One might think that after greedy Banksters demonstrated the effects of allowing them to prey on Americans without restraint, that no sane person would want to allow that to continue, and that statement is probably true. Sadly, the list of sane people does not include many, if any, Republican politicians and pundits.
If you wanted to reproduce the conditions that led to the Great Recession in 2007, the easiest way would be the plan unveiled last week by House Republicans: gut the regulators who are supposed to keep the worst business practices in check.
At a time when the economy is still reeling from the downturn, House Republicans released a spending bill that would severely cut the budget of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which would keep it from regulating potentially toxic swaps and other derivatives. It refused to give the Securities and Exchange Commission the extra money it needs to carry out the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill.
And the bill would cripple the Internal Revenue Service, limiting its ability to detect tax avoidance, particularly by businesses and the wealthy. (The I.R.S. cut, designed to impede the agency’s role in health care reform, will inevitably increase the deficit.)
The proposed cuts are the latest in a long series of efforts by Republicans to keep the government from tempering even the most economically dangerous desires of business. Having failed to prevent the enactment of Dodd-Frank and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, they are imposing their will with what may be their most effective weapon — choking off the air supply of regulators by limiting the money they can spend. These agencies had already been hesitant to impose a real crackdown; the cuts will make the situation worse… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <NY Times>
For Republican legislation to have these characteristics, Republicans can have only one intent: to allow vulture capitalists, people just like Willard Romney, to prey on the 99%.
If you are a millionaire, billionaire, or corporate criminal, motivated by greed alone and lacking any sense of noblesse oblige, the Republican Party is the place for you. If you are motivated solely by bigotry, hatred, homophobia, intolerance, misogyny, pseudo-Christian zealotry, racism, and/or violent desires, the Republican Party is the place for you too. If none of the above applies to you, the Republican Party does not represent YOU. Come out from among them!
15 Responses to “Enabling Corporate Criminals”
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“Having failed to prevent the enactment of Dodd-Frank and the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, they are imposing their will with what may be their most effective weapon — choking off the air supply of regulators by limiting the money they can spend.”
Very Sad indeed as the Glass-Steagall Act hasn’t been restored either…
Glass-Steagall is the lynch pin for much needed reform.
It is absolutely amazing to me f , first , how powerful is denial , in the sheeple , who cannot seem to realize what is going on, We are not dealing from the same deck as we did 30 years ago–Sometimes I would just like to shake some folk , and tell them to wake up! The Coffee is burning!
Very well said, Phyllis. 30 years ago, Republicans had not deregulated Banksters.
And just for the fun of it, let’s throw-in a Nobel Prize Winner:
Thanks, I appreciated all the quotes you included.
How prophetic of Jefferson and Madison. Roosevelt lived in a time of corporate criminality as does Krugman. Love the quotes Nameless!
Just goes to show that the nature of man has not changed much over the millenia.
Excellent Nameless. It shocked me that Madison was so similar in his projections to Karl Marx.
Hope some conservative reads and listens to what you write. Good luck with that.
Interesting – we are so partisan these days, that third party candidates are getting half the numbers in the polls, than usual over the decades. Americans are not ready to change yet, in fact they seem to be digging in.
I would think the constantly growing debt over the last 30 years, would have proved to Americans, that we took the wrong path.
Many read, Steve, Listening to is another matter.
Considering that a 3rd party candidate made just enough difference to allow Bush to steal 2000, that’s a good thing. I’m all for multiparty democracy, but our current election laws make it impossible.
It’s not the debt. If the debt had been spent on infrastructure, education, etc., the expanded economy would have made it less significant than it is. But Republicans ran up most of it, and they spent it on transferring wealth to the 1%.
Deregulation that started under Reagan is taking our country down.
It actually started under Nixon. Reagan was the one that popularized it.
“If you are a millionaire, billionaire, or corporate criminal, motivated by greed alone and lacking any sense of noblesse oblige, the Republican Party is the place for you. If you are motivated solely by bigotry, hatred, homophobia, intolerance, misogyny, pseudo-Christian zealotry, racism, and/or violent desires, the Republican Party is the place for you too.”
Sounds like a recruiting poster for the Republican/Teabagger Plutocracy!
The Republican/Teabaggers will do anything and everything to promote the interests of the 1% and the corporations, legal or questionable or downright illegal, no matter. For them, money speaks, so the more you have, the more valuable your speech.
If the GOP can’t defeat the enactment of Dodd-Frank or the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, then they will pull the rug out from under them by not giving them the resources to do the job. And the same goes with the IRS. There was a time when the term ‘cut a rug’ meant having a good dance. Now it means laying bare and pulling the teeth of regulation. Sad!
Were they honest, it would be.
I fully agree.