Perhaps the Rrs are stuck in Romney's "gonna take a weed whacker to regulation" mode. :howdy-doody:

Not sure but it's getting weird. Sen. Bob Corker (R - Tenn.) actually came out and told the truth (can be seen on video) about the demo bill on Wall St. reform NOT being a permanent bailout bill or even a bailout bill period. All the other Rrs that I've heard about are holding hard to that particular talking point.

Wouldn't want to let the facts get in the way of the party of no.

Everything I've read and heard indicates that the so called bailout-fund (R) was bank financed, sorta like the FDIC protection which hasn't cost the public AFAIK.

Furthermore, I've read of Boehner and other intransigent NO-ers (R) say that even w/o that provision they'll still oppose it. Wouldn't want to let the demos (sp. - meant to say demons) get away with any actual governing. After W, I didn't think my opinion of Rrs could get any lower, but I'm sorry, that crowd is WITHOUT SHAME. A pox on their house. Bleeping mush-mouth McConnell met with bankers with an Rr fundraiser in tow. The demon lefty rag SF Chron had a good editorial on the topic today:

End the cycle with financial reform

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The financial crisis of 2008 and the lingering recession that followed made it clear to Congress - and the public - that something had gone drastically wrong with our banking system. It's a testament to the power of the banking lobby that it's taken until 2010 for Congress to fix it.

Even now, success isn't assured. In December, the House passed financial regulatory reform without a single Republican vote. Last month, Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee passed a reform bill, too. But the 41 Senate Republicans have signed a letter promising to block the bill unless they get a chance to amend it.

There are a number of provisions that the banking industry hates in the Senate bill, which is being carried by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn. The first is an independent consumer financial protection agency, which would help consumers navigate the tricky and deceptive world of mortgages, credit cards and loans. The banking industry has fought hard against this, but they're unlikely to win - the public understands this concept and recognizes that it would be helpful for them to know for what they're signing up.

So for now the industry has turned its attention to killing derivative legislation, which is far more confusing to the public and far more lucrative for the banks. Derivatives are largely unregulated, and they were at the center of the financial crisis. Making derivatives more transparent and less risky has to be a key part of any financial reform.

President Obama has declared that he won't sign a bill that doesn't contain derivative legislation. He needs to stick to that promise.

In the meantime, Democratic senators have responded with two strong provisions. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., has the stronger of the two: Her legislation would require Wall Street banks to spin off their derivatives trading businesses in order to be eligible for federal banking protections. This is about making enormous banks less likely to fail - and then require taxpayer bailouts. Her bill would also require most derivatives to trade through clearinghouses, which require participants to post capital that would cover potential losses. Clearinghouses also require transparency, which would cut down on fraud.

Dodd has indicated that he will roll much of the Lincoln legislation into his financial reform bill. (His own derivative legislation doesn't restrict banks from engaging in derivative swaps.) There will probably be some changes to the Lincoln language, but senators should fight to keep it as intact as possible.

It won't be easy. In a cynical ploy to kill the reforms, Republican senators are trying to claim that the legislation will enable future bailouts. It's an assertion that has no basis in fact, and it just shows the bankruptcy of their position. How, after the last two brutal years, can anyone be on the side of the status quo?

The answer is partially that it's an election year and there are plenty of campaign contributions at stake. Some Republicans may also have a genuine belief that the last 20 years of deregulation didn't play a role in the financial crisis. But the evidence is in - since the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999, we've had bubble after bubble and crisis after crisis. It's time for Congress to put an end to this vicious cycle and pass commonsense financial reforms, beginning with the Dodd legislation.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/21/EDTV1D1IBU.DTL

This article appeared on page A - 13 of the San Francisco Chronicle

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Why are you surprised?

Big corporations, banks, pharma and insurance companies bought those Republicans*** with "campaign contributions." Now they can do it even MORE openly since the US Supreme Court has decided by a 5-4 margin that those corporations are "People" that can make their opinions heard ..


The Tea partiers and their circus has also conveniently forgotten that. So have, evidently, millions of dumb bunny voters that are Republicans.


*** (The Democrats, too, but on a less grand and unapologetic scale.)


Bribery and influence peddling are what the Republicans, and to a lesser extent, the Democrats are all about.

The votes are all for sale. Do you have the cash to buy them? If it's enough they will do your bidding.

With enough money I could probably buy enough votes to make laws requiring everyone to wear their underwear on the outside of their clothes, and to bomb Chicago with bowling balls.

Anything I wanted.

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Look at the campaign finance roster and see who really gets the most money from Wall St. It's not the Republicans!!

The big issue keeps getting obscured with all these sideshows, like finance reform, healthcare, cap and trade, etc.

the real question is.. are we all willing to stand aside while this country is morphed back into a European Social Democracy. If that's the kind of country people want then let's say it out loud.

If that's what people want, all the patriots of 1776 are rolling over in their graves, because freedom from the tyranny of an overtaxing, overcontrolling, all powerful government is what they sacrificed their lives, their families, and their fortunes for.

__________________
R Martin
Dallas, TX (Addison)

86 560SEL, 128K

The 1776 patriots surely did not envision a country controlled by mega corporations that perverted the country into one of Socialism for the rich and Capitalism for the poor.

__________________
1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

Not really surprised. I just have a craving to jump up and say 'look at what these characters are saying.'

Listening to O on the telly right now and he's explaining the bill pretty well. Of course it's all teleprompter, he doesn't really understand a word of it.

Some mild socialism has worked well in our land - public schools, the GI Bill.

__________________
1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

i agree. Here is an excellent article about how the corporate form of business was turned into the perversion it has become today. I don't support eliminating corporations as they have legitimate uses in business, just stripping them of their "personhood" and turning them back into the basic form they started out as. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17103.htm

__________________
R Martin
Dallas, TX (Addison)

86 560SEL, 128K

"some mild socialism" = a far cry from where those in power today are trying to take this country.

the worst thing about our government is it's power to take money from one person and give it directly to another. that is the most corrupt and perverse function our government has been allowed to do.

public schools, roads, defense, parks, etc. are there for all to use and enjoy and as such represent a legitimate function of the "common wealth". direct transfer payments such as we have today is plain and simple RobinHood government. it is an insidious curse brought upon us by the people elected to govern us.

__________________
R Martin
Dallas, TX (Addison)

86 560SEL, 128K