as clear cut): F/F bought/guaranteed bad loans, didn’t make ’em… and BushCo twisted a lot of arms to get them to do so. To blame this think on those guys looks to me like early planning for the next big scam in finance.
Frank Luntz has convinced them that they can change reality through word choice.
Frank Luntz – and some guy in the 30’s – taught word choice was everything – framing and not truth was important – indeed the big lie works well for several elections.
I like “the poor did it” battle cry for the financial problem – while those FED studies showed that the loans to the low credit score but have reasonable income poor – the CRA program – over performed, we can blame the poor and not Wallstreet and the Fed/Greenspan not regulating investment banks by just proper framimg – I suggest “ACORN forged loans” as the GOP slogan for 2012.
Heck – we know the media does not care about truth – and will treat any claim by the GOP as being as valid as any truth stated by studies and repeated by the left.
Originally, the FCIC was to have issued its report in December (today?)– before the close of the lame duck session. Apparently, the lack of agreement made them first push back the release date, and then abandon the effort to file a joint report.
There is the possibility that Born was attempting some press play to bring the Republican 4 back to the table. But then, Republicans seem immune to shame and ridicule.
Bob in AZ
Beck is a dry drunk. An admitted alcoholic who does not follow a recovery program. He clearly has trouble regulating his emotions and has the black and white judgmental thinking to fuel his emotional fire. The Republicans really do behave as a group of authoritarians, dry drunks and addicts. I suspect greed, alcoholism and sex addiction. There are some facts to back these theories on the republican right. It’s my theory that the dems are the coda side of the disease. The self righteous, people pleasing victims of the world.
There is only one solutions…and it’s truth…a dedication to facts over judgments, a dedication to regulate emotions and finally a dedication to do what is good, not for one, for some…but finding solutions that are good for one, good for all. These solutions are out there but we have lost our way.
The drunk daddies (republicans) just want what they want and they want it now. In alcoholism we call that a “king baby”. “I want what I want and I want it now”. This looks like unilateral decisions, secrets, invalidation of any reality that conflicts with the things they want. A commitment to self will as opposed to a higher power or greater good. This flank is joined by the drunk priest who uses God to further his wants as opposed to joining god for the sake of surrender. These folks cannot be confronted without grave consequences and massive abuses of power and control. They want you to shut up, and go their way or they will make you pay.
The coda’s, well we are the sobbing mother who yells and screams and stamps her feet at her victimhood. She only fights back when she is at the end of her wits, and she does so ineffectively and without empowerment. She looks hysterical, ineffective and naive to outsiders. Sometimes she looks sicker than the drunk she is living with. She spends, she eats and she may even join him in a drink to tolerate the horrible circumstances. The biggest symptom however is her clear ineffectiveness. She tries to control what she cannot, she gets angry about the wrong things and she cannot find the truth to save her life. In the meantime the disease just grows. The behaviors become more aggregious, the disease runs the lives of all within earshot.
Recovery is a commitment to something bigger, a truth bigger than the disease at hand. A willingness to accept that which we cannot control and to do what needs to be done in light of this truth. Recovery is a commitment to truth over “peace”. (a realization that there is no peace without truth). Recovery is the acceptance that decisions need to be made that are good for one and many, that there is a path that works.
But first we have to realize that we cannot control their greed, we cannot control their addiction to power, we cannot control their message or fight against it. What we can do, if we choose to be effective is tell the truth and put this at the top of the pinnacle. What we can do is abandon all attempts at controlling them and instead work on letting the consequences of their behaviors hit the fan. We would commit to getting out of the way of the consequences. We would commit to facing the truth and refusing to live in the fear that their authority causes. We would not let our fear of them control our decisions. We would commit to doing what works over all else. We would commit to staring at our own lives for truth and effectiveness instead of looking at their misdeeds.
We are a nation under seige…and the seige is a disease. A compulsion for money, power, the good life, a high. We must be the change. This is the only real choice. These sites are most effective when we are organizing action around the truth and not choosing our strategies based on fall out or what they might do then, but based on what is truly most effective. The disease will speak for itself…it will be self evident if we just stop trying to control it in them. Keep voting, talking, giving examples, and realize that every communication we make is role modeling what works to those who can see effectiveness and those who can see outside the lie. The middle of the nation is blinded by the disease in both sides as it confuses the truth. We are not powerless entirely…we are just powerless in controlling the disease in them. We CAN mitigate the consequences and we must do this. The free clinics leading to the health care bill were a prime example of what works.
I would like to put a word in, supporting Angelides. However, I think the progressives work metonyms to extinction sometimes; viz., Wall Street. To me, a lot of the genius of the world works in that NY district and along its cyber-perimeters. The term is a conceptual gestaltification of what at its essence is a more nuanced sector which is resisting government oversight enhancements. De-reg as a term has become a bit of jargon gobally employed by many sorts of partisan rhetoricians, left, center, right, and has lost its zest as a Clintonism now in the postBush2 epoch. Let*s look at the cost of Bushco2*s binary wars, and how they were funded, as we attempt to follow the commission*s explications; after all, it*s just a commission.
Hi there my fine fellow Wheel denizens: Please join me over at FDL Prime (Front Page) where we have our special guest Dawn Johnsen hosting authors and Constitutional scholars (real ones, not the wal-Mart variety like in the White House) Linda Greenhouse and Reva Siegal in a special holiday spectacular Book Salon!
Four things caused the artificially-inflated Bush era housing bubble and its collapse:
1) Severely degraded home mortgage lending standards and procedures.
2) Deregulation of derivatives trading to the point there were no regulations.
3) Derivatives packages, packed with shaky sub-prime mortgages in combination with sound mortgages, were rated AAA by bond-rating agencies.
4) The Bush/Cheney administration stopping local and state officials from enforcing consumer protection laws, with Bush/Cheney administration officials eventually getting the U.S. Supreme Court to nullify all local and state consumer protection laws around the country, so that shaky mortgages could continue to be generated, bundled into fraudulently-rated “AAA” derivatives packages, and then sold to unsuspecting investors all over the world.
And top Republican/Bush/Cheney administration officials were at the epicenter of this catastrophic artificially-inflated fraud-based housing bubble, which means that at least one of the Republicans on this panel, “Keith Hennessey, who formerly served as George W. Bush’s senior economic adviser while heading the National Economic Council and now works as a fellow at the Hoover Institution,” was involved.
In fact, all the Republicans on this panel were probably involved in this housing bubble catastrophe in one way or another, so it is not surprising that they are trying to shift the blame away from themselves and onto Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, for instance, even though Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were late-comers to this frenzied Wall Street feeding orgy, an orgy initiated and sustained by rampant Bush/Cheney/Republican fraud.
It used to be just books that conservative wanted to ban, but now it’s _words_? Well, who knew that “refudiation” would be the beginning of a whole new language.
Yves Smith also covered this.
I find it simply embarrassing; you’d think the GOPers would value their own reputations at least enough to restrain themselves from jumping on the pyre of megabank insolvency. But noooooooooo…
Mamma mia.
Can’t stand to even watch it.
Ick!!
What surprises me about this all is how little press commentary there has been about the 4 Republicans withdrawing. Normally, the press is all over a conflict story like this. It sounds like Angelides is serious about producing a serious report, and the Republicans are into denial.
And this is not just about Republican Denial. Senior staff has been leaving, or dropping from full time to half time for the past 6 months.
The HuffPo web page on the FCIC has nothing new. The Roosevelt Institute web page on the FCIC has nothing new. Why isn’t the press digging into this? What am I missing?
Maybe I’ll find what I’m missing in the comments.
Bob in AZ
Mr. Google is my friend. Bloomberg has just published an interesting analysis of the state of the FCIC report: Rift Over Wall Street Blame May Dull Impact of U.S. Financial Crisis Panel, By Phil Mattingly and Robert Schmidt – Dec 15, 2010 10:01 PM MT.
Mattingly and Schmidt fault the FCIC for failing to dramatize its hearings with enough political theater:
The stalemate between the Republicans and Democrats has been brewing for months.
And, of course, I’ll bet a cookie that they lay the blame for that “social policy” at the feet of the Clinton administration.
The plans for the report restrict the space allowed for each commissioner’s personal take on the findings:
Is that the real reason? 36 pages isn’t enough space to slam the Clinton administration for creating the crisis?
Bob in AZ
Let me ask one logical question:
Lets say one place is known for blatant kleptocratic behavior, laissez faire attitude, complete deregulation and changes opinion on state of economy in a matter of days sometimes hours.
Do you trust that place with your hard-earned money.
I am guessing NOT.
If one does not put money in that place what happens to that place.
It will not exist. As simple as that.
Glass Stegall Act made Wall Street a thriving industry and not the other way around. I do not understand why the obvious logic is missing regarding regulations. BTW we do not need hundreds of thousands of papers of legislative drivel. Most effective legislation is always simple because it makes enforcement easier.