Read Matt Taibbi's latest piece in Rolling Stone and THEN tell me that the Republicans are : "The Party of the Rich".
Who kept Dodd- Frank from doing anything to reverse the repeal of Glass- Steagall ? The Dems.
Who kept it from doing anything meaningful to control derivatives trading ? The Dems.
Who stopped Carl Levin and Jeff Merkley from inserting the Volcker Rule into Dodd- Frank ? Dodd and Wall Street stooge Tim Geithner . The Volcker Rule would have permitted gambling on things like credit default swaps BUT would have made institutions doing so unable to pony up to the Federal Reserve for cheap cash. There is neither a percentage nor a dollar limit on proprietary trading by commercial banks. They are STILL eliglible for Federal bailouts AND continued access to the Fed's Discount Window.
Who squashed the Lincoln Rule that would have forced commercial banks to spin off their derivative operations or they'd have to forego easy access to Fed cash and other bailouts ? The Dems. In fact of all people, it was that great populist Barney Fwank. AFTER it actually managed to pass the Senate.
Who sees to it that hedge fund billionaires get taxed at the lower Capital Gains rate ? Chuckie Cheese Schumer. Btw, he is notorious for getting on stage with Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs and singing nostalgic furniture store jingles, like for Castro Convertibles. He is known among his DEMOCRAT Senate colleagues as 'The Senator from Goldman Sachs".
Who stopped any effort to downsize too big to fail banks ? The Dems.
Who rejected a ban on "naked default swaps" i.e. betting on someone else defaulting on a lousy loan you helped sell them ? The Dems.
How and why did all of this happen ? Well Taibbi obviously couldn't bring himself to compare Wall Street fundraising by the Dems vs. the Republicans. Up until this year, the Dems, including Obama raised far more cash from Wall Street bankers and hedge fund managers than the Republicans did.
The tragedy is that while the Dems are busy patting themselves on the back for passing the "largest finacial reform bill since 1933" they in fact have set the stage for further speculative bubbles and bursting of same. And further bailouts paid for by the U.S. taxpayer. Dodd- Frank does NOTHING ; zero, zip, nada to address and prevent the underlying causes of the recent bubble burst and credit crisis.Not without a Volcker or Lincoln Rule it doesn't. At best, it has some good things in it to treat SYMPTOMS. It does not do a thing to get at any of the root causes of the latest financial meltdown. In fact, it almost assures that there will be another one.
Who are some of the biggest defenders of perpetual trusts ? The Democrats.
Who opposes any effort to tax municipal bond dividends ? The Dems.
After reading Taibbi's stuff ( a guy who HATES Republicans btw ) if you still have any doubts, wait until you read Charlie Gasparino's "Bought and Paid For " which comes out on October 5. I have an advance copy and it drives the final nails into the coffin of the ridiculous myth that the Republicans are the "Party of the Rich".



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