The House passed Dodd-Frank on Decenmber 11, 2009 without a single Republican vote. As always, the Republicans were for the crooked banksters-- but so were 26 Democrats. Most of those Democrats have since been fired by the voters-- or forced to resign-- and only 6 remain in Congress today:
• Ann Kirkpatrick (New Dem-AZ)• Peter Visclosky (IN)• Mike McIntyre (Blue Dog-NC)• Marcy Kaptur (OH)• Kurt Schrader (Blue Dog-OR)• Henry Cuellar (Blue Dog-TX)
Many of the ones who were driven out of office are now well-paid lobbyists on K Street. We've been urging you to read Elizabeth Warren's new book, A Fighting Chance but the video above from this week's Bill Moyers' show, an episode in the series Too Big to Fail and Getting Bigger, gives you similer conclusions from another perspective. Like many of us, Moyers wants to know why none of the banksters have been prosecuted for their roles in the housing crisis that led to the economic collapse referred to by the media as "the Great Recession. These finance executives took part in 'scandals that violate the most basic ethical norms,' as the head of the IMF Christine Lagarde put it last month, including illegal foreclosures, money laundering and the fixing of interest rate benchmarks. In fact, banking CEOs not only avoided prosecution but got average pay rises of 10 percent last year, taking home, on average, $13 million in compensation." Moyers:
These "gentlemen" are among the leaders of the industry’s efforts to repeal, or water down, some of the tougher rules and regulations enacted in the Dodd-Frank legislation that was passed to prevent another crash. As usual, they’re swelling their ranks with the very people who helped to write that bill. More than two dozen federal officials have pushed through the revolving door to the private sector they once sought to regulate.And then there are the lapdogs in Congress willfully collaborating with the financial industry. As the Center for Public Integrity put it recently, they are "Wall Street’s secret weapon," a handful of representatives at the beck and call of the banks, eager to do their bidding. Jeb Hensarling is their head honcho. The Republican from Texas chairs the House Financial Services Committee, which functions for Wall Street like one of those no-tell motels with the neon sign. Hensarling makes no bones as to where his loyalties lie. "Occasionally we have been accused of trying to undermine aspects of Dodd-Frank," he said recently, adding, with a chuckle, "I hope we’re guilty of it." Guilty as charged, Congressman. And it tells us all we need to know about our bought and paid for government that you think it’s funny.
And speaking of the IMF, yesterday they released their annual review of our economy-- along with a call for us to raise the minimum wage. They pointed out that it is low, not just by international standards but by our own historical standards and that "an increase would raise incomes for millions of working poor Americans."Wall Street's guy inside the GOP. Jim Himes is their Democrat
