Way back, I suggested that Warren and Fox's Eric Bolling head up an investigative panel to see exactly what happened on Wall Street before new regulations were created. Obviously, like they do most citizens, the Congress ignored me completely and passed a set of new regulations without benefit of a full investigation. And, as is usually the case when Congress acts hastily, new information comes out regularly that points up the flaws and shortcomings in the new law.
That said, since passage, only one name has been floated to head this new agency. That would be Dr. Elizabeth Warren. She was initially chosen to head up the TARP oversight for the Congress. This is perhaps one of the few intelligent decisions Congress has made in a long time.
As head of that oversight panel, she has been relentless in holding the banks' feet to the fire and is well known for asking tough questions and speaking her mind without the normal prevarication and nonsense that is so much part of Washington. Her plain spoken and honest assessments are what have made her as well known and respected as she is.
However, it appears unlikely that she will head up this new agency after all. According to the Associated Press, "The 61 year old Harvard professor and consumer advocate had been considered the leading candidate to head the bureau itself, but her lack of support in the financial community could have set the stage for contentious hearings that might ultimately have derailed her confirmation." (this is directly quoted from the article itself which appears in today's Miami Herald).
So the "financial community" is still able to tell the Senate what to do and not do. And by financial community, one can only assume that this means Goldman Sachs. Sure, there are others like Citi, JP Morgan, Bank of America and so on, but Goldman is the leader of this perilous pack. And apparently now in charge of the Senate.
I am not sure what is worse here. The fact that Goldman and their gang of thieves can assert this kind of control or the fact that the media states it as a simple conclusion with no further comment.
It is bad enough that the Senate is obviously a bought and paid for enterprise. The simple fact that all the Senate as a whole has been concerned about since the passage of the original TARP has been their Wall Street benefactors is bad enough. Remember, it was the Senate that amended TARP to another bill after the House resoundingly defeated it. It was Reid and McConnell (who now lies and says he was opposed) that subverted the Constitutional requirement that all spending bills initiate in the House. It was Dodd (now leaving the Senate before the investigation into his own depth of corruption) who jammed it into an unrelated bill just for the "HR" heading required to end run Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution.
Now, it appears that the same Wall Streeters that used fear and intimidation to get $700 billion in free money from the taxpayer is still in charge enough to prevent the nomination of an actual regulator that might just force them into following the laws and rules. Apparently, the only thing this joke of a Senate does in a bipartisan manner is genuflect before the all powerful "financial community" and ignore the best interests off their constituents.
What is worse is that the media sees no problem with this. They state it in the same way they note that the sun rises in the East. At least according to Erica Werner and Julie Pace of the AP, this is OK. In fact, as far as I can tell, neither of these so-called journalists even flinched at the idea that the financial community has adequate sway to not only control the Senate but also to apparently cow the White House as well. There is no follow up, no mention of just how wrong the concept is. Just a simple sentence that appears to accept the corrupt practices of our government.
So, we the people will have to settle for mediocrity as demanded by Goldman and their corrupting cronies on Wall Street. We shall have to accept that any financial regulation will only be at the pleasure of the regulated. And we might as well prepare ourselves now for the next crisis and the next bailout of these jerks. Because they own them a US Senate and we have nothing.
Of course, that is changing. Perhaps the recent victories by non-traditional candidates is a sign that Americans are sick and tired of this kind of nonsense. Perhaps these candidates are winning because Americans have done the math and realized that only these candidates will be able to resist the corrupting influences of Wall Street and the rest of the big money crowd.
Let me remind folks in both parties of something. To pass TARP, House Minority Leader John Boehner actually wept on the House floor. Look it up. He stood there in tears begging for money to bail out the big banks. Mitch McConnell predicted the end of the world if the money didn't come. Obama, Palin, McCain, Frank, Dodd, Pelosi, Bush, Paulson, Clinton, Reid and the rest of them all supported this mess. Since then some have decided to pretend they were opposed. They weren't and they are lying if they say they were. TARP was a bipartisan screwing of the American People. For those that fear government's destruction of the free markets, well, it started with TARP. It started with both parties.
We can stop the game on November 2 by simply voting these corrupt clowns out of office. Look at the reaction from official Washington to a Senate primary in Delaware. Or a gubernatorial primary in New York. The favored, party picked candidate lost and the politicians and pundits on both sides went loony tunes. While I am not a fan of a lot of the policies that these candidates espouse, I am a huge fan of irritating the political/pundit world. I am also a fan of simply tossing the entire Congress out on their heels come November. they have done a bad job, They have lied, cheated, stolen and now apparently take their orders from Wall Street.
Come November 2, vote to take America back from the special interests and corrupt politicians. This time, America is depending on all of us to help all of us. Let's not let us down.
To drive home that message, I am offering T-Shirts with this message:
As a capitalist and a free market person, I am selling them for both profit and with the intent of donating to those candidates that are willing to step outside the parties and declare a concern for the Constitution and the people.
You can order them here: http://www.itisnotagame.spreadshirt.com
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