"Republicans, who unanimously opposed Dodd’s plan, made a ‘’strategic error’’ by letting the committee approve the measure without offering or debating amendments"
Yeah, right, these guys who rigger and jigger the rules all the time screwed up, yup!!!
Oh, yeah, turns out the unanimity is also another lie.
Also see: Who REALLY Runs Washington
Well, there are always exceptions.... And you know who they foremost agent in in Washington, right?
"Fed may get new powers in overhaul; Central bank regains respect" by Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press | March 11, 2010
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve, still dusting itself off from a fight that threatened to trim its powers, could emerge from a congressional overhaul of banking rules as the top cop over the nation’s largest financial institutions.
Senate negotiators are considering giving the Fed the authority to supervise nonbank financial institutions that are so large and intertwined that their failure could pose a risk to the entire economy, according to people familiar with the legislation.
But no too big too fail anymore, blah, blah. I weep for the American taxpayer.
The Fed also would retain its power to oversee nearly two dozen bank holding companies that hold about two-thirds of the banking system’s assets, according to these people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions. That would make the Fed the main entity responsible for avoiding a future financial meltdown like the one that struck Wall Street in fall 2008.
So nothing has changed, and the same failures that drove the collapse are going to be given more power to oversee it.
Does that make sense to you?
Do you put the bank robbers in charge of security at the ba.... okay, bad example.
For the once-embattled central bank, the Senate negotiations represent a remarkable change of fortune. In November, Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd wanted the Fed stripped of its supervisory powers so it could focus on its job setting monetary policy and modulating the economy.
Someone paid Dodd a visit -- after he decided to quit.
And in January, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke survived a grueling Senate confirmation for a second term.
Not how I remember it.
Related: Senate Backs Bernanke For Another Term
Hey, what's one more MSM distortion, huh?
Since then, Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner have been making a case to Dodd and his main Republican negotiating partner, Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, to let the Fed retain certain supervisory powers.
Yeah, the former Fed President from New York is now the Treasury Secretary.
“There’s an appreciation that the Fed — Bernanke particularly — handled the situation over the last year in a very difficult environment, handled it well,’’ Dodd said.
He might as well just say I serve thy master well, do I not (grovel, grovel)?
With its power to turn the dial on interest rates, the Federal Reserve has unmatched muscle to control economic growth, employment, and inflation.
And yet rarely investigated by.... anyone.
When you propose one -- such as Ron Paul did -- they remove it or rewrite it.
It also is the country’s lender of last resort when banks can’t get their money elsewhere — a formidable tool that the Fed exercised fully at the height of the financial crisis.
Translation: You can hear the printing presses running, right?
The people familiar with the evolving legislation say the Fed would gain oversight of the nonbank firms that regulators identify as having the most potential to threaten the financial system’s stability in the future. In addition, Dodd and Corker are considering making the Fed the home for a consumer financial protection entity that would write regulations on products such as mortgages and credit cards.
Yeah, they have done such a great job with everything else!
--more--"
"Bernanke ready to battle for Fed’s powers" by Jim Kuhnhenn and Jeannine Aversa, Associated Press | March 17, 2010
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke plans to wage a fresh battle against Senate efforts to scale back the Fed’s role in supervising the nation’s banks.
In testimony prepared for a House hearing today obtained by the Associated Press, Bernanke argued that the Fed factors in information it gets from its role as a regulator into its decisions on interest rates. And Bernanke said its banking duties give the Fed insights into the health of the entire banking system.
That means HIS OFFICE GAVE it to them!
“The insights provided by our role in supervising a range of banks, including community banks, significantly increases our effectiveness in making monetary policy and fostering financial stability,’’ Bernanke said in his prepared remarks to the House Financial Services Committee.
The same guys who screwed this thing up so bad.... sigh. SO SAD, readers.
Bernanke’s testimony comes as the Fed faces a significant shift in its supervisory duties.
In his effort to overhaul the nation’s financial regulatory structure, Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, has offered legislation that would strip the Fed of its power to supervise state-chartered banks and bank holding companies with assets of less than $50 billion.
That would leave the Fed with 35 of the biggest bank holding companies under its supervision. Dodd’s bill, however, would also give the Fed new powers to oversee nonbank financial firms that are so large and interconnected that their failure could pose a risk to the economy. Such firms could include insurance giant American International Group, or General Electric Co.’s GE Capital.
Well, seeing as they got a lot of the loot from the Fed no reason that fox can't guard that chicken coop.
But with its narrower authority, the Fed’s system of 12 regional banks could face profound changes. The Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank and the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank, for instance, would have no banks under their supervision.
Great thought, but....
The Obama administration has supported a broader supervisory role for the Fed.
What's one more disappointment, 'eh?
Dodd’s bill would also place an independent consumer watchdog inside the Fed. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, however, would have its own director appointed by the president and would not fall under the authority of Bernanke.
The administration has called for a freestanding consumer agency, an approach that would strip the Fed of its consumer-protection responsibilities....
Don't worry; that's all hot air (keep reading).
--more--"
Of course, Fed wants oversight over all:
"Bernanke discourages cuts to Fed’s authority
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-- Your friends at Boston.comYeah, you know how much I'm loving that these days.
"Fed fights to keep oversight of smaller banks; Bernanke cites loss of insight, expertise if changes are made" by Sewell Chan, New York Times | March 18, 2010
WASHINGTON — Officials at the Federal Reserve are trying to alter a Senate proposal that would focus the Fed’s regulatory attention on the nation’s biggest banks and strip away its powers over small and medium-size banks.
The proposal, which was introduced on Monday by the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, would make the Fed even more centered on New York and Washington and disrupt an institutional balance in place since the central bank opened its doors in 1914, officials said....
I'm sick of that band of criminals. They should all be behind bars.
Gang of banksters!
And screw the censorship of shit comments by shit-stained Fed f***s?
Sorry, readers, I lost it for a minute; however, this is worse than the lying!
--more--"
As with health care, here are the fooleys:
"Bipartisan regulatory offer gets cool reception; Fed-based plan not what Obama or banks want" by Globe Wire Services | March 3, 2010
WASHINGTON - The plan to place consumer financial protection oversight exclusively in the Fed....
Before enacting rules, however, it would have to consult with bank regulators....
A key figure is Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top-ranking Republican on the Banking Committee.... Shelby said putting an autonomous consumer finance regulator within the Fed would be like “moving the Department of Agriculture to the Pentagon and housing it over there and yet be autonomous.’’
Why not?
Everything else seems to be going through there these days and they always have plenty of loot.
In the House, the Financial Services Committee’s chairman, Massachusetts Democrat Barney Frank, is unhappy with the plan. “It’s a joke,’’ Frank said yesterday. Consumer protection “has been the most conspicuous failure by the Fed, historically,’’ he said.
I thought I heard something, but it isn't funny and I 'm hearing that anymore.
--more--"
And HOURS AFTER Dodd was being visited.... ta-da!!!
WASHINGTON --Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd's decision immediately complicated the prospects for a Senate bill already months in the making, and it raised new questions about Congress' ability to respond to a financial crisis that erupted more than 18 months ago....
I don't see how.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Thursday he hoped the Senate would act on a bill by Memorial Day. Dodd's surprise decision to move without a final deal comes during an era of high partisanship in Congress that has entangled health care, blocked progress on climate change and energy legislation, and angered a public with an increasing disdain for incumbents....
--more--"
"Dodd revamps financial overhaul" by Jim Kuhnhenn, Associated Press | March 15, 2010
WASHINGTON — The senator trying to rewrite the nation’s financial industry rules is dropping plans to create a stand-alone consumer financial protection agency and to give a single regulator the power to oversee all banks, according to people familiar with the evolving proposal.
Guess who that is going to be?
Backing away from the proposal he offered four months ago, Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said the bill he intends to unveil today is an attempt at consensus that incorporates Democratic and GOP ideas, even though no Republicans have lent their support.
“There has been some evolution,’’ Dodd said yesterday. But he voiced irritation with Republicans in his committee who demanded Friday that he delay committee action on the bill. “Tell that to someone who just lost their job, their retirement, their health care, and their home that we’re moving too quickly,’’ he said.
You are next, Chris.
In the coming weeks, Dodd’s skills will be tested as much as they ever have in his five terms in the Senate as he shepherds the bill through his committee and onto the Senate floor.
And he is already sick and tired.
Dodd wants to create a special council that would watch over the financial markets, looking for trouble spots that could threaten the economy. The council would have an independent chairman appointed by the president. Members would include the treasury secretary, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, and the heads of several regulatory agencies.
A watered-down PoS.
The Fed, which would have lost all its regulatory powers under Dodd’s initial plan, would emerge with fewer banks to supervise, but with new muscle over the biggest banking and nonbanking financial institutions. The central bank would oversee all bank holding companies with assets of more than $50 billion....
After they went and spoke to him, how about that?
The legislation, a priority for President Obama....
Oh, well, then it will be rammed through whether we like it or not.
--more--"
WASHINGTON — Holding out hope for a bipartisan deal with Republicans, Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd introduced a far-reaching bill yesterday to overhaul the nation’s financial regulatory system....
The measure adopts the “Volcker Rule,’’ a proposal from the Obama administration that would require regulators to prohibit banks from investing in or owning hedge funds and private equity funds. This idea has been opposed by Wall Street....
Then I don't think it is going to get through, and I think someone is buying a change of Congress.
President Obama said in a statement:
“As the bill moves forward, I will take every opportunity to work with chairman Dodd and his colleagues to strengthen the bill and will fight against efforts to weaken it. We will stand firm against any attempt by the financial sector to avoid their responsibilities: In any future crisis the big financial companies must pay, not taxpayers.’’
Uh-huh.
When he actually does it let me know, 'kay?
Despite the inclusion of proposals aimed at pleasing Democrats, Dodd’s staff labored throughout the weekend to piece together language that would also preserve the possibility of winning GOP support. “I don’t have standing with me today bipartisan support at this podium,’’ Dodd said. But he noted that “at any stage in the development of a bill, you can develop that consensus.’’
Yeah, Repugs just effed up.
For instance, Dodd proposed housing a new consumer regulator in the Federal Reserve, a compromise that has garnered Republican support but is anathema to liberal Democrats and consumer advocates who argue that the Fed failed miserably in protecting consumers in recent years.
I'm just wondering when the "left" has had enough of Democrats that always betray them and take them for granted. At least Repugs respond to Tea-Partiers, even if trying to co-opt them.
Such groups have insisted on an independent, standalone agency such as one the Obama administration proposed and the House included in its version of reform legislation passed in December....
And THEY LOST AGAIN!
Dodd said his bill incorporated many of the compromises he reached in recent weeks with Senator Bob Corker, a Republican from Tennessee, with whom he had been negotiating before revealing last week he would forge ahead alone. Still, he acknowledged that key elements will remain controversial. Republicans on the banking committee said Dodd’s new bill almost certainly would not get GOP support.
That is not a no, though.
Still, Corker said it represents “a huge improvement’’ over the initial proposal that Dodd released in November.
Pfft!
“It will be a much better bill,’’ Corker said in an interview from his home in Tennessee on Sunday. “I think this last month has helped produce a far better product.’’
But no support?
Dodd’s bill boosts some regulatory power of the Fed, a significant departure from his initial draft, in which he proposed stripping it of oversight authority....
A little visitor came to see him, remember?
--more--"
WASHINGTON — Democrats sent a massive Wall Street regulation bill to the full Senate on a party-line vote yesterday that left the bill’s chances for bipartisan passage in doubt.
In a surprise move over the weekend, Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee jettisoned about 300 amendments they had planned either as an effort to put their imprint on the bill or to delay it. Senators on the committee had been expecting a long week of votes and debate, only to find themselves voting as they were still easing into their seats.
Despite a conciliatory tone struck by the committee’s Democratic and Republican leaders, the development adds more uncertainty about Congress’s ability to pass a sweeping rewrite of financial regulations this year. The Senate would not take up the bill until next month, at the earliest.
So Wall Street and the Fed killed it, or are you being bamboozled again, America??
In opening remarks before the committee vote, Chris Dodd of Connecticut, committee chairman, and the panel’s top Republican, Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, chose to sound optimistic about the bill’s prospects.
So Shelby sold out, huh?
“We will have reform this year,’’ Dodd said....
With no Repuglican support -- almost certainly none?
Dodd unveiled his bill last week, 18 months after Wall Street’s spectacular failures helped plunge the nation into the worst recession since the Great Depression.
But give them MORE POWER, why don't you?
The measure would give the government unprecedented powers to split up companies considered a threat to the economy, put together a council of regulators to watch for risks in the financial system, and create a consumer financial watchdog....
What do you do when the GOVERNMENT is the THREAT?
Dodd did accept 25 Democratic amendments....
Industry lobbyists said the decision made it much more difficult to predict what the Senate ultimately would do. Without the support of at least one Republican, the measure would be blocked on the Senate floor by procedural delays that require 60 votes to overcome; Democrats control 59 votes in the Senate.
Does that fooley matter anymore?
Democrats could seek to corral one or two Republicans who are willing to support it and break any filibuster. Alternatively, a Republican could emerge to strike a bargain and change the bill so that it would garner bipartisan support....
“There is no choice other than a bipartisan compromise solution,’’ said Senator Evan Bayh, Democrat of Indiana. The Obama administration kept up the pressure on Congress, with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner declaring yesterday that the country faces a “defining moment....’’
Not another one, please.
“The test we face is whether we can enact real reforms that provide strong protection for consumers, strong constraints on risk-taking by large institutions, and strong tools to protect the economy and taxpayers from future crises,’’ Geithner said in remarks to the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.
Oh he was shucking BS over there, huh?
“We will not accept a bill that does not meet that test,’’ Geithner said.
Told you Senators whose in charge, 'eh?!!
--more--"
"Financial overhaul expected to pass
WASHINGTON — Despite opposing a financial regulatory overhaul bill in the Senate Banking Committee earlier this week, Republican Senators Robert Corker and Judd Gregg said yesterday that Congress will approve the legislation this year.
So Corker was just full of s***, huh?
Put a cork in his smelly, well, you know where.
There’s a “100 percent chance’’ the legislation will be passed this year, Gregg of New Hampshire told members of a US Chamber of Commerce meeting in Washington. Gregg and Corker of Tennessee talked with reporters after speaking at the meeting.
I don't think they are going to like hearing that.
“This is an issue that almost every American wants to see passed,’’ Corker said. “There will be a lot of pressure on every senator and every House member.’’
By who? The Fed coming to visit?
All of a sudden the banks are working for us now?
The banking panel voted 13 to 10 Monday to pass a bill written by Senator Chris Dodd, the Connecticut Democrat who leads the committee. Corker said Republicans, who unanimously opposed Dodd’s plan, made a ‘’strategic error’’ by letting the committee approve the measure without offering or debating amendments.
Translation: They opened the door and waved the Fed through.
Dodd and Representative Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and a Democrat who represents the Newton area, met with President Obama yesterday morning on overhaul efforts. With Frank’s help, the House passed its version of the measure late last year.
Obama, who signed the comprehensive health care bill into law yesterday, now wants to move quickly on the biggest overhaul of Wall Street rules since the Great Depression.
“I’m much more optimistic in light of what happened on health care,’’ Dodd told reporters after the meeting, which also included Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers, White House economic adviser....
Dodd is aiming to get the bill through the Senate before the end of May, he said. He plans to work with Frank to resolve differences in their bills to minimize the need for negotiation after the Senate version is approved.
You have been warned, America.
And some powers were fighting this, but they are far too weak:
"Chamber of Commerce to flex muscle before midterm vote
WASHINGTON — The US Chamber of Commerce, already one of Washington’s largest lobbying groups, is gearing up to play a major role in this year’s midterm elections on a scale to rival the nation’s two main political parties.
Modeled in part on Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign juggernaut, the group has built an operation known as “Friends of the US Chamber of Commerce.’’ It has a member list of 6 million names and focuses on lobbying, legislation, and persuading voters to back preferred candidates, primarily Republicans, in crucial battleground areas, officials said.
With an overall budget of $200 million — twice what it spent in 2008 — the group plans to target vulnerable Democrats in up to two dozen states with ads, get-out-the-vote operations, and other efforts. The strategy follows the group’s record lobbying effort at the end of 2009, when it spent nearly $800,000 a day rallying opposition to Democratic proposals in Congress.
So when does someone lobby for the ordinary, hard-working American that is paying for all this through taxes?
All told, the organization spent more money on political activities last year than either the Democratic National Committee or the Republican National Committee....
--more--"
Then why did they get stiffed here?
"Group’s ad effort against overhaul called misguided
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration went on the attack yesterday against the country’s biggest business lobby over resistance to an overhaul of the financial rules system.Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin told the US Chamber of Commerce on its own turf that a reworking of the financial system was sorely needed and that the attempted obstruction by the chamber was misguided.
“It is so puzzling that despite the urgent and undeniable need for reform, the Chamber of Commerce has launched a $3 million advertising campaign against it,’’ Wolin told a business audience at the organization’s headquarters, a block from the White House.
Say goodbye to a Democrat Congress, Obomba.
The chamber — “funded, no doubt, with a good deal of your money — has launched a lavish, aggressive, and misleading campaign to defeat’’ the new consumer protection agency proposed by the legislation, Wolin said.
The audience politely applauded at the end of Wolin’s remarks, but Thomas Donohue, the chamber’s chief executive, said, “I think the Constitution is very clear on our right to raise our issues.’’
Hey, it's a done deal according to the Repugs you are funding.
--more--"
Man, fooleys make me tired.
Dizzy from watching Dodd's dogs flip over for the Fed.
