Obama to sign Dodd-Frank monstrosity today
I’m the corruptocrat more responsible for creating the banking meltdown conditions. No, I am!
As you all know, the Senate passed the Dodd-Frank financial “reform” sham last week (see my post on the GOP-enabled vote here). Today, President Obama will sign the 2,319-page monstrosity into law.
The Associated Press calls it “sweeping.”
My adjectives are different.
Try “galling:”
In choosing to ignore the actual causes of the financial crisis — loose monetary policy, Fannie/Freddie, and never-ending efforts to expand homeownership — and instead further expanding government guarantees behind financial risk-taking, Congress is eliminating whatever market discipline might have been left in the banking industry. But we shouldn’t be surprised, since this administration and Congress have consistently chosen to ignore the real problems facing our country — unemployment, perverse government incentives for risk-taking, massive fiscal imbalances — and instead pursued an agenda of rewarding special interests and expanding government.
At least we’ll know what to call the next crisis: the Dodd-Frank Crash.
Try “discriminatory:”
Buried deep in the bowels of the massive financial-regulation bill the Senate passed Thursday are massive race- and gender-employment provisions that will cost countless millions to enforce and appear to duplicate other civil-rights initiatives already in place.
…Diana Furchtgott-Roth, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute who served as chief of staff for former President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, tells Newsmax that the rules represent a “dramatic change in employment legislation.”
Four members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights recently penned a letter to Vice President Joe Biden, Majority Leader Harry Reid, and several other leading senators, objecting to the new fair-employment regime in the Dodd-Frank legislation now headed to the president’s desk.
“The likelihood that it will in fact promote discrimination is overwhelming,” the letter states.
Try “blind” to the long history of government regulatory failures:
Those who argue that more regulation and punishment are needed now have been appeased. But does regulation work? Let’s remember that:
• The SEC was specifically created in 1933 to uncover frauds such as the one Madoff perpetrated — but that it failed woefully to do its job.
• The Comptroller of the Currency, the FDIC and other bank regulators, both federal and state, were supposed to regularly investigate and uncover activities such as the banks’ off-balance trading funds, which provided the funding that did much to encourage the speculative mortgage frenzy.
• The Federal Trade Commission had jurisdiction over consumer loans, including the home-equity loans and zero-down-payment mortgage loans that entrapped consumers.
• The Federal Reserve was supposed to preserve a sound currency, even as chairman Alan Greenspan was publicly encouraging people to take out adjustable-rate mortgages.
Try “radical,” “expansive,” “power-mad,” and “dangerous:”
Fully 80% of those surveyed by Bloomberg say they have little or no confidence the bill will prevent or even soften a future financial crisis. Nor will the bill be a big win for the economy. If anything, it will hinder the recovery and weaken the financial system.
Indeed, despite all the hype from the president and his minions…most knowledgeable observers agree that the new law will not prevent another financial crisis. No reasonable person should expect that it should. By its very nature, the financial system relies on leverage and investor confidence. As the experience of 2008 shows, that can be an unpredictable and volatile mix. So no matter how many times President Obama says otherwise, the new law won’t ban financial doomsdays. As his own FDIC chairman, Sheila Bair, says, “No set of laws, no matter how enlightening, can forestall the emergence of a new financial crisis down the road.”
Sheila needs to have a chat with the president. He seems to be one of the only ones who’s under the illusion that the bill is some sort of cure-all. “Because of this bill,” he intoned just last week, “the American people will never again be asked to foot the bill for Wall Street’s mistakes.”
Actually, that’s already wrong. Taxpayers are still on the hook for the bad mortgages guaranteed and owned by the two entities (and key causes of the crisis) the new law studiously ignores: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Their ultimate losses figure to be much, much higher than any bailouts provided to date.
Farcical. Reckless. Cosmetic. Costly.
I better stop now before the adjectives turn into profanities. The idea of Barney Corrupt & Chris Countrywide Corrupter beaming on stage with the Chicago thug-in-chief as they all at themselves on the back for squandering our money and increasing their power is too much to bear this early in the morning.
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Categories: Automakers,Chris Dodd,Corruption,Subprime crisis
Riehl World View
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As I have said here…
It is time to change the name of Washington to something else since George Washington is rolling over in his grave.
Can … God help us?
Oh wait,
Godhas been ruled out of politics.Can … The 2010 elections help us?
It could be a beginning.
Can … The 2012 elections?
Last chance.
Let’s say we take a filibuster-proof majority in Congress and then the White House in 2012. What if it consists of people like Graham, Brown, Snowe, Collins and McCain?
What then?
We must have elected officials who will be committed to reversing the legislative atrocities of the past 19 months (and 75 years, really) and returning us to a constitutional republic that believes in limited government, free enterprise and liberty.
I fear that we have been pushed too far into a corner for that to happen. How do we fight back when our own party (supposedly) is just as much a part of the problem as the radicals who control the Democrats? How, when the legislative, electoral and regulatory processes have been corrupted and used against us by an increasingly tyrranical government and bureaucrats? Where a lap-dog media character assassinates all those who oppose? Where threats of and actual physical violence are used on all who oppose?
We are being left with very little in the way of choices and I do not want to even contemplate the consequences. We are heading for a show down.
This congress will have quite a legacy, May God forgive them.
Chris “Countrywide” Dodd is going into retirement soon. He has no job skills whatsoever having been a professional politician his whole life. Only in Connecticut would being the son of a disgraced politician (former Senator Thomas Dodd) be a boon to a career. The Hartford Courant did yeoman’s work in investigating other Dodd scandals such as his Irish “cottage” and his use of influence to get Bill Clinton to pardon a convicted stock swindler on Clinton’s last day of office. The stock swindler just happened to be Dodd’s partner in the Irish cottage deal. The MSM won’t cover the irony of Dodd posing as a friend of the small investor while being partners and pals with a convicted stock swindler and arranging a presidential pardon in the dead of night. The evidence about Dodd is all right there if any of his pals in the MSM want to find it.
One thing many Senators & Congressmen don’t seem to realize is that every election now is a national election. While we may not be able to vote, we can contribute and we can work across state lines (via call directors that allow a ‘call center’ to set up anywhere). We need it identify the opponents to these (and others) and work with them to unseat these RINO’s. There really is no such thing as a Democrat or Republican anymore, it’s either Progressive, Constitutional Conservative or Independent. We must get Grand Ma and Grand Pa out of the nursing homes to vote – or at least be sure they have an absentee ballot. We must also get involved in our local elections, from (and especially) the school board on up – this Progressive movement has been in the works for the last 80+ years and it will not go willingly into the night without the force of Constitutional Conservatives shoving it.
Once we regain control it will be time to begin rectifying all the errors: 1) Term limits on Federal Judges, 2) Clarifying the 14th Amendment to restrict citizenship to those born of US Citizens not just born within the US borders, 3) Line by Line review of all previously approved pork projects for elimination, and 4) True campaign reform. A lot to hope for when we won’t have veto override majority, but it is a start.
jjsefton
Your answer is in this article that has been discussed over the past few days on some of the talk shows. It is called America’s Ruling Class – The Perils Of Revolution.
It is quite long, but worth every second. It explains a lot.
#6 JJ Murphy:
Yeah, I heard most of Rush discuss this on Monday but have not had time to read it yet. Will try and get to it today.
I’ll still keep my powder dry.
Let us hope that the FrankenDodd monster is as rough on its creators as the Frankenstein monster was on his.
And what, pray tell, do Congo Minerals have to do with financial “reform”?
Only in modern American can those who help commit the crime can be given the reins to fix the crime they perpetrated.
The most amazing part of this whole thing is that two of the biggest offending financial institutions were exempted from this bill – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
What a travesty.
In times past, Senators and Congressmen from both parties would fight tooth and nail to prevent the Executive branch from encroaching on their turf. Not any more. The Dems have freely turned their legislative powers over to the Obama administration. Obama couldn’t have done all of this damage by himself.
The MSM is dead. God forgive them because I never will. Their complicity in all of this is HUGE and they have much to answer for. I only hope and pray that they will be just as adversely affected by this corruption as the rest of us are.
Here’s to Obowmao getting a wicked cramp in his writing hand! (clink) (hic)
Everyone…voo-doo dolls at the ready!!
Once again: Who write this “legislation” and knows the implications? Certainly not these crooks. More Marxist boilerplate dusted and pulled off the shelf for use in times such as these. The next stop for the Cash Brothers here needs to be a federal penitentiary.
Unfortunately, the next stop is going to be crap and tax. And they can do it. My heart is aching this morning, as I see them ramp up the attack for the kill. Nationalized health care, financial “reform”, massive spending, shutting down the oil industry, auto industry, on and on and on. After crap and tax, they will pass card check. And, if they can push amnesty through before the republicans take over in January, they will do it. Don’t forget the “fairness” doctrine. Someone please tell me where I am wrong. They have the power to do all of that and they are going to try. It doesn’t matter what the polls show. It doesn’t matter that this administration is crashing and burning as we speak. It may be too late to stop them…and they don’t seem to care what anyone thinks. To hell with the American People…we are just the “chattering class” and need to be put in our places by the “ruling class”. If it wasn’t clear before, it is clear now.
I am going on a one or two day sabbatical from politics and will be getting on my knees for this country and for Glenn Beck. I suggest we all do that.
happyscrapper #11 – The MSM seems to think the gravy train tracks are endless and they’ll forever be entitled to the ride. Look at their poll numbers. The only one showing huge audiances are those at Fox News. The majority of the others are so inbred and incestual it’s a waste of time to watch them. Yet, their anchors are drawing huge salaries and touted as successful. I have to laugh when watching a W.H. presser – the pecking order is still intact yet no one with half a brain watches or reads them later. Prime example was Helen-Auschwitz-Thomas. Kept a front row seat warm since the apostles were trudging through sand dunes.
The MSM has no idea what it is supporting. Somehow, they think they are exempt…until one day, when the liberal broadcasters come to sit at the tv studios, only to find their scripts changed, and a “news czar” carefully monitoring them. By then, it will be too late. Absolute control of the news is a “must” for the type of government they support. It shows how naive and gullible many reporters can be. The newspapers and magazines won’t be exempt either.
The biggest scandal about this bill is that banks are now officially going to be to big to manage, to big to regulate and “too big to fail”. So the snakes are now big enough to swallow giant pigs without fear of being caught.
Of course, no one cares that our banks work for the drug cartels and that our politicians are surely involved. Let’s not name names or ask questions. We might get accused of being racists or conspiracy theorists. Or worse, someone might actually get arrested and sent to prison. Can’t have that can we?
Does anyone have a copy or a link to the final bill?
The final bill will be written after Obowmao signs it into law. Just sayin is all.
Why aren’t Dodds and Frank in jail?
This 800 pound gorilla is still in the room and he is off his meds. We must get serious about prosecuting the people responsible, from the politicians to the bankers to the Wall Streeters who bagged up and sold the
“dope” – the toxic assets that collaped the world economy. Reasonable and prudent people who knew better than to participate in this scam, did so, and helped to perpetrate the greatest felony theft in world history.
And 90% of the responsibility lays at the feet of the Democratic Party for driving and encouraging the entire process. Don’t believe the “deregulation” defense. Were it not for the provocations of the Left and collusion in Congress and the incompetence of the SEC and FED, Wall Street would never have bought into it.
Put significant numbers of them away for long jail terms and we will be safe, at least for a while until the next generation of grifters comes on line. This will have the added effect of bolstering up some confidence in the financial markets in the near term. Who knows what the future will bring – since the Left is always scheming for a new angle to bring down the system and institute their own.
Why isn’t Michael Steele in jail?
On the topic of the bills coming out of dc that have to be passed to find out what’s in them, Drudge=Secret Gold Coin Tax slipped into health care bill! No telling what else is in bills that have been signed we will be finding out for months. I can not say how I detest this bho, team, and those in dc who vote for these American killing bills!
L
Now it is being reported that the bill contains a gold tax.
Where is the viable third party to replace the turd parties?
Honestly, the Libertarians are looking better all the time.
Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee fixing things leads me to never want to get a loan for anything ever again. I would like an alternative to keeping money in a bank. I guess it’s call a matress.
Just one more aspect of free market enterprise that the FEDS want to control… Ironically not one mention of FANNIE and FREDDIE in this monstrosity, and those are the MAIN CULPRITS that triggered the MELTDOWN… Oh, I forgot, both DODD and FRANK said there was nothing to see here, just keep moving!!!
The Tea Party activists already outnumber both parties. It’s all in the mind. Too many people have mental blocks about party affiliation. Until that Republican steam roller appears and crushes their house and family, they will continue to hold on to the GOP security blanket.
We can’t win if we refuse to define our terms of victory. To me, having so many voters of both parties and independents agreeing with us indicates that victory is within our grasp. All we have to do is “see” it and grab it.
“The Tea Party activists already outnumber both parties.”
Given that many in the Tea Party movement are Republicans that is a gross misrepresentation of the matter.
Phil we know you hate Republicans as much as Democrats and are essentially a grumpy libertarian but at least try to not skew things like the MSM does.
Phil, the HEALTH CARE bill contains a gold tax.
So Phil are you doing the Combs thinking of shifting the topic to the Republicans from the Democrats?
#5 is on the right track. To paraphrase a popular axiom:
All Politics are
localnational.Conservatives should be supported at ALL levels of government.
Turn our guns (metaphorically speaking!) toward the RINOs during Primaries, and toward the Dems (Socialists) during the Generals.
The only way Washington D.C. power can be abated is for States to gain more power. Elected representatives have become federal employees.
let….
Its going to continue to get worse. The work that will have to be unwound and either fully repealed or similar legislation introduced to fix continues and will continue to grow. It will be hard to unwind a bunch of this stuff while Obama is in office but not impossible. We won’t be able to build up the kind of momentum we need until we have a majority of conservatives in Congress and the White House.
We can not sit back and relax even if conservatives win all the seats in 2010.
In my mind the target is being able to take a breath after the 2016 or maybe even the 2020 elections.
You have to accept the fact that you can’t do anything about those people unless you live in their states – except to contribute to their opposition (if any) in the primaries. The only thing you can do otherwise, is to work to ensure that you elect conservatives in your own state to give the Republicans such an overwhelming conservative majority that the RINOs (who are basically go-along-to-get-along herd animals) feel compelled to go with the majority. If you take the power out of their hands to sway a vote one way or the other, they’ll usually fall into line since they have nothing to gain otherwise.
jsm and Mister P: So you guys have nothing to say about the facts and arguments. It’s all me. You guys need to learn how to engage in intelligent discussion. Your Republican Party sucks!!!! Okay? Stop defending the indefensible!
If the only tool you have in your tool kits is to attack me personally, BITE ME! It’s like arguing with petulant children.
Time to break out the torches and pitchforks in the village – it is the FRANK’n'DODD monster!
Well, FDR did confiscate the gold back then.
plymouthacclaim#41,
I believe fdr condiscated gold, but not old gold coins. That is why Glenn buys more expensive old gold coins. Now, nothing is safe from this bho and team. They need their slimy fingers in everything!
L
Many of the Obummer supporters I know didn’t believe me when I said there was a resession coming and that they should get out of debt. They didn’t believe me when I said the recession is going to be worse because congress is mucking with the system. They didn’t believe me when I said the Bho wasn’t going to improve the economy but would make it worse. They yelled, screamed and argued that I was wrong. Now they are in worse pain that I’m in because they thought that Bho was going to make everything better. They are too ashamed to mention anything about Bho.
Savor the schadenfruede!
Phil, I got news for you. It is not about you.
And again, why wasn’t Fannie and Freddie included in this so called bill?
“An investigation from Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is uncovering the depth and breadth of the scandals at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the very heart of America’s financial meltdown. New documents released by Issa show 173 sweetheart deal loans from Countrywide Financial Corporation were given to 42 Fannie and Freddie employees as the company was negotiating exclusive agreement to sell Fannie Mae billions of dollars in questionable, sub-prime mortgages at a discounted rate.”
Just a word to our overlords in congress: unemployed parents translates to empty little tummies around the dinner table, some of those little tummies still in diapers.
Bless and protect America’s families.
“It is not about you.”
Now don’t take that from him. He seems to need it so. His “us vs. them” thing seems to keep him going.
“jsm and Mister P: So you guys have nothing to say about the facts and arguments.”
Would you please present some facts on which we can then argue Phil? Why is JD a better candidate then McCain?
With Phil it’s more “me vs. the world”. He doesn’t seem to have any natural allies except maybe JD. He’d be devastated to learn that not a single member of the Senate has a 100% lifetime ACU rating, which seems to make them all RINOs in his book.