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Related: About this forum*"LISTEN LIBERAL! OR WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE PARTY OF THE PEOPLE?" By Thomas Frank
Kansas City native son and political writer Thomas Frank's book talk on his newest work, "Listen, Liberal! Or, Whatever Happened to the Party of the People" at the Kansas City, MO Public Library, March 24, 2016. VIDEO, 38 mins., and well worth it. Excellent discussion, Rating A.
Author and Kansas City native son Thomas Frank returned to his hometown to talk about what's wrong with the Democratic Party in support of his new book "Listen, Liberal!." Following on the tradition of his popular book "What's the Matter with Kansas" which carefully chronicled how the Republican Party of Lincoln has been seduced and deliberately taken over by extremist ideologues of the far right, Frank now makes the case that the DEMOCRATIC PARTY has also been taken over by a type of CONSERVATIVE ideology that, while not promoting ECONOMIC INEQUALITY, certainly rationalizes it.
While Republican "establishment" figures revere the accumulation of wealth as a sign of 'winning' which somehow makes them automatically somehow qualified --or entitled-- to govern, The DEMOCRATIC "ESTABLISHMENT" believes that the world is a 'meritocracy' where the elites of the 'professional class' are best suited to govern based on their superior educational attainment and connections.
Frank asserts that the two political parties dominated by societal ELITES have systemically failed the WORKERS in America, resulting in a space for POPULISM to naturally grow into.
The Democratic Party under the leadership of President BILL CLINTON turned its back on its working class and middle class roots while attempting to expand and capture the professional class. Claiming that 'THEY HAVE NO PLACE ELSE TO GO', the Democrats have also been responsible for policies that increased INCOME INEQUALITY and increased the economic insecurity of white working class people. Some of these people have found a new place to go. They have now left the building. Many of them can now be seen following a pied piper named TRUMP.
The broken two party political system that has largely seen the hereditary moneyed elites-- who thought they could control the working class with a mix of social conservatism, phony fiscal fears and tax voodoo, and foreign fear mongering-- fight with the intellectual professional class elites who thought they could control the working class because 'they have no place else to go', is giving way to an authoritarian populism embodied by a narcissistic reality TV caricature of success likely to be the next Republican Presidential nominee.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)the Clintons and Debbie What's-her-name Schultz. Our movement has an uphill battle but we will prevail. Many of the honest progressive Congress-Critters are starting to step forward now that they see that millions will stand behind them.
RKP5637
(67,111 posts)DNC/DWS to think I'm with them! I'm still the same, but the democratic party left me with the ever rightward march and TPTB love of greed and $$$$'s.
appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)Bonding with Wall Street, Repeal of Glass-Steagall, 'Crime and Welfare Reform' Bills, Telecom Act of 1996 that destroyed journalism, Trade Agreements NAFTA and China Free Trade, Expanded H1-B Visas, globalization, widespread greed and the betrayal and abandonment of the working and middle classes have almost destroyed this country and the Democratic Party is largely responsible.
The continuance of conservative Reaganism never had a better friend than Third Way Corporate Democrats, and as Alan Greenspan said, "Bill Clinton is my favorite Republican President."
appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)Last edited Tue Apr 19, 2016, 09:59 PM - Edit history (1)
and in movements all over the US and world. In another talk, probably on The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann, Tommy brought up what Octafish superbly outlines in his GD-P OP now: that Bill, with the assistance of Southern Boomer buddy Newt Gingrich was ready to cut Social Security in 1998 but for the entrance of the MONICA Lewinsky scandal.
NAFTA, the Crime and Welfare Acts, Glass-Steagall repealed, foreign involvements, Telecom Act of 1996 that destroyed journalism and if SS had been followed through, the 2008 Burndown would have been even worse. All of it is almost incomprehensible if I hadn't learned about it in depth from rigorous education for some years now. Makes me ill at times, the level of deception, betrayal of the working and middle classes, and the corruption and devastation by the once FDR-JFK Democratic Party of the People.
Cary
(11,746 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)among us that need help. Gloat and mock all you want. You feel brave because you choose the side of the Fat Cats and turn you back on the 50 million Americans living in poverty.
jalan48
(13,870 posts)Bernie's exposed the fraud the "People's Party" has become.
tom_kelly
(960 posts)I will not vote for her. Ill write In Bernie. Never will I vote for someone I don't trust any more than a republican candidate.
Cary
(11,746 posts)Taking your bat and ball and going home.
I have zero respect for this. (spits)
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)but the bernie or bust ppl are not democrats
at least not how hillary has framed the party. frankly i think she is a republican.
Cary
(11,746 posts)And don't let the door knob hit you on the way out.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)i am not bernie or bust but i sure wish y'all would stop mucking up my primary with your red herrings and LIES
stop lying hillary. you're driving us into the arms of TRUMP.
Cary
(11,746 posts)You always do.
You are a minority in the Democratic Party. You don't get to bulldoze over the rest of us.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)you always do
americans hate your candidate(s). you shouldn't get to bulldoze over the rest of us either.
Cary
(11,746 posts)I did no such thing.
You have never seen me say a negative word about Bernie Sanders. I don't care about Sanders or Clinton, I care about Democrats winning. This election is very important.
No one cheated. The fact is we had two excellent candidates. Sanders lost. Boo hoo you get no sympathy from me. Go cry to someone who isn't a Democrat.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)i care abt the people winning
tell the psychopaths and machiavellian personalities at the top & their cronies in M$M to stop ruining things for the rest of us
you make the little baby jesus cry
90% of us believe she is very much a Democrat. That kind of settles that.
You see, we actually have coalition parties in this country.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)but it's only because that Bad Bad Bernie keeps ranting on abt citizen's united and debt slavery
watch. six months from now she'll be a republican again. or, better yet, RETIRED.
Cary
(11,746 posts)Life is pretty good here in the real world.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)out here in the actual real world
the one which hillary hasn't lived in since 1983
stay pure my bourgeois friend
Cary
(11,746 posts)Nor my responsibility. Nor do you have any idea who you are addressing.
Your own contentment lies within you.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)i'm sure you're more kool than i'll ever know
Cary
(11,746 posts)I am a human being with all the pluses and minuses that go with it including my share of codependence.
Part of being a whole person is being able to make yourself happy and part of it too is keeping your own boundaries. I can't make you happy even if I wanted to. Suggesting that I am responsible for that is over my boundaries.
No codependency.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)my $7.25 an hour part time overnight with no benefit jobs is a blessing!
the leak in my pipes -- a gift from god!
the fact that my life circumstance has been engineered by the sheer greed of other humans: the funny man in the sky works in mysterious ways
thanks for clearing that up for me.
Cary
(11,746 posts)I was there when the hospice worker was telling my client and his family what to do in the event of an emergency while taking my client home to die with his family.
He had 7 days. I get maybe a dozen of these a year. Cancer.
I once felt sorry for myself because I had no shoes. Then I met a man with no feet.
You know what? Contentment is all within and you're still looking in the wrong place. I also have friends who survived Auschwitz. I could go on but it's probably useless. I do recommend to you the Tao te Ching.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)it says so on my profile.
i want your friends with cancer to have health insurance so doesn't have to pay entire life savings on chemo. i want your friend to get regular screenings so irregularities can be caught and dealt with.
Cary
(11,746 posts)No, it's not a competition.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)why? because i declared victory
Cary
(11,746 posts)Don't bother to take you seriously.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)Cary
(11,746 posts)The supreme good is like water,
which nourishes all things without trying to.
It is content with the low places that people disdain.
Thus it is like the Tao.
In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don't try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.
When you are content to be simply yourself
and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you.
Lao Tzu, Tao te Ching
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)-marx, probably
Cary
(11,746 posts)I have done martial arts for a few decades now. There is a lot wisdom in the Tao and it is connected to Chinese medicine, qigong, Bagua, Hsing Yi, Tai Chi (both the philosophy and the martial art), and Wu Dang.
I doubt that Marx was referring to the Tao.
You would do well to explore the philosophy, given all of your troubles.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)this is DU. let's discuss social issues, not my personal life. or yours for that matter. niether are very interesting.
Cary
(11,746 posts)I made my suggestion in good faith.
And that isn't an ad hominem.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)you're making the political personal
it's the other way around
Cary
(11,746 posts)That's fine. I have more than enough people in my life who like me and actually deserve.my attention. So buzz off.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)just write moar better & concisely
:buzz: :buzz: :buzz:
Cary
(11,746 posts)I write you off 100%. I don't have any use for you. Zero. None.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)as such i look forward to your absence
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Cary
(11,746 posts)I don't see the world in black and white. It's technicolor with every possible shade.
I recall telling a radical right idiot the same thing. It didn't faze him either.
99th_Monkey
(19,326 posts)Did you not hear Thomas Frank had to say about the neoliberal betrayal
of the New Deal and working people ? ... or do you simply not give
a rats ass about the damage done to "the people's party"?
Or perhaps both.
Cary
(11,746 posts)I have no use for radical leftist nihilism.
tom_kelly
(960 posts)but I'm not looking for respect.
Cary
(11,746 posts)I don't look to make enemies but when people become toxic and obnoxious guess what?
You have lost your bid. Now is a good time for some much needed introspection. Maybe you don't win friends and influence people when you all behave the way you're behaving here at DU?
I have never said a bad word about Sanders. I have said all along that we Democrats have two great candidates and I'd be happy to support either. I look at the mess the Republicans have and I'm proud. I look at my party and I'm proud.
Then I come here and I see people working so hard to trash the Democratic Party that I'm so proud of. WTF?
Peregrine Took
(7,415 posts)Cary
(11,746 posts)And that's all I need.
Jackie Wilson Said
(4,176 posts)Cary
(11,746 posts)This is part of the problem with the radical left and it goes back to the idea of finding common ground and working towards common goals. The truly ludicrous part is that I don't disagree with you on a whole lot. It's the radical left's behavior that is intolerable.
appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)Cary
(11,746 posts)None as far as I can tell.
jalan48
(13,870 posts)Cary
(11,746 posts)jalan48
(13,870 posts)jalan48
(13,870 posts)ConservativeDemocrat
(2,720 posts)Is it time to whip out the Secretary of State shaking hands with some noxious dictator on a diplomatic trip yet?
Basically, if you can't see how nutcase that is, you're far too entrenched in your own cognitive dissonance to ever actually talk to.
- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community
jalan48
(13,870 posts)Cary
(11,746 posts)Figure it out.
Take a few steps back and put yourself in the shoes of someone here at DU who isn't a Sanders supporter. Cripes. I am sick and tired of the crap. I'm not alone.
If you can't do that then you're beyond my reach. I have spent too much time trying to teach pigs to sing. The pig never sings, it.just gets mad.
jalan48
(13,870 posts)You make a statement then you can't back it up. There's nothing to figure out. "Radical Left" generally means people like the Panthers, SDS and any other "left" group that advocates using violence. So, who are today's radical leftists, BLM? Or do you mean people like FDR-was he a radical leftist? Last time I checked the pigs were getting fat on Wall Street-is that your thing?
You have no idea, and I have no confidence that you ever will because you don't want to understand. Which is why I refuse to try to explain it to you. Been there, done that. It's a waste of time.
jalan48
(13,870 posts)You might start by reading a little history-it will really help you understand what certain words mean. Also, there are some great online dictionaries which will prove helpful too.
Cary
(11,746 posts)So I write you all off. In the meantime, GO HILLARY!!!!
jalan48
(13,870 posts)Cary
(11,746 posts)jalan48
(13,870 posts)Cary
(11,746 posts)jalan48
(13,870 posts)Cary
(11,746 posts)You're boring.
jalan48
(13,870 posts)That Guy 888
(1,214 posts)I've seen several posts of yours tonight, very angry about Sanders supporters and apparently not realizing how divisive your posts are. You are not speaking for all of DU, or even all of Clintons supporters, luckily considering that some of the "radical left" support HRC.
As far as "Reprobates that are beyond redemption", hopefully your candidate "happily will not need them."
Cary
(11,746 posts)I hate emoprogs and we are better off without them. Let Republicans destroy themselves courting their stupid radicals.
You can't compromise with radicals. That's why they are radicals.
I never said I speak for anyone else. If you wish to be codependent I wish you all the luck in the world. I'll cut my losses and run, thank you very much.
That Guy 888
(1,214 posts)Cary
(11,746 posts)That Guy 888
(1,214 posts)Cary
(11,746 posts)Emo Progressive (or "emoprog" is a self-described liberal or progressive, often with libertarian leanings, whose political orientation is to be angry, dissatisfied and unhappy with the state of the nation at any given time, because in their view, liberal policies are not being implemented quickly or forcefully enough. They have particular contempt for Democratic presidents.
Emoprogs are ideological purists who disdain compromise and incremental change, which they see as "selling out" liberal ideas like full employment, an end to all wars, state secrets, and liberal social policy.
Emoprogs dislike Republicans but reserve their greatest disdain for Democratic presidents, whom they relentlessly attack for not meeting a set of ideological goal posts that are constantly adjusted to ensure that the president will be deemed a disappointment, "not progressive enough" or "just like a Republican" no matter what policy achievements are made.
Emoprogs routinely dismiss or ignore congress' role in making or impeding policy, believing presidents can simply "use the bully pulpit" and "fight" in order to overcome constitutional or legislative obstacles.
Emoprogs have a strong affinity for 3rd party politics as a way to punish Democratic presidents. They are especially hostile to President Obama and deem anyone who expresses a lack of ill will toward him to be "Obamabots" and enemies of liberalism.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Emo%20Progressive
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)i'd like to fuck an emoprog. sounds like they have lots of feelings and it would be hella intense. & since they're so equality-oriented they'd defos be superconcerned with my pleasure. excellent!
Cary
(11,746 posts)Knock your socks off.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Cary
(11,746 posts)The radical left is about being radical.
And I have no use for that.
appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)and our democracy.
Cary
(11,746 posts)They were able to destroy the Republican Party. The radical left is about to go back under their rock, where they belong while the adults take care of business and carry their sorry asses.
Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)I graduated from college in 1975 into a recession, joined the army to sit it out (there were a half dozen college grads in my basic training company at Fort Dix), and then got out of the army just in time for Ronald Reagan to usher in the neoliberal era (reaganomics and neoliberalism are the same goddam piece of trash). America has not had a stable or even working economy since. No neoliberal -- Reagan, Bush the Preppy, Mr. Clinton, Bush the Frat Boy or Obama -- has done any good by us, the Common American People. I expect no better from Mrs. Clinton. After four years of Hillary, we'll have fewer jobs, more income inequality and more dead soldiers and sailors home from pointless wars.
If I vote for Mrs. Clinton, it's because she's better than Trump who wants to be Führer or Cruz who wants to be King of the Mountain. Congratulations, Al From, your vision of the New Democrat is still better than the New Republican. It's about as good as Eisenhower, who was also a Republican, and it still isn't FDR, which is what we really need.
In the last three and a half decades, neoliberals have built an economy on fraud without a middle class. That is a recipe for decadence, decline and ruin, not prosperity. Want to make it an even four decades? OK, vote for Hillary Clinton.
What did you say, neoliberal defenders of the status quo? Democracy is mob rule. Then I'm for mob rule. I am convinced that a mob can rule better than these elite, entitled idiots, whether they are Republicans or Democrats.
Power to the People.
appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)free market voodoo economics, neoliberalism, rampant deregulation, privatization, globalization, corruption and extreme greed. It's the devouring end-stage monopolistic descent into plutocracy, the dismantling of democratic institutions and rise of proto fascist elements unchecked in the US except for the many brave, determined and progressive individuals and movements that are fighting and growing strong here and around the world.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)it's a great one. i'll have to check out the book too.
highly recommended, y'all, will change your life. or political understanding rather
Pharaoh
(8,209 posts)BillZBubb
(10,650 posts)The party has failed.
clg311
(119 posts)The Clintons, Obama and corporate democrats have utter contempt for the people who aren't in the upper 10% that vote for them. During the TPP debate Obama insulted liberals who opposed it and Rahm Emmanuel did the same when he was chief of staff. Thankfully younger voters are rejecting them. If Hillary goes down in flames they will be the future of the party.
appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)Thinkingabout
(30,058 posts)Ahead tonight. Now we would not want oligarchy would we? The majority should be in charge.
nationalize the fed
(2,169 posts)The Democratic Party under the leadership of President BILL CLINTON turned its back on its working class and middle class roots while attempting to expand and capture the professional class. Claiming that 'THEY HAVE NO PLACE ELSE TO GO', the Democrats have also been responsible for policies that increased INCOME INEQUALITY and increased the economic insecurity of white working class people.
Truth cuts like a knife
appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)erpowers
(9,350 posts)This is an interesting video, but I disagree with Thomas Frank. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama did and tried to do a number of things for middle class and poor people. Clinton raised taxes to nearly 40% for the top earners. President Obama did the same thing after President Bush reduced their tax rate to about 35%. President Clinton also increased the Earned Income Tax Credit. President Obama got some pretty good settlements from the banks that gave bad loans to people. In addition, the Obama Administration did attempt to prosecute some leaders of banks and other individuals who engaged in fraudulent activity before the economic collapse. However, they were not able to get convictions. Most likely others can give more examples of how President Clinton and President Obama helped middle class and poor people.
thereismore
(13,326 posts)appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)As Tommy Frank pointed out. Thank heaven, there should be a commemoration/honor- a plaque or something for "The Intervention"!
thereismore
(13,326 posts)appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)generally agreed that she will cut Social Security, and when pressed she's saying on the campaign that she'll 'strengthen it', esp. for the most vulnerable seniors. That is 'means testing' according to many here and not good. BERNIE states he wants to EXPAND SS, namely by lifting the Cap (cap=119K I think) which would be easy and effective.
Remember a few years ago Obama's Catfood Commission, Erskine Bowels (D) and Alan Simpson (R) who he sent out to talk about the need to cut entitlements. That's the dirty non secret of Neoliberal, Third Way Dems. like Van Hollen of MD, and others who attend the conferences of old Pete Peterson, the multimillionaire financier who's been funding and lobbying to privatize that juicy SS Trust Fund of $2.3 Trillion for decades, so he can play/gamble with it on Wall Street.
Also, there's a very revealing, short video clip here from 2011 of Bill whispering to GOP budget slasher Paul Ryan about Cutting Entitlement programs. Believe it.
thereismore
(13,326 posts)because they want it all. With Hillary, the sky is the limit. She'll do everything they want and then they will impeach her anyway just for fun.
appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)I was younger and stronger during the last one, and it was rough. But now...wow.
thereismore
(13,326 posts)I lived. I was ecstatic when Obama became President and I still like him. I realize that to the Clintons he was just an inconvenient interim historical presidency that had to be tolerated. He had good intentions, but in the aftermath of the collapse, under pressure from his Wall Street donors, he did their bidding and saved THEM. It was a great investment for Goldman Sachs to support him. The nation limps on. A Clinton presidency now would be Clinton 1 on steroids. TPP is nicely lined up. The siphoning of wealth from the working people into the owners' pockets will only accelerate.
I can only imagine what racists felt during the 8 years of Obama, the hatred that burned for 8 years. I am not going to do that to myself if by some miracle she becomes President. I will start reading more books, make art, and wait for the inevitable revolution.
redruddyred
(1,615 posts)a true american patriot
appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)met in secret meetings held at the White House to work on PRIVATIZING SOCIAL SECURITY. The major Social Security program to provide safety and protection for people in old age and those unable to work was established by FDR in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Clinton's Plan was to transfer the over $2 Trillion Funds in the Social Security Trust to the private hands of financiers on Wall Street for use on the stock market to gamble. From the late 1980s, New-DLC-Third Way Democrats were committed to allying with the banks for campaign support and to disband FDR's NEW DEAL reform legislation implemented to preserve the US from another economic crisis like the Crash of 1929 that caused the Great Depression, and to create strong laws to protect and maintain the economy, society, workers and the middle class.
Since its creation SOCIAL SECURITY has been a popular program and a hallmark back bone of the DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
In January, 1998 Clinton stated the plan to *"REFORM SOCIAL SECURITY" in his speech at the State of the Union Address, but then fate stepped in when the MONICA LEWINSKY scandal broke soon afterwards. Fortunate timing for the American people. Otherwise the process to privatize the Social Security Trust Funds would have succeeded and ended up on Wall Street. With the coming collapse of the subprime mortgage housing bubble and the 2008 Financial Crash nine years later, millions of Americans lost homes, jobs, pension funds, retirement savings, and Social Security might have been in real trouble if an enormous amount of the funds would have been lost by the banks.
__________
In 1999 the next year, Clinton continued deregulating more rules on bank operations that the financial industry had supported with millions in lobbying, by enacting the
*1999 GRAMM-LEACH-BLILEY ACT which repealed GLASS-STEAGALL, the BANKING ACT of 1933. Glass-Steagall was FDR's landmark New Deal financial reform law that essentially separated checkbook commercial banks from investment bank speculation. *For 75 years, the firewall of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Banking Act prevented another major US financial crash, from the 1929 Crash and the Great Depression until 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/05/business/congress-passes-wide-ranging-bill-easing-bank-laws.html?pagewanted=all
-1999 Clinton Signs GRAMM-LEACH-BLILEY-ACT, Repeal of 1933 GLASS-STEAGALL BANK ACT Act Key Provisions
-FDR Signs GLASS-STEAGALL BANKING ACT 1933, Co-Sponsors Sen. Carter Glass (D-VA), Rep. Henry Steagall (D-AL)
__________
The year 2000, Clinton's last in office saw enactment of the *2000 COMMODITIES FUTURES MODERNIZATION ACT*, a bill which Congress rushed through in Dec. 2000 during a lame duck session of Congress, that favored deregulation in the finance industry's derivatives and credit-swap obligations instruments while the country was focused on the outcome of the contentious Gore v. Bush election results.
------
..The saga of the COMMODITY FUTURES MODERNIZATION ACT begins in 1998. At the time, the economy was booming, stocks soared, and new instruments of trading were found to make more money while evading the oversight of regulatory bodies. Two of those growing instruments were financial DERIVATIVES and CREDIT-DEFAULT SWAPS. *As these new financial instruments emerged a debate began over whether or not to REGULATE THEM.
The chairman of the Commodity Futures Trade Commission (CFTC) *BROOKSLEY BORN issued a first call for her regulatory commission to have power to oversee financial derivatives. While previous legislative attempts had been made earlier, Borns efforts were the most direct and threatening to the financial industry. >During an April 1998 meeting of the Presidents Working Group on Financial Markets, Federal Reserve chairman Alan GREENSPAN, Clinton Treasury Secretary Robert RUBIN (and later Secretary Larry SUMMERS), and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman ARTHUR LEVITT opposed Borns efforts and attempted to derail her.
-BROOKSLEY BORN, attorney, Chairman of the CFTC (Commodities Futures Trading Commission) knew in the late 1990s the dangers of derivatives, MBS and CDO financial products and in 1998 tried to convince key govt. regulators, Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin, Larry Summers and Arthur Levitt of the high risk they posed for major Economic Crisis. *See the excellent PBS FRONTINE Program, "THE WARNING" (2009).
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-warning-brooksley-borns-battle-with-alan-greenspan-robert-rubin-and-larry-summers-2009-10
*BORN felt that an unregulated derivatives market that spawned the LTCM bailout could pose grave dangers to our economy. In the end, Born lost her battle and, in May 1999, asked to be replaced as CFTC chairman. The new chairman, William Rainer, was more amenable to the positions of industry leaders and the major government officials Summers, Greenspan, and Levitt. Later that year, the Presidents Working Group on Financial Markets released a report calling for NO REGULATIONS" of DERIVATIVES AND SWAPS and began crafting a program to make that possible. Meanwhile in Congress, lawmakers were still up-in-arms over Borns attempts to regulate the financial derivatives market and began working to pass their own set of deregulatory language. Leading the charge in Congress were *SENS. PHIL GRAMM (R-TX) and RICHARD LUGAR (R-IN) and Rep. THOMAS EWING (R-IL). In May of 2000, Rep. Ewing introduced his Commodity Futures Modernization Act. Throughout the better part of the year Gramm, Lugar and Ewing worked with the Presidents Working Group on Financial Marketsmost specifically, Treasury Secretary Summers, CFTC Chairman Rainer and SEC Chairman Levittto strike a deal on the bill.
- SEN. PHIL GRAMM (R-TX), Champion of Financial Deregulation: Chairman of Senate Banking Committee (1995-2000)
The final language, which the public was hardly aware of, contained some new sections not in the original Ewing bill that, for all intents and purposes, exempted swaps and derivatives from regulation by both the CFTC, which had already implemented rules that it would not regulate swaps and derivatives, and the SEC. Also, hidden within the bill was an exemption for energy derivative trading, which would later become known as the ENRON LOOPHOLE" - this loophole would provide the impetus for Enrons nose dive into full blown corporate corruption. *Ultimately, while the unregulated market in derivatives and swaps did not cause the economic downturn itself, it was a propellant of the crisis, accelerating the collapses of major financial companies across the globe.
As of June 30, 2008, the GLOBAL DERIVATIVES MARKET had exploded to $530 trillion, while credit default swaps had grown from mere insignificance to $55 billion. *When the credit crisis and the mortgage meltdown began to take hold, major firms found out the swaps made their investments far riskier than they could handle.
>Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and American International Group (AIG) all collapsed due to problems with the unregulated market of credit default swaps. The MAJOR BANKS were also heavily involved with credit default swaps. A report from the Comptroller of the Currency recorded in the third quarter of 2007 that the top banks in the credit default market were JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, Bank of America and Wachovia. Wells Fargo purchased Wachovia after it collapsed. Bank of America has received approximately $45 billion in TARP funds from the Treasury Department, mostly to offset losses from its acquisitions of Countrywide Financial in 2007 and Morgan Stanley in 2008. Citibanks parent company Citigroup faced a complete MELTDOWN during the end of 2008, received $50 billion in TARP funds from Treasury, and is breaking apart into smaller companies. JP Morgan Chase, while weathering the crisis far better than the other banks, still received $25 billion in TARP funds. *CONSENSUS is nearly universal that the FAILURE TO REGULATE financial derivatives trading and the subsequent explosion of credit default swaps, BY PASSING THE COMMODITIES FUTURES MODERNIZATION ACT, WAS A MISTAKE. Deregulation supporter Chris Cox, a former SEC chairman under President George W. Bush and congressman from California, called the swaps *the fuel for what has become a global credit crisis. According to Bloomberg, ALAN GREENSPAN acknowledges hed been partially WRONG to oppose regulation of such instruments. Former SEC chairman LEVITT stated that if given the chance for a do-over he would have pushed for some way to give greater transparency to products which turned out to be injurious to our markets.
htttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-blumenthal/how-congress-rushed-a-bil_b_181926.html_________
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Banking Act of 1933, commonly called Glass-Steagall, June 16, 1933, by Julia Maues, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis
*THE BANKING ACT OF 1933, Commonly Known as GLASS-STEAGALL for Congress Members Who Co-Sponsored the Bill.*
The emergency legislation that was passed within days of President Franklin Roosevelt taking office in March 1933 was just the start of the process to restore confidence in the banking system. Congress saw the need for substantial reform of the banking system, which eventually came in the BANKING ACT of 1933, or the GLASS-STEAGALL ACT named for the Congress member co-sponsors. The bill was designed *to provide for the safer and more effective use of the assets of banks, to regulate interbank control, to prevent the undue diversion of funds into speculative operations, and for other purposes. The measure was sponsored by Sen. Carter Glass (D-VA) and Rep. Henry Steagall (D-AL). Glass, a former Treasury secretary, was the primary force behind the act. Steagall, then chairman of the House Banking and Currency Committee, agreed to support the act with Glass after an amendment was added to permit bank deposit insurance..
Some background: In the wake of the 1929 STOCK MARKET CRASH and the subsequent GREAT DEPRESSION, Congress was concerned that commercial banking operations and the payments system were incurring losses from volatile equity markets. An important motivation for the act was the desire to restrict the use of bank credit for speculation and to direct bank credit into what Glass and others thought to be more productive uses, such as industry, commerce, and agriculture.
In response to these concerns, the main provisions of the Banking Act of 1933 *effectively separated commercial banking from investment banking. Senator Glass was the driving force behind this provision. Basically, commercial banks, which took in deposits and made loans, were no longer allowed to underwrite or deal in securities, while investment banks, which underwrote and dealt in securities, were no longer allowed to have close connections to commercial banks, such as overlapping directorships or common ownership.
..Prior to the passage of the act, *there were no restrictions on the right of a bank officer of a member bank to borrow from that bank. Excessive loans to bank officers and directors became a concern to bank regulators. In response, the act prohibited Federal Reserve member bank loans to their executive officers and required the repayment of outstanding loans..Following the passage of the act, institutions were given a year to decide whether they would specialize in commercial or investment banking. Only 10 percent of commercial banks total income could stem from securities; however, an exception allowed commercial banks to underwrite government-issued bonds.*The separation of commercial and investment banking was not controversial in 1933. There was a broad belief that separation would lead to a healthier financial system.
*It became more controversial over the years and *in 1999 the GRAMM-LEACH-BLILEY ACT repealed the provisions of the Banking Act of 1933 that restricted affiliations between banks and securities firms. Con't.
Read More: http://www.federalreservehistory.org/Events/DetailView/25
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1933_Banking_Act
danimich1
(175 posts)But I'm about to become independent. Democrats are now what Republicans used to be. Pathetic. And democrats who defend this are an insult to what this party is supposed to be.
appalachiablue
(41,146 posts)Last edited Fri Apr 22, 2016, 03:44 PM - Edit history (1)
Four denizens in the world of high-finance predict the credit and housing bubble collapse of the mid-2000s, and decide to take on the big banks for their greed and lack of foresight.
Director: Adam McKay
Writers: Charles Randolph (screenplay), Adam McKay (screenplay) | 1 more credit »
Stars: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling | See full cast & crew »
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1596363/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Short_(film)