So the Obama Administration chalks another one in the win column today with the passage of the S. 3217 /H.R. 4173 the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010.
You can read the bill on Thomas.gov, but here's the nut: It establishes a new regulatory agency headed by the Treasury Secretary to regulate the financial services market, advise Congress on national policy related to the financial markets, make regulations and recommend legislation to Congress and generally protect consumers from their banks, brokers and others entrusted with the safekeeping of their money from reckless and abusive practices.
Now it was strange, there was some talk earlier in the day of some Senate Republicans talking up the bill after it passed. But, no sooner did we hear that than Big John Boehner found the first camera he could jam his grill into, to unleash the fiery wrath of the cosmic fist of the pre-Atomic space god Jehovah-1 on the Obama Administration for daring to make government actually govern.
The nerve of some people...
And while we're on the subject, it's not like the law, expected to be signed into law later this week, or perhaps early next week, indentures or enslaves poor hard working financial services CEOs. For instances, your bank can still stake your life savings at the derivatives casino. Yeah, they're going to have to account for their gambling a little better, but it's nothing like the first version of the bill that came to Congress.
Boehner, though... the ink wasn't dry on the final passage draft with the votes recorded before he was spooging about the new GOP cause celebré, repeal of the act.
His pissant footstool Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana was already counting down the days to a Republican Congress. Here's what he told TPM's Brian Beutler:
I think that should this legislation become law, and I continue to hope earnestly that it does not, House Republicans will be determined to end this era of bailouts and dismantle the principles of too big to fail from the law," Pence said.
What elements of the law would need to be dismantled?
"There's several aspects of that, but I can break that down for you. Let's jump off that bridge when we come to it," Pence said.
Tell you what, Mike... you go ahead and jump off that bridge when you come to it. The rest of us will be just... no...just no, Mike, I'm not going to dignify your stoopid bridge metaphor any further than that.
The financial services industry dug themselves into a hole, aided and abetted by a snoozing Congress and a clinically insane administration. Then we had to bail them out (and yes, we did have to do it, as onerous and distasteful as that was), and then we were told to summarily to mind our own damn business when we had the unmitigated gall to suggest that maybe the government had a role to play in helping those companies remain solvent and to fulfill their fiduciary duty.
You know, I'm a generous guy. I don't really mind helping out a guy who's down on his luck, especially when his bad luck becomes ghastly luck for the whole country. So sure, I'll dig a little deeper to help them out. But I am going to attach a little letter with that cash suggesting some ways we can avoid this in the future and it is very poor party manners to take my cash and throw that note back in my face.
Yeah, I know that's bit populace and the situation isn't really as simple as that. But it has been clear to much of the world that those financial services companies based in the United States spent the first decade of the 21st Century acting like it was free crack night in the weasel hut.
That clearly had to come an end.
Consider this the intervention from your friends. That last chance for you to straighten your shit out before you end up institutionalized or room temperature.
And if the Republicans in fall really want to go into fly over country and start telling Ma and Pa Kettle that the bank that screwed them on their mortgage, the brokerage that burned through their pension fund, the CEOs that spent $600 million of their customers money in just the last year on lobbying for Congress to keep the party going...
I dare you, I double dog dare you!
mojo sends
