Posts Tagged ‘U.S. Senate’

Robert Reich: What You Can Do to Bring Wall Street Under Control

May 30th, 10 / 9 Comments

Evans Liberal Politics
May 27, 2010

 

Robert Reich: What You Can Do
To Bring Wall Street Under Control

 

What You Can Do to Bring Wall Street Under Control, Robert Reich.org, May 28, 2010, by Robert Reich, used with permission, quoted verbatim:

The most important remaining battle to rein in Wall Street is over Senator Blanche Lincoln’s measure to stop the big banks from being subsidized by taxpayers for their risky derivative trades. Miraculously, it’s still in the bill but it’s on life support. The bill has now gone to the conference committee where differences between the House and Senate bills are to be ironed out.

But official Washington (read: dependent on Wall Street for money) is dead set against it. Even Barney Frank — who Massachusetts voters used to consider a reliable progressive until he became chair of the House Financial Services Committee — has vowed to kill Lincoln’s provision. And the White House says the measure is “not core,” which in Washington-lingo means “you’re free to dump it.”

Big, big money is at stake.  Wall Street’s five largest banks have a corner on the trade, raking in about in about $30 billion in over-the-counter derivatives last year. It’s the single largest reason they’re too big to fail. So they’re spending like mad on Washington lobbyists and campaign donations in order to keep the subsidy in place. (Lincoln’s provision doesn’t force them to give up derivative trading, by the way; it only forces them to do it in a separate entity that doesn’t get subsidized by deposit insurance or the Fed’s discount window).

All the guns are aimed at this measure. But it’s still possible that the people can prevail, if we’re organized and active. Here’s a list of all the Dems on the Senate Banking and House Finance Committee, as well as Republican conferees. All conferees are indicated by ->.

Organize and mobilize your friends and acquaintances, especially those who live in these states or districts, to call their members and make their voices heard. Tell them you want Lincoln’s measure (Section 716 of the Senate bill) to remain in the final bill. Say you’ll hold them responsible if it goes.


Alabama -> Senator Richard C. Shelby (202) 224-5744

Arkansas -> Senator Blanche Lincoln (202) 224-4843

California -> Rep. Maxine Waters (202) 225-2201 (California-11)
    Rep. Brad Sherman, CA (202) 225-5911
    Rep. Jackie Speier, CA (202) 225-3531
    Rep. Joe Baca, CA (202)225-6161

Colorado -> Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) (202) 224-5852
    Rep. Ed Perlmutter, CO 202.225.2645

Connecticut -> Chairman Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT) (202) 224-2823
    Rep. Jim Himes, CT (202) 225-5541

Florida -> Rep. Ron Klein, FL (202) 225.3026
    Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, FL (202) 225-2706
    Rep. Alan Grayson, FL (202) 225-2176

Georgia -> Senator Saxby Chambliss 202-224-3521
    Rep. David Scott, GA (202) 225-2939

Hawaii -> Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI) (202) 224-6361

Idaho -> Senator Mike Crapo (202) 224-6142
Rep. Walt Minnick, ID (202) 225-6611

Illinois -> Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (202) 225-8203 (Illinois-4)
    Rep. Melissa L. Bean, IL (202) 225-3711
    Rep. Bill Foster, IL (202) 225-2976

Iowa -> Senator Tom Harkin (202) 224-3254

Indiana -> Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) (202) 224-5623
    Rep. Joe Donnelly, IN (202) 225-3915
    Rep. Andre Carson, IN 202-225-4011

Kansas -> Rep. Dennis Moore (202) 225-2865 (Kansas-3)

Massachusetts -> Chairman Barney Frank (202) 225-5931 (Massachusetts-4)
    Rep. Michael E. Capuano, MA (202) 225-5111
    Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, MA (202) 225-8273

Minnesota -> Rep. Keith Ellison, MN (202) 225-4755

Mississippi -> Rep. Travis Childers, MS (202) 225-4306

Missouri -> Rep. Gary Peters, MI (202) 225-5802

Montana -> Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) (202) 224-2644
    Rep. William Lacy Clay, MO (202) 225-2406
    Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, MO 202.225.4535

New Jersey -> Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) (202) 224-4744
    Rep. John Adler, NJ (202) 225-4765
    Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ) (R) (202) 225-4465

New Hampshire -> Senator Judd Gregg (202) 224-3324
    Rep. Paul W. Hodes, NH (202) 225-5206

New York -> Senator Charles E. Schumer (202) 224-6542
    Rep. Gregory W. Meeks 202/225-3461 (New York-6)
    Rep. Nydia M. Velázquez, NY (202) 225-2361
    Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, NY (202) 225-5516
    Rep. Dan Maffei, NY (202) 225-3701

North Carolina -> Rep. Melvin L. Watt (202) 225-1510 (North Carolina-12)
    Rep. Brad Miller, NC (202) 225-3032

Ohio -> Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) (202) 224-2315
    Rep. Charles Wilson, OH (202) 225-5705
    Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, OH (202) 225-2015
    Rep. Steve Driehaus, OH (513) 684-2723

Oregon -> Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) (202) 224-3753

Pennsylvania -> Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski (202) 225-6511 (Pennsylvania-11)

South Dakota -> Senator Tim Johnson (202) 224-5842

Tennessee -> Senator Bob Corker (202) 224-3344

Texas -> Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, TX (202) 225-2531
    Rep. Al Green, TX (202) 225-7508
    Rep. Jeb Hensarling (TX) (R) (202) 225-3484

Wisconsin -> Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) (202) 224-5653
    Rep. Gwen Moore, WI 202-225-4572

Vermont -> Senator Patrick J. Leahy (202) 224-4242

Virginia -> Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) (202) 224-2023

Comment by Evans Liberal Politics owner Paul Evans: It’s easy – and it’s a huge cop out, to say to yourself, I’m just one person, I don’t really matter in this whole thing. And it’s dead wrong.

Evans Liberal Politics had a post on May 2, 2010 called Inspirational Thoughts for a Sunday. This being a Sunday, there’s no time like the present to give you just a few relevant quotes for inspiration. Call your friends and get everybody together and make some phone calls. You probably want to wait until tomorrow (Monday) as the Congressional offices are basically closed for the weekend. (Use the email this post feature by loading the individual article from the small title at the top of the article. Or you might print this out, because these are the “swing” Congressmen whose vote is crucial to passing liberal and progressive legislation; you might want to refer to these phone numbers in the future.):

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“The best time to plant a tree was always 20 years ago. The second best time is always today.” ~ old Chinese saying

“Destiny is not a matter of chance, It’s a matter of choice; It’s not a thing to be waited for, It’s a thing to be achieved.” ~ William Jennings Bryan

“Someone once asked me why do you always insist on taking the hard road? and I replied why do you assume I see two roads?” ~ unknown

“The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.” ~ Frank Lloyd Wright

“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” ~ Thomas Jefferson

“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have: three meals a day for their bodies, – education and culture for their minds – and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. — And that’s why I am a liberal. ~ Paul Evans

On political activisim: “If you think you’re too small to be effective, you’ve never been in the dark with a mosquito.” — source unknown.

Given to us by GreenSooner over at DailyKos: “Policies that were wrong under George W. Bush are no less wrong because Barack Obama is in the White House.” – Bob Herbert

“To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life.” ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Attention Readers!

About Comments on Evans Liberal Politics: Sorry to bring this up but a few bad apples spoil it for everyone. In the first place, I have some kick ass anti-spam operating on the comments, and if your comment has a link to a website, 98 percent of them get kicked into my spam comment folder. In other words, those comments only post if I individually approve them and move them from the spam folder. So you people from the same websites that sell stuff and keep posting comments like “Great post, keep up the good work”…. Do you really think I don’t remember the website the individual commenter has come from? I’ve been nice about it, but here’s the rule. If you’re pushing a commercial site and post some comment that consists of nothing but some generic praise, you’re going to get one such comment and then I’m not going to move any more such comments from you out of the spam folder. Would you? What I’d really like to see are some comments which actually discuss the topic of the article…. Let’s get real, people!

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House Votes to Repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

May 28th, 10 / 1 Comment

Evans Liberal Politics
May 28, 2010

 

 

 

House Votes to Repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’

 

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Robert Reich: Lincoln to the Rescue

May 13th, 10 / 4 Comments

Evans Liberal Politics
May 13, 2010

 

Robert Reich: Lincoln to the Rescue

 

Lincoln to the Rescue, RobertReich.org, May 11, 2010, by Robert Reich, used with permission, quoted verbatim:

Right now, the biggest battle in bank reform is over a provision introduced by Senator Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas that would force the giant Wall Street banks to give up their lucrative derivative trading businesses if they want the government (i.e. taxpayers) to continue insuring their commercial deposits.

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The five biggest Wall Street banks have had the derivatives market (derivatives are bets on whether the price of certain assets will rise or fall, bets thereby “derived” from asset prices) almost entirely to themselves. Last year their revenues from derivatives trading totaled a whopping $22.6 billion. Their advantage comes from their large size, plus government insurance of their commercial deposits that allows them to raise money more cheaply than other financial institutions.

Derivatives lie at the point where the basic saving-and-lending function of commercial banking meets the private casino of Wall Street investment banking. You and I subsidize the biggest players in the casino who, precisely because we subsidize them, have grown too big to fail. The Glass-Steagall Act once prevented the casino from using commercial deposits, but since 1999, when Glass-Steagall was repealed, the game has exploded. That’s part of the reason the giants on Wall Street could make wild bets that ended up threatening the entire economy, costing millions of Americans their jobs and savings, and requiring a massive taxpayer-financed bailout.

Lincoln wants to force the banks to put their derivatives into separate entities that aren’t subsidized by you and me. This is just common sense. Her move would also end the big banks’ monopoly over derivatives, thereby reducing their risk to the financial system. It would also cut dramatically into the big banks’ profits.

Obviously, the big banks are apoplectic about Lincoln’s measure and will do almost anything to strip it from the Dodd bill. The banks have 130 registered lobbyists, countless unregistered ones, 40 former banking staffers, and at least one retired senator (Trent Lott) crawling over Capitol Hill, arguing that Lincoln’s provision would be the end of civilization as we know it.

They also seem to have ensnared Paul Volcker. Late last week Volcker opined that commercial banks shouldn’t be barred from dealing in derivatives because derivatives are an important aspect of commercial banking; they hedge (that is, provide insurance against) risks associated with interest rates on loans. It’s an odd argument. If derivatives were as essential to the normal practice of lending as Volcker says, you’d expect every commercial bank to be dealing in them instead of just the five giant Wall Street behemoths.

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As to the risk you and I might be left holding the bag again, Volcker says not to worry: His own rule now contained in the Dodd bill, preventing bankers from making bets for their own accounts, would take care of that. But Volcker’s rule would not erode the giant banks’ monopoly over derivatives trading — making them too big to fail. By contrast, Lincoln’s provision, by pushing derivative trading out of commercial banking, would remove the big banks’ artificial advantage, resulting in more competition and a better capitalized derivatives market.

Another argument being disingenuously used by Lincoln’s opponents is her measure would push derivative trading into unregulated shadow markets. That’s nonsense. Derivatives would have to be traded through a central clearinghouse or exchange, and every dealer in derivatives would still have to be registered and regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Corporation or by the SEC.

So what are Lincoln’s chances? All the big guns are aiming at her. Lobbyists are lined up against her. Republicans and many Dems who want to do the Street’s bidding are eager to get rid of Lincoln’s measure. But she has two things going for her. First is the awkwardness for the White House if the President were to come out explicitly against her. For many weeks the Administration has talked about the importance of being tough on derivatives. The President has even said he’ll veto any bill that doesn’t go far enough regulating them. Now Lincoln is giving the White House a chance to prove its mettle or show itself to be pandering to the Street on one of the biggest reasons the Street almost melted down in the fall of 2008.

The second advantage Lincoln has is her measure passed her committee with so much momentum – including the votes of every Dem on the panel and one Republican – that it’s been included in Dodd’s overall financial reform bill. While it’s always possible for opponents of reform to hide when amendments are voted down, it’s much harder to hide when trying to strip a provision from a bill. Democrats who want to do so will have to join Republican Senators Judd Gregg, Saxby Chambliss, and Bob Corker, who already have introduced an amendment to accomplish this on behalf of their Wall Street patrons. The public will be able to identify which Senate Dems care more about Wall Street’s campaign donations than the public good.

Volcker has given these Dems, and the White House, some cover. But the public is watching closely. Some cover may not be enough.

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Alan Grayson: We Beat the Fed

May 11th, 10 / 0 Comments

banner from Representative Alan Grayson's email newsletter

Evans Liberal Politics
May 12, 2010

 

Alan Grayson: We Beat the Fed

 

We Beat the Fed, The Huffington Post, May 11, 2010, by Rep. Alan Grayson, also sent as an emailing, Grayson image from emailing, quoted verbatim:

The Senate just voted, 96-0, to audit the Federal Reserve. Soon, we will know what the Federal Reserve did with the trillions of dollars that it handed out during the financial crisis.

A few months ago, such a vote would have been unthinkable. One senior Treasury official claimed he would fight to stop an audit ‘at all costs’. Senator Chris Dodd predicted that an audit would spell economic doom, while Senator Judd Gregg attacked accountability for the Fed as “pandering populism”.

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Today, both the Treasury Department and Senator Dodd support this amendment. As for Judd Gregg, he was just on the floor of the Senate discussing — of all people — 19th century populist Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan.

What happened?

People Power is what happened. We built a coalition of people on the right and the left, ordinary citizens and economists, ex-regulators and politicians, all with one question for which we demanded an answer: “What happened to our money?”

No longer can Ben Bernanke get away with saying, “I don’t know.”

Now, we’re going to know who got what, and why.

Releasing this information will show that the Federal Reserve’s arguments for secrecy are — and have always been — a ruse, to cover up the handing out of hundreds of billions of dollars like party favors to the Wall Street favorites who brought the American economy to the brink of ruin.

But our work isn’t quite done. The Senate audit provision isn’t as strong as what we passed in the House. The Senate provision has only a one-time audit, whereas what we passed in the House would allow audits going forward. There will be a conference committee that will merge the provisions from the two bills.

The need for audits and oversight over Fed handouts going forward is great. The financial crisis isn’t over, and neither are the Fed’s secret bailouts. Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve announced it was going underwrite the Greek bailout by lending dollars to the central banks of Europe, England, and Japan. The loans may never be paid back, the Fed accepts the risk that the dollar will strengthen in the meantime, and the interest rate charged by the Fed is very likely at below-market rates. So such loans are in effect just a subsidy, to bail out foreigners.

The Fed has not been chastened. It is bolder and more of a rogue actor than ever. It’s clear that without full audit authority going forward, the Fed will continue to give out “foreign aid” without Congressional or even Executive permission.

And it will do so in secret.

So we will be fighting on to get a full audit from the conference committee.

But let’s not lose sight of what we have accomplished so far — real independent inquiry into the Fed, and its incestuous relationships with Wall Street banks. For the first time ever.

Our calls, emails, lobbying, blogging, and support really mattered. We made it happen.

Today, we beat the Fed.

See 96-0: Fed Audit Passes Senate, The Huffington Post, May 11, 2010, by Ryan Grim, excerpt quoted verbatim:

UPDATE – 12:10 p.m. – The amendment to open the Fed to a one-time audit of its lending between December 1, 2007 and the present passed 96-0.

* * * * *

Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), the Federal Reserve’s most outspoken defender, came out in support of an amendment by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to force transparency on the Federal Reserve. Gregg’s surprising support gives the amendment a major boost.

The Sanders amendment began as a reflection of language passed by the House and cosponsored by Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) that would authorize a broad audit of the Fed. In negotiations with Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and officials from the Fed, Sanders scaled back his audit and restricted it to a one-time look at lending activity from December 1, 2007 until the present — information that the Fed has so far fought to keep from disclosing. It goes further in some respects than the Paul-Grayson measure, in that it mandates the disclosure of recipients of Fed largesse. (Background on the compromise here.)

Follow Rep. Alan Grayson on Twitter: twitter.com/alangrayson.

Sign the petition in support of HR1207 and S604 to AUDIT THE FED!

See Exposing the Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Makes Money Out of Thin Air, AlterNet, May 12, 2010, by Terrence McNally.

See the Amazon purchase page for and perhaps buy Secrets of the Temple: How the Federal Reserve Runs the Country (Paperback), Amazon.com, by William Greider: $14.28.

Also at Amazon: Meltdown: How Greed and Corruption Shattered Our Financial System and How We Can Recover (Paperback), by Katrina vanden Heuvel and the editors of the Nation: $11.92.

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Too Big To Fail Bank Bill Killed By Bought Politicians

May 7th, 10 / 0 Comments

Evans Liberal Politics
May 8, 2010

 

Too Big To Fail Bank Bill Killed By Bought Politicians

 

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Video: Bernie Sanders reads the RIOT ACT to the Federal Reserve on the Senate Floor (Transparency Amendment)

May 7th, 10 / 0 Comments

Evans Liberal Politics
May 7, 2010

 

Bernie Sanders reads the RIOT ACT
to the Federal Reserve on the Senate Floor
(Transparency Amendment)

 

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White House Wonder Twins Blocking Fed Audit

May 4th, 10 / 2 Comments

Evans Liberal Politics
May 4, 2010

 

White House Wonder Twins
Blocking Fed Audit

 

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Republicans Relent, Will Let Debate on Financial Reform Begin

Apr 29th, 10 / 1 Comment

Evans Liberal Politics
April 29, 2010

 

Republicans Relent, Will Let Debate
on Financial Reform Begin

 

Republicans Relent, Will Let Debate Begin, Talking Points Memo, April 28, 2010, by Rachel Slajda, quoted verbatim in somewhat different order than originally presented:

Senate Republicans announced this afternoon that they will allow financial reform legislation onto the chamber floor for a debate after bipartisan talks hit an impasse.

…Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced (…) that the bill would move forward.

“Now that those bipartisan negotiations have ended, it is my hope that the majority’s avowed interest in improving this legislation on the Senate floor is genuine and the partisan gamesmanship is over,” he said in a statement. (Emphasis is ours.)

McConnell maintained that the three-times-over Republican block of the bill gave them enough time to get important assurances from Dodd. He even praised Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE), who voted with Republicans to block the legislation, by name.

“The time afforded by my Republican colleagues and Sen. Ben Nelson was instrumental in gaining assurances from the Chairman that changes will be made to end taxpayer bailouts and the dangerous notion that certain financial institutions are too big to fail.”


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Earlier:

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee who has been in bipartisan negotiations with chairman Chris Dodd, released a statement announcing talks could go no further.

“We have been unable, however, to make any meaningful progress on other important components of the legislation. It is now my belief that further negotiations will not produce additional results,” Shelby wrote.

Shelby said he had gotten assurances from Dodd that “he will address a number of concerns” about ending taxpayer-funded bailouts. Those assurances, however, aren’t enough for Shelby to support bringing the bill to the floor.

“I thank my Republican colleagues for their support and defer to their individual judgments on whether the Senate begins a floor debate on this bill,” he wrote.

(It was at this point that McConnell announced that debate would move forward)

See, Barofsky Is Going After Geithner/AIG: Its Never the Crime, Its’ the Cover Up, Daily Kos, April 29, 2010, by Badabing, an excellent piece on Geithner and the AIG bailout and the secrecy and coverup on details of the bailout and a hero of the Treasury Department, Neil Barofsky.

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I will be in Pittsburgh today doing a little dealings with fine antiques. Let me just say that we need our viewers to spread the word about Evans Liberal Politics and our unique content. We’ve been running this blog since the election of November, 2008, although we decided to just offer an archive that goes back only to October of 2009. We felt that the content since then has been our best and wanted to offer only the best for our readers. We rely on our viewers to spread the word about us, and also to visit our advertisers, so that we might make a modest living and not just spin our wheels. Donations are greatly appreciated. Please help out and let your friends and contacts know about us, won’t you? Thanks, Evans Liberal Politics owner Paul Evans.

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