Post by dgriffin on Oct 5, 2008 6:45:04 GMT -5
How Big Finance bought deregulation in 1999
Look what happened under the Clinton administration? (But was sponsored by Republicans.)
"After years of fierce lobbying by finance interests, Gramm-Leach Bliley shattered the firewall between commercial banks and investment banks, opening the door to bigger banks and higher risk." (with the 1999 Financial Services Modernization Act.)
"The finance, insurance and real estate sector contributed more than $86 million to members of Congress between 1997 and the key vote on Gramm-Leach-Bliley in November 1999. ... [O]n average, those lawmakers voting "yea" received about $180,000 in campaign contributions from individuals and PACs in the financial sector during that period. Those who voted "nay" received about $90,000 each, or half of what supporters got." (A similar distribution of votes and graft is evident in last week's bailout vote.)
"Nine years ago, lobbyists for the financial sector succeeded at enticing Congress to do the bidding of their financial clients resulting in exposing the American taxpayer to huge risk. Those same lobbies are now feverishly working many of the same politicians to cover their clients’ collective tails and handing the astronomical bill to each of us."
Isn't America great? And it's for sale!
You may have thought the first failed bailout vote last week was because the congressional titans of honor were trying to get the best deal for the American people. More likely they were angling for the best price in the sale of their votes.
southernstudies.org/facingsouth/2008/09/bailout-watch-how-big-finance-bought.asp
And don't miss:
Financial Bailout Vote: House Members Voting 'Yes' (To 700 Billion) Received 54% More Money from Banks and Securities
www.maplight.org/node/43109
Below is a "word cloud" created from the 110-page Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. A digital media and technology enthusiast based in San Francisco, who blogs using the pseudonym Thomas Hawk, produced the graphic by pasting the bill into Wordle.
