The more I try to understand what's going on and what's not going on in our nation's capital, the more I feel as though the Republican strategy is simply to make this President fail at everything, regardless of how it effects the nation as a whole. Let's just mess up everything he does because we can.
Recently Republicans dug in against calls from Democrats for a stand-alone agency to protect consumers from abusive tactics on credit cards, mortgages, and other financial instruments. It seems that the Republicans wanted banking regulators to take the lead in enforcing consumer rules, but Democrats argued that such a system would water down consumer protections. Such a system is akin to asking the fox to guard the hen house.
It doesn't matter if it's health care reform or, in this case, the reform of the financial system... a system badly in need of reform. Everytime the president and his administration try to do anything, they get a knee-jerk reaction from the Republicans. "NO. We are against this." They have become the party of "No".
Everybody knows how I feel about this... screw 'em! You got a majority so, go it alone. They certainly did what they wanted to do when they were in power. One Republican, Senator Robert Corker has actually been trying to work with Senator (and senate Banking Committee Chairman) Christopher Dodd on a compromise. The bill Chairman Dodd will unveil Monday contains some elements negotiated with Corker, both senators emphasized, but key stumbling blocks, including how much authority to give to a new consumer financial protection agency, still remain.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would try to expedite any proposals that Dodd manages to get out of his committee. "We have to make sure that everyone acknowledges that we can't have institutions that are too big to fail," Reid said... adding that he plans for the full Senate to consider a bill before lawmakers take a break at the end of May.
It's too late. We already have two institutions that recently got big cash handouts (i.e. bailouts) that are clearly "too big to fail". The House of Representatives had approved its own bill in December that would bring the most sweeping regulatory reforms since the 1930s. Others said Democrats appeared to hope that public anger at banks might persuade some Republicans to join in the effort to stiffen rules for banks and other financial firms. No chance. All they'll do is mislead the public into thinking that this is yet another Obama gaffe.
Senator Corker said that he and Chairman Dodd had achieved bipartisan agreement that the rule-writing and enforcement functions of consumer protection would be separate. He said the main stumbling blocks were in the areas of derivatives regulation and whether to give shareholders greater say in electing corporate officers.
It seems to me that we are worrying more about shareholders than the greater public good... but, that's just me. We all know what that is about and who is whispering in who's ear. Until then, all you and I can do is sit and watch the people we elected wrangle over our welfare while we hope and pray that our lives improve when the smoke and political posturing clears.
Recently Republicans dug in against calls from Democrats for a stand-alone agency to protect consumers from abusive tactics on credit cards, mortgages, and other financial instruments. It seems that the Republicans wanted banking regulators to take the lead in enforcing consumer rules, but Democrats argued that such a system would water down consumer protections. Such a system is akin to asking the fox to guard the hen house.
It doesn't matter if it's health care reform or, in this case, the reform of the financial system... a system badly in need of reform. Everytime the president and his administration try to do anything, they get a knee-jerk reaction from the Republicans. "NO. We are against this." They have become the party of "No".
Everybody knows how I feel about this... screw 'em! You got a majority so, go it alone. They certainly did what they wanted to do when they were in power. One Republican, Senator Robert Corker has actually been trying to work with Senator (and senate Banking Committee Chairman) Christopher Dodd on a compromise. The bill Chairman Dodd will unveil Monday contains some elements negotiated with Corker, both senators emphasized, but key stumbling blocks, including how much authority to give to a new consumer financial protection agency, still remain.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he would try to expedite any proposals that Dodd manages to get out of his committee. "We have to make sure that everyone acknowledges that we can't have institutions that are too big to fail," Reid said... adding that he plans for the full Senate to consider a bill before lawmakers take a break at the end of May.
It's too late. We already have two institutions that recently got big cash handouts (i.e. bailouts) that are clearly "too big to fail". The House of Representatives had approved its own bill in December that would bring the most sweeping regulatory reforms since the 1930s. Others said Democrats appeared to hope that public anger at banks might persuade some Republicans to join in the effort to stiffen rules for banks and other financial firms. No chance. All they'll do is mislead the public into thinking that this is yet another Obama gaffe.
Senator Corker said that he and Chairman Dodd had achieved bipartisan agreement that the rule-writing and enforcement functions of consumer protection would be separate. He said the main stumbling blocks were in the areas of derivatives regulation and whether to give shareholders greater say in electing corporate officers.
It seems to me that we are worrying more about shareholders than the greater public good... but, that's just me. We all know what that is about and who is whispering in who's ear. Until then, all you and I can do is sit and watch the people we elected wrangle over our welfare while we hope and pray that our lives improve when the smoke and political posturing clears.
Yeah, we can always hope!
1 comment:
Keith, the president of my union thinks the same thing: Republicans want the president to fail even though every citizen will be hurt. He/we think that Republicans are willing to sacrifice all that they have in order to defeat any action of THIS president. We believe the motivation is solely the color of his skin. Republicans know the "tea-baggers" are wrong-headed but refuse to speak against the madness of their point of view. Old people on Social Security saying to keep the government out of their healthcare must not know where Social Security comes from or they choose to be blind and ignorant in hope of defeating a presidency. Had the "birthers" been present at the president's delivery, they'd still say he's not a citizen.
Sometimes I think all of this is for our good. Maybe folks will become active and participate in this "democracy" when they see just what a few narrow-minded people have done with a spirit of evil. Imagine what the force of good can do!
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