Financial regulation was the major news item this past week. After all the duplicity on the part of the Democrats in this financial mess, we now are supposed to applaud them for going after Goldman Sachs.
Goldman Sachs is no angel here, don’t get me wrong. If it weren’t for Goldman pulling the trigger on AIG by demanding AIG put up cash to show its ability to pay (collateral calls), taxpayers wouldn’t be on the hook for an $80 billion bailout. A bailout spearheaded by none other than ex-Goldman Chairman and CEO, Henry Paulson, who at the time of the bailout was United States Secretary of the Treasury. Then, in typical cronyism fashion, Ed Liddy, who was on the board of Goldman from 2003 – 2008, was put in charge of AIG so that Goldman recouped every cent of its AIG debt. Classic fox guarding the hen house, wouldn’t you agree?
But, this is all smoke and mirrors to hide the real story which is the deregulation of the financial market which led to its near collapse. Deregulation goes back to the Clinton administration with the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (November 4, 1999).
Senator Murray voted with the Democratic Party in support of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. President Clinton has since apologized and admitted this was a mistake but we have yet to hear Senator Murray issue an apology for her vote.
In typical manipulation of facts, the truth is covered over by the appearance of the Democrats finally going after the “bad guys” and their call for financial reform. Their financial “reform,” however, is all smoke and mirrors because it is not fixing the problem which the Democrats had a major role in causing. One analyst said there were enough holes in this finance reform bill for bankers to drive their Ferraris through. Another referred to it as all holes and no cheese.
Even the sponsor of the bill, Senator Chris Dodd, admits that this bill "will not stop the next crisis from coming" and a recent Moody’s report states, “the proposed regulatory framework doesn’t appear to be significantly different from what exists today.”
In order to successfully reform Wall Street, if elected, I would work to:
Resurrect the Glass-Steagall Act
Cap the size of big banks at $100 billion in assets
Require that all derivative trades be done on open exchanges to protect against speculative buying and selling
So don’t let the Democrats, and Senator Murray, convince you that they have your best interests at heart. Senator Murray voted the wrong way in 1999. Do we reward her by sending her back to the Senate?
If elected, I won’t be looking out for the best interests of my cronies on Wall Street or in the Big Banks. My campaign accepts no corporate donations and is dependent on individuals who want to change the status quo in Washington, DC, today. Re-electing Senator Murray is sending the wrong message.
I hope to hear from you and for your help in this campaign to bring about real reform that is so badly needed in our government today.
Richard
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