Mother Jones: How Big Finance Bought Uncle Sam

[debbierlus]

THIS STORY IS NOT ABOUT THE origins of 2008's financial meltdown. You've probably read more than enough of those already. To make a long story short, it was a perfect storm. Reckless lending enabled a historic housing bubble; an overseas savings glut and an unprecedented Fed policy of easy money enabled skyrocketing debt; excessive leverage made the global banking system so fragile that it couldn't withstand a tremor, let alone the Big One; the financial system squirreled away trainloads of risk via byzantine credit derivatives and other devices; and banks grew so towering and so interconnected that they became too big to be allowed to fail. With all that in place, it took only a small nudge to bring the entire house of cards crashing to the ground.

But that's a story about finance and economics. This is a story about politics. It's about how Congress and the president and the Federal Reserve were persuaded to let all this happen in the first place. In other words, it's about the finance lobby—the people who, as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) put it last April, even after nearly destroying the world are "still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place."

THIS STORY IS NOT ABOUT THE origins of 2008's financial meltdown. You've probably read more than enough of those already. To make a long story short, it was a perfect storm. Reckless lending enabled a historic housing bubble; an overseas savings glut and an unprecedented Fed policy of easy money enabled skyrocketing debt; excessive leverage made the global banking system so fragile that it couldn't withstand a tremor, let alone the Big One; the financial system squirreled away trainloads of risk via byzantine credit derivatives and other devices; and banks grew so towering and so interconnected that they became too big to be allowed to fail. With all that in place, it took only a small nudge to bring the entire house of cards crashing to the ground.

But that's a story about finance and economics. This is a story about politics. It's about how Congress and the president and the Federal Reserve were persuaded to let all this happen in the first place. In other words, it's about the finance lobby—the people who, as Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) put it last April, even after nearly destroying the world are "still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place."

Read the rest of the sad story here: http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/01/wall-street-big-finance-lobbyists

[Sherman A1]

1. Thanks for posting

:kick:

[jtuck004]

2. Durbin is wrong. WE own the place.

[Vinnie From Indy]

3. There is a difference between reality and theory

TYhe reality is that our government has been acquired by corprorate interests. Surely not the way ot is supposed to be or the way we want ot to be, but it is that way nonetheless.

[debbierlus]

6. We are completely floundering without leadership. Obama became the movement

The great hope is a corporate front man.

And, we are looking at each other, scratching our butts, wondering what to do.

[jtuck004]

7. WE own it

Respectfully, I do understand that - but we still own it. The fact that we have abdicated our management of the whole thing doesn't change that. If I don't manage employees, and they appropriate the money the business makes out from under me, I still own the thing, I am just at fault for giving up. Because we would rather spend our time arguing over what to do with explosive underwear, who can see what from Alaska, or how to force people with no money to buy too expensive health care doesn't change the fact.

There are more of us than them, our constitution gives us the title to it. When we feel like getting together and changing it, we can. Happened once, around the mid 1700's or so (ragtag little band of colonies against the naval and land forces of the British Empire - and Everyone was betting on the British). It could happen again, if we want to get...

United.

[Toots]

4. Here comes Santa Claus, Here comes Santa Claus

You say that like you actually believe it..:rofl:

[debbierlus]

5. Kick for visibility