"he said he was worried about the impact on banks’ corporate customers"
Yeah, to HELL with the PEOPLE you are supposed to be SERVING, huh?
"Bailed-out banks lobby hard to stave off limits; Target trading rules, consumer protections" by Michael Kranish and Alan Wirzbicki, Globe Staff | Globe Correspondent | September 27, 2009
WASHINGTON - The meeting with
Related: Lying Looters Large and Small: Derived Debt
The guest of honor: Barney Frank.
The bankers wanted to be sure that Representative Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, would not attempt to clamp down excessively on derivatives trading. Frank said he left the session pledging to keep in mind their “legitimate’’ concerns.
Related: Who REALLY Runs Washington
“It was not lobbying politically,’’ Frank said of the meeting last summer in New York, which was held at his request. “This is lobbying intellectually.’’
Frank’s visit to the Bank of America offices in New York came after he challenged lobbyists to come up with arguments in favor of trading in derivatives. The bank responded by bringing in some of its customers, including a representative from Ameresco, the Framingham-based energy efficiency company that has offices around the world. The official, whom Frank and Bank of America would not identify, explained how Ameresco relies on a type of derivative to protect against interest-rate fluctuations.
The meeting “was designed to facilitate a dialogue and discussion between public officials and the end users of derivatives, some of whom were our clients,’’ Bank of America spokeswoman Shirley Norton said. Last week, after holding one of what will be many hearings this fall on the financial regulation legislation, Frank told reporters that he wasn’t concerned about whether regulation of derivatives would make it more difficult for the big banks to make a profit. But, echoing the argument he heard in his New York meeting, he said he was worried about the impact on banks’ corporate customers.
“We are concerned about interfering with the ability of end users of goods and services to hedge against volatility,’’ Frank told reporters. Frank’s aides said later that the legislation being written by his staff calls for new rules on derivatives. But it is not as aggressive as some consumer advocates have sought....
What a surprise.
*****************
Whatever it is called, it is part of a huge corporate effort in Washington to stave off or shape sweeping regulatory reforms, led by many of the very same financial institutions that received unprecedented sums of taxpayer money last year to keep them from failing....
Banks are spending millions of dollars, hiring former congressional and White House staffers to make their case, and warning, in the words of the US Chamber of Commerce, that the sweeping financial regulation Frank’s committee is producing “will do more harm than good.’’
Oh, the INCEST is SICKENING!!!!!!
Already this year, bank lobbyists have helped kill legislation that would have enabled judges to reduce mortgage payments of families that have declared bankruptcy....
And they will do it again because THEY RUN the PLACE!!!!
Related: Bailout Loot Used For Lobbying
Is THAT what your BAILOUT DOLLAR was to GO FOR, taxpayers?
Consumer advocates said the bank lobbyists are nearly as powerful as they were before the financial meltdown and the authorization of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which set aside $700 billion in taxpayers’ money to bail out the financial industry.
Nothing has changed, America. Not a damn thing.
The government committed hundreds of billions more to other rescues, including $112 billion for insurance giant AIG....
Is that typo intentional?
Related: Lying Looters Large and Small: AIG's Excesses
Disclosure requirements are so inadequate it is impossible to know whether recipients have spent actual federal bailout dollars to lobby, said Representative Carolyn Maloney, Democrat of New York, who has sponsored legislation that would require firms to account for their spending of bailout dollars. Executives at the institutions said they are not using bailout dollars directly for lobbying.
No they use other monies and then replace that with the bailout loot.
It's called a SHELL GAME, AmeriKa!!!!
What is certain is that most of the 19 largest financial institutions that have received bailout money are spending heavily to fight or influence the regulations.
Bank of America, which has yet to repay any of the bailout money it received from the federal government, spent $1.5 million lobbying in the first half of the year.
And they only made $2.4 billion last quarter!
And they still haven't paid us back?
And THEY MADE $3.3 BILLION!!
Wells Fargo, which also received $25 billion it has yet to repay, spent $1.4 million on lobbying in the first half, up from $1.2 million in the same period last year.
By comparison, the Consumer Federation of America, one of the main pro-regulatory groups, reported spending $50,000 lobbying in the first half of the year.
That is QUITE a DISCREPANCY, no?
The LOBBYING LOOT tells you where the POWER LIES!!!!
AIG agreed to close its once-robust Washington lobbying operation last year. Still, the company reported $2.2 million in first half expenditures, which the company’s disclosure form said was used to field questions from lawmakers “and to correct misinformation’’ about its business.
Pffffft!
A spokesman for AIG, Mike Herr, emphasized that none of the money was spent lobbying on federal legislation and that the dollar figure included state-level lobbying and dues in industry associations....
In many cases, the banks have hired former members of Congress, former top congressional aides, and former White House officials to do their bidding.
I'm sure they really had to twist arms there.
Records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group, show that former aides to Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, Democrat of South Dakota, and former Vice President Al Gore all lobby on financial issues.
What a TRIO, huh?
See: Lying Looters Large and Small: Countrywide Corruption
Obama's Surgeon Behind the Healthcare Curtain
Gore Gasses Up D.C. As Nation Freezes
Citigroup hired Nicholas Calio, who was former President Bush’s liaison to Congress, as its chief lobbyist....
But one lobbying effort may have backfired.
But Frank sent a note to his staff barring them from talking with Paese about financial legislation. “The reason for barring him is not that I think he will be unduly influencing people, but it is very hard to be saying no to your friends,’’ Frank explained in an interview.
And he won't be.
Related: The Galling Greed of Goldman Sachs
Government Can't Add When it Comes to Goldman Sachs
Place Your Bets With Goldman Sachs
As the debate continues this fall, derivatives regulation will be among the focal points. The economic crisis began with the burst of a real estate bubble and ultimately struck deeply at mortgage-related derivatives, security instruments representing the value of thousands of mortgages bundled together.
Yeah, that is what began this whole mess!!!
See: Wall Street Back the Way It Was
Bundling up pieces of turd and calling it gold, then fobbing it off on some sucker that AIN'T YOU and SWAPPING the RATES on them so they get screwed both ways and twice on Sunday.
Also see:
Barney Frank is Bush's Best Friend
Barney Frank Benefited From Bailout Bill
Frank Fiddled With Bailout Funds (And Other Frauds)
Slow Saturday Special: Protecting Politicians
Municipal Bond Milking
Oh, yeah, I'm sure glad he's the House watchdog, aren't you?
I'll bet he also performs a hell of a fellatio on the banksters!!!
