Something Really Insane Just Happened In Congress, And You Probably Haven't Heard A Word About It

Something Really Insane Just Happened In Congress, And You Probably Haven't Heard A Word About It!

So...We finally find a bill that passes easily with bi-partisan support through Congress.

Unfortunately it re-authorizes the Fed to bailout banks that gamble on swaps and derivatives...

And it was literally written by Citigroup..

A MUST WATCH explanation...

The man in the VIdeo..

Upworthy colleague Mansur Gidfar ditched us to go work for some anti-corruption group that apparently is tired of "bribery, graft, and shenanigans" in the government. So they gave him a camera. Now he has a ridiculous power grab to share with you that you may have missed.

i believe that if this was passed easily without anyone noticing then TSHF very soon

I believe it. Congress is indebted to the banks, without their campaign contributions they would not be able to spread their deceit as far. You have to remember that they are all of a kind, they back each other up. The government heads will spend a trillion bucks of our money to get fifty million of money they can use to get reelected.

Something is very wrong, they learned nothing from their past mistakes.

reply to post by Indigo5

SOURCES: The bill referenced in this video is called H.R. 992 — the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act. You can find out how your representative voted on 992 here:
www.govtrack.us...

You can find New York Times reports on how Citigroup literally wrote its own bill
here:
dealbook.nytimes.com...
and here:
dealbook.nytimes.com...

You can see how Wall Street dumps money into your member of Congress' campaign coffers here:
maplight.org...

and gape openly at the incredible amounts of money Wall Street spends on lobbying every year here:
www.opensecrets.org...

You can read more about House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling's ski vacation with Wall Street (yes, that's a thing that actually happened)
www.propublica.org...

www.upworthy.com...

Well,
Our supposed elected representatives on both side of the aisle are being lobbied every day by the people with the deepest pockets in the world.

That's 535 people dividing up the "contributions, benefits and business related perks" from over 10,000 lobbyists that wield literally tens of billions of dollars in funds per year. All dedicated to ensuring that the people you put in office enact laws that benefit anyone but the voter.

Anybody surprised?

Nope.

But 99.9% of the people who know will vote the same dirtbags back into office come next election.

Dr UAE
i believe that if this was passed easily without anyone noticing then TSHF very soon

Passed November 30th...Congress always sneaks in ugly legislation around the holidays when no one is paying attention.

This bill being bi-partisan also meant no one made the rounds on Sunday morning arguing about it, no one went on CNN with partisan jabs etc. etc. They just quietly agreed and passed it during the holidays.

Our government is by the banks for the banks. Sad but true

I did see this last month through FB....not sure if there's a thread about it on ATS, but I will say this: It was done in secret, and it basically puts taxpayers back on the hook for the bank's failed derivatives gambles in the stock market.

Therefore, you have to ask yourself the most basic questions: Why? And why now?

I think the answers are fairly obvious. Because the derivatives losses are incredibly staggering, the banks don't want to have to pay the piper when they can make us do it, and the piper is expecting to get paid soon.

Remember last month when the banks also decided that no more than $50,000 could be taken out of an account at one time, and NO transfers of any amount of money outside of the US?

These are bad signs. Very bad.

reply to post by rickymouse


They do learn from their mistakes. More like they learned how to better deceive. Now instead of bundling mortgages and selling derivatives they are purchasing foreclosures, bundling rents and selling derivatives based on the future value of rental incomes. Which when the economy crashes will lead to yet another bailout.

Mother#ing banks and the mother#ing politicians that support them should all be lined up against the wall and executed for treason.

IMHO- Kill them all...Let God sort them out. Or, just let them keep printing money so it will be as valuable as toilet paper!

reply to post by FissionSurplus


The system is rigged through corruption to do one thing for the banks.....Privatize the profits...Socialize the losses. That is a simple formula for what nearly collapsed our economy and is driving us toward unprecedented income inequality. God help me...what bank executive won't gamble if they know that they get to keep the winnings for big bets, but if they lose...the fed will cover the losses with taxpayer funds.

reply to post by Mamatus


I guess you are right, they do learn from their mistakes.

reply to post by Indigo5


If you would prefer to read the bill on your own, here it is:

Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act - Amends the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act with respect to the prohibition against certain federal assistance to swaps entities, namely the use of any advances from specified Federal Reserve credit facilities or discount windows, or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance or guarantees, for the purpose of: (1) making any loan to, or purchasing any stock, equity interest, or debt obligation of, any swaps entity; (2) purchasing the assets of any swaps entity; (3) guaranteeing any loan or debt issuance of any swaps entity; or (4) entering into any assistance arrangement (including tax breaks), loss sharing, or profit sharing with any swaps entity.


Extends to any major swap participant or major security-based swap participant that is an uninsured U.S. branch or agency of a foreign bank the exemption from the prohibition against federal assistance to swaps entities which is currently limited to any major swap participant or major security-based swap participant that is an FDIC-insured bank or savings association. Designates both uninsured U.S. branches or agencies of a foreign bank and insured depository institutions as "covered depository institutions."

Requires any covered depository institution exempted from the prohibition to limit its swap and security-based swap activities to hedging and similar risk mitigating activities (as under current law), non-structured finance swap activities, or certain structured finance swap activities. (Defines "structured finance swap" as a swap or security-based swap based on an asset-backed security [or group or index primarily composed of asset-backed securities].)

Qualifies a structured finance swap activity for the exemption if: (1) it is undertaken for hedging or risk management purposes, or (2) each asset-backed security underlying the structured finance swap is of a credit quality and of a type or category with respect to which the prudential regulators have jointly adopted rules authorizing such a swap or security-based swap activity by covered depository institutions.


Repeals the exemption from the prohibition for any insured depository institution that limits its swap and security-based swap activities to acting as a swaps entity for: (1) swaps or security-based swaps involving rates or reference assets that are permissible for investment by a national bank; or (2) credit default swaps, including those referencing the credit risk of asset-backed securities unless they are cleared by a derivatives clearing organization or a clearing agency registered, or exempt from registration, under the Commodity Exchange Act or the Securities Exchange Act.

Oh and look at that, looks like some of the Dems didn't vote for it. I guess they thought they had screwed the American people over enough, for now.

Our political system in the U.S. is a big joke, right or left, they're all corrupt. Yet, people keep voting them right back in..

"By the corporations, for the corporations."

(eta: ah, looks like LDragonFire beat me to that line.)

Knowing just how dire our (US) financial situation is, this doesn't really surprise me at all. I posted a thread yesterday about the dollar and just how bad things really are:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Citigroup and the other financial institutions are corrupt but, if you know what's going on you'll understand why. I don't claim to know everything but here's what I think is happening. The power elite know that time is running out and they are doing everything they can to attain as much wealth as possible before the lights go out. Check out the run on financial markets by the political authority at the end of the Roman empire and then look at what's happening today. Check out my thread and read some of the posts from some very smart financial people.

There are some bright spots for a potential positive turn around; things need to turn around soon or there will be no turning back. One of those bright spots for me is 3-D printing with its potential to radically alter the way things are done and have been done for the last century or so. Another bright spot is that our creditors, namely China, are dependent on the strength of our dollar/economy being strong. So, in a sense, we're too important to fail.

Bipartisan?

Hardly, the only people who voted against it were democrats.

Write your senator, telling to vote against it.

At least my Rep voted against it. I like him more and more all the time.

Part of the problem is that Dodd-Frank didn't get rid of the existing derivatives exposures trouble.

This latest bill seems to be focusing on:

"insured depository institution" and inserting "covered depository institution"

"Covered" seems to include foreign banks that may not currently be included in:

Regulation K of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (12 C.F.R. 211.21(o)))

I think all that may be some new regulations being dictated by the foreign B.I.S. committee:

"Basel Committee"

We should study their regulations because the Federal Reserve is in the middle of implementing:

the "Basel III" accords.

here's the bill text (partial) ....

SEC. 2. REFORM OF PROHIBITION ON SWAP ACTIVITY ASSISTANCE.

Section 716 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 8305) is amended--

(1) in subsection (b)--

(A) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking `insured depository institution' and inserting `covered depository institution'; and

(B) by adding at the end the following:

`(3) COVERED DEPOSITORY INSTITUTION- The term `covered depository institution' means--

`(A) an insured depository institution, as that term is defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813); and

`(B) a United States uninsured branch or agency of a foreign bank.';

(2) in subsection (c)--

(A) in the heading for such subsection, by striking `Insured' and inserting `Covered';

(B) by striking `an insured' and inserting `a covered';

(C) by striking `such insured' and inserting `such covered'; and

(D) by striking `or savings and loan holding company' and inserting `savings and loan holding company, or foreign banking organization (as such term is defined under Regulation K of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (12 C.F.R. 211.21(o)))';

H.R.992 -- Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act (Referred in Senate - RFS)
_________

related thread (Nov 1, 2013)

I'm hoping to live just long enough to see all these corrupt self-serving bastards burn.

And then when I make it to the other side, watch them burn some more.

Forgiveness, is a real bitch.

Indigo5

Dr UAE
i believe that if this was passed easily without anyone noticing then TSHF very soon

Passed November 30th...Congress always sneaks in ugly legislation around the holidays when no one is paying attention.

This bill being bi-partisan also meant no one made the rounds on Sunday morning arguing about it, no one went on CNN with partisan jabs etc. etc. They just quietly agreed and passed it during the holidays.

People should stop complaining and move to the next step - contact your reps and be heard.

Secondly watch to see if Obama signs it.. Again, contact the White House and be heard.

Third, pressure your reps to review the Supreme court. They are the ones who decided money is free speech, even though the constitution says nothing about speech and business...

We the People are the final authority. Time to saddle up and move beyond complaining.

The next bill Congress will need to pass will be called the Congressional Responsibility Act.
It require that all votes in Congress be kept secret so they can vote their conscience without reprisal.
Why bother telling us anymore, really?
It would be like: "ha, ha! Not only are your great grandchildren on the hook for these debts but it looks like their great-great grandchildren will be paying for it too".
Americans are only going to put up with so much.
Frankly I'm astonished they've done all they have without the people going after them.