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If you’re looking for a major cause of the current banking meltdown, you need seek no farther than the 1999 repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. The Glass-Steagall Act, passed in 1933, mandated the separation of commercial and investment banking in order to protect depositors from the hazards of risky investment and speculation. It worked fine for fifty years until the banking industry began lobbying for its repeal during the 1980s, the go-go years of Reaganesque market fundamentalism, an outlook embraced wholeheartedly by mainstream Democrats under the rubric "neoliberalism."
But wait . . . as usual, the Democrats were eager to pile on to this reversal of New Deal regulatory progressivism — fully 38 of 45 Senate Democrats voted for the repeal (which passed 90-8), including some famous names commonly associated with "progressive" politics by the easily gulled: Dodd, Kennedy, Kerry, Reid, and Schumer. And, of course, there was the inevitable shout of "yea" from the ever-servile corporate factotum Joseph Biden, Barack Obama’s idea of a tribune of "change"–if by change one means erasing any lingering obstacle to corporate domination of the polity.
According to Wikipedia, many economists "have criticized the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act as contributing to the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis. The repeal enabled commercial lenders such as Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank by assets, to underwrite and trade instruments such as mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations and establish so-called structured investment vehicles, or SIVs, that bought those securities. Citigroup played a major part in the repeal. Then called Citicorp, the company merged with Travelers Insurance company the year before using loopholes in Glass-Steagall that allowed for temporary exemptions. With lobbying led by Roger Levy, the ‘finance, insurance and real estate industries together are regularly the largest campaign contributors and biggest spenders on lobbying of all business sectors [in 1999]. They laid out more than $200 million for lobbying in 1998, ‘ according to the Center for Responsive Politics. ‘ These industries succeeded in their two decades long effort to repeal the act. ‘ "
Obama and McCain . . . have accepted a substantial amount of campaign money from Wall Street bankers, investment and securities firms and their executives during this election cycle. Investment firms have donated $9.9 million to Obama and $6.9 million to McCain this campaign thus far, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Commercial banks have given Obama $2.1 million and McCain $1.9 million. Private equity firms and hedge funds have given Obama $2 million and McCain $1.4 million, according to CFRP. Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase & Co., UBS and heavyweight law firm DLA Piper are among Obama’s top contributors. JP Morgan acquired Bear Stearns with the federal government taking on as much as $30 billion Bear assets as part of the deal. McCain’s top donor sources include Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Blank Rome and Greenberg Traurig LLP law firms.
Originally posted by UniverSoul
reply to post by OccupyPlanet
telling people to leave their banks and join a credit union!
Originally posted by illuminatislave
reply to post by fooks
No one wants to kill the rich, fascist lover. The system on the other hand needs to be burned down and defecated on.
Originally posted by seagull
reply to post by OccupyPlanet
You mean to tell me that this big ol' movement that's going to change the world is without a plan, or ideas????
Originally posted by illuminatislave
reply to post by fooks
No one wants to kill the rich, fascist lover. The system on the other hand needs to be burned down and defecated on.
Originally posted by robyn
1. Immediately reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act
search.yahoo.com...
2. Repeal the Patriot Act and disband the TSA.
3. Freeze the printing of Federal Reserve notes pending a completely independent audit thereof.
4. Place a temporary moratorium on all new administrative rules and regulations.
5. Place a cap on all campaign spending and prohibit corporate donations.
6. Cease all military actions around the world and freeze defense spending.
7. Place a tariff on all goods being imported into the country.
Originally posted by gimme_some_truth
Originally posted by illuminatislave
reply to post by fooks
No one wants to kill the rich, fascist lover. The system on the other hand needs to be burned down and defecated on.
Fooks was just joking.
But does this mean you will vote for me?