Citigroup Democracy

by Mark Fiore

Now that the secret backroom dealings are done and the latest budget bill passed Congress (of course, at the 11th hour), we can see the thumbprints of Wall Street once again. Actually, more than thumbprints, Citigroup actually wrote part of it. They managed to gut “Section 716” of Dodd-Frank. Sounds obscure and weird so who cares, right?

Um, it actually reinvigorates the $700 trillion (yes, trillion) derivatives market that helped drive the economy over the cliff on the way to the Great Recession. Thanks to this bill, now taxpayers will once more be on the hook for the risky financial bets made by the likes of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup and their pals. How did this all happen? Perhaps the over $1.2 billion in lobbying by the deep-pocketed Too Big To Fail crew had something to do with it.

In case you forgot how some of these silly financial instruments of doom work, here’s a cartoon that explains the way these guys create financial magic out of thin air. Thanks to hefty lobbying and campaign contributions, Citigroup and crew brought back these financial time bombs— and pulled it off by attaching language to a “must-pass” budget bill that threatened to shut down the government. Ain’t Cashocracy grand?

flashtoon at link

http://blog.sfgate.com/fiore/2014/12/18/citigroup-democracy/