Posted on 12/12/2014 2:00:20 AM PST by Libloather
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Thursday morning slammed a provision in the pending spending bill that would repeal a piece of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law and expressed doubt that enough Democrats could support the package if that rider remains.
I just spoke to Nancy Pelosi. The Democrats believe this is an odious provision that should not be included. Many of us feel the same way, said Durbin, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate, on MSNBCs Morning Joe.
[Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio)] can take it out in the bat of any eye, and I hope he will. This provision should not be part of our budget bill, he added.
Durbin said he absolutely agreed with Sen. Elizabeth Warrens (D-Mass.) assessment a day earlier when she railed against the swaps provision that would make it easier for banks to directly engage in derivatives trading.
It is amazing to me that we worked so long on a spending bill to keep government open and now Wall Street banks have parked themselves under the mistletoe and said before anybody can make a move, Weve got to get special treatment, Durbin said.
If the provision is not removed on the House side, Durbin said, Weve got a problem.
Durbin suggested Congress might have to pass a continuing resolution (CR) instead of the cromnibus that would fund most of the government through next September.
The Republicans should wait until they take the majority in January before pushing their conservative agenda, Durbin said.
For goodness sakes, they ought to wait until we pass this budget bill to make other demands, he said.
The House is slated to hold a vote on the spending measure Thursday the deadline to fund the government or it will shut down.
Lawmakers are expected to pass a short-term CR lasting only a few days to give the Senate time to consider the legislation and meanwhile keep the government open.
The Senate could vote on the spending bill Friday or over the weekend.
On the House side, the measure is expected to pass, but if only by a slim margin. Republicans need Democratic votes and many Democrats expressed tremendous concern on Wednesday over the Dodd-Frank provision and another that would loosen limits on campaign contributions to national political parties.
2 liberals from New England.
Chris Dodd and Barney Frank.
More kabuki theater.
Dick Turban magic carpet rider.
Two communists who durbin has been ordered to defend by the Chicago cabal.
Can’t wait for the Democrats to shutdown the government over this.
I smell BS.
We need to get rid of Dodd Frank, Sarbanes Oxley, and the other 2 Clintonian Banking / Finance reform and START OVER.
Do any of these toads who write this stuff actually talk to any banking or investment professionals and hear what a living nightmare these pieces of legislation are and have made of their profeesions?
Especially Dodd-Frank that goes overboard to stop another Bernie Madoff when in fact if the SEC had a staff and a budget they would have been all over him like white on rice. ( I'd love to know what Senators knew Bernie, and of his supposed investment prowess and how and why they turned a blind eye).
Start with bringing back Glass Stegall and build on that, Give the SEC a real budget and staff, look at the reforms Australia did in the early 90's that was simple and Clinton balked at doing ( yes they asked him to adopt it).
Banking “reform” should consist of one line: “Anyone authorizing government funds or action to bail out a failed bank will be executed”.
Clinton did indeed bring us this mess. Which is why Hillary will be the next President. The financial cabal always rewards its benefactors.
The Money Question (what is it, how is it different from credit, who decides, and who makes the rules) dominated our politics from 1788-1912. Nothing except slavery was more important.
The fact that the creation of the Federal Reserve system in 1913 and the gold confiscation of 1933 has made this issue SEEM to disappear has not reduced its importance.
The fact that money center banks and what you call “investment professionals” have become central to money creation in recent years is a novelty which will not last. The ankle-biting harassment of these people by Dodd-Frank and Sarbox will be as nothing when Congress finally reclaims its SOLE authority over money definition and creation.
We have Ted Cruz to thank for stopping the Senate, because I believe he was the one who had this inserted.
We back you up 100 percent, Tee!
Ahem, “Ted!”
Writing from my iPhone...
Good point. My impression is that if the public knew all the different relationships and conflicts of interest that exist in all branches of government they would be shocked at just how deep and blatant this is - even if some of those involved don't think they're ‘being influenced’.
‘Dinners’ that raise huge cash are just one issue that comes to mind. It's clearly a way of influence peddling and gaining access that the average citizen who can't drop tens of thousands of dollars for ‘dinner’ is excluded from. From a NYT article in July of this year:
“In exchange for a check of up to $32,400, Hollywood Democrats will be able to hear President Obama speak later today at the Los Angeles home of Shonda Rhimes, the producer of the ABC show Scandal.”
“When he appeared last week at a similar event for the House Majority PAC, at a private home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the group insisted that the event wasnt a fundraiser because there were no tickets or cost of admission.
The president is appearing at the event only as a featured speaker and special guest, and is not asking for funds or donations, a PAC official said in a statement to the White House press pool.
But the PACs do ask the guests for money after the president leaves. Everyone understands how it works: You get to mingle with the president, and shake his hand, and then a bit later you bring out your checkbook and write some very big numbers. The Seattle dinner cost $25,000 a person, but no one was prevented from giving ten times as much.”
“Clinton did indeed bring us this mess”
Unfortunately it was Phil Gram that either led the push or was right there with Clinton. Clinton did sign off in the end though. Sad, we shouldn’t need the Democrats to protect us against Wall Street banks robbing our children of trillions of dollars.
“More kabuki theater.”
It is interesting how this is playing out. After an unprecedented win in the midterm elections the GOP leadership decides to go for only one big thing in the budget battle — a modification to Dodd Frank which will release some restrictions on derivatives trading on the “too big to fail banks”. Derivatives are financial instruments employed by Wall Street in high stakes speculation and were a major contributor to the 2008 financial collapse and subsequent bailout of Wall Street financial institutions. Instead of pulling funding from Obamacare, executive amnesty, the EPA, or the myriad of leftist organization sucking grant money off the government teat, Boehner and McConnell decide to accomplish one thing in the budget process — reward their buddies on Wall Street with a provision that has nothing to do with government spending but may cost the taxpayer trillions when the banks have to be bailed out again!!!
It appears the Democrats have outfoxed them. Obama got everything he wanted in the way of spending in the House bill and the conservative middle class taxpayers who put the GOP in power got nothing. In the Senate, Elizabeth Warren will bring the government to shutdown unless the Republicans agree to take out the Dodd-Frank provision. Obama, the press, Reid, and Warren are prepared to go to the mat to remove this provision because it furthers Warren’s rise to presidential status. If the Republicans don’t roll over quickly, the fight is going to play out in the press as Warren, the new Joan of Arc, fighting for the little guy against the Republicans and the Wall Street criminals. This is not a public relations battle the Republicans can win. Even if Warren loses this battle, her name recognition and stature will rise.
A fight squandering political capital in a budget battle for a non-budget add on that rewards Wall Street for reckless behavior is both a slap to the face of the conservative base as well as a huge boost for a potential opposition presidential candidate in 2016.
McConnell and Boehner may be the worst Congressional leaders in American history. They are certainly not strategists. Where are Sam Rayburn, Henry Clay, John Calhoun, Tip O’Neil, and Everett Dirkson type leaders at this point when the Republic and the party needs them? Dare I even say Lyndon Johnson who was one of the most ruthless and effective Senate majority leaders of the 20th Century?
This is the first battle since an election that should have redefined the political landscape in Congress. Even though the Republicans don’t take the Senate until January, they aren’t behaving like a party capable of exercising power when the new Congress is sworn in a few weeks.
This act of the play can be summed up:
Losers - the American People
Winners - Barack Obama, Elizabeth Warren, and possibly Wall Street speculators if the Dodd-Frank provision doesn’t get stripped.
To think I stood in line on election day in order to be able to watch this pathetic display.
Jamie and Lloyd screaming with night terrors in fear of not sucking the last nickel out of the pockets of the middle classes. The poor SEC staffs frozen in amber out of fear of not getting paid off when they leave the SEC. Life is very scary.
The collusion of the politicians and the banking industry is out in the open for all to see.
I thought the GOPe told us we have to support them because Obama is a Communist. If Obama goes with this he comes off as just another political crony of a big special interest like Boehner and Company.
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