That is an interesting piece at first sight and requires more analysis. Thanks Sam.
Judah On Mon, Oct 20, 2008 at 9:47 PM, Sam <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > You think you sound so smart when you take talking points from Mo:) > > OK it does sound like you might be on to something, except... I can > back it up except on dailykos or the likes. > > <OPINION PIECE> > > http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122282635048992995.html?mod=todays_us_opinion > > A running cliché of the political left and the press corps these days > is that our current financial problems all flow from Congress's 1999 > decision to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 that separated > commercial and investment banking. Barack Obama has been selling this > line every day. Bill Clinton signed that "deregulation" bill into law, > and he knows better. > > In BusinessWeek.com, Maria Bartiromo reports that she asked the former > President last week whether he regretted signing that legislation. Mr. > Clinton's reply: "No, because it wasn't a complete deregulation at > all. We still have heavy regulations and insurance on bank deposits, > requirements on banks for capital and for disclosure. I thought at the > time that it might lead to more stable investments and a reduced > pressure on Wall Street to produce quarterly profits that were always > bigger than the previous quarter. > > "But I have really thought about this a lot. I don't see that signing > that bill had anything to do with the current crisis. Indeed, one of > the things that has helped stabilize the current situation as much as > it has is the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, which was > much smoother than it would have been if I hadn't signed that bill." > > One of the writers of that legislation was then-Senator Phil Gramm, > who is now advising John McCain, and who Mr. Obama described last week > as "the architect in the United States Senate of the deregulatory > steps that helped cause this mess." Ms. Bartiromo asked Mr. Clinton if > he felt Mr. Gramm had sold him "a bill of goods"? > > Mr. Clinton: "Not on this bill I don't think he did. You know, Phil > Gramm and I disagreed on a lot of things, but he can't possibly be > wrong about everything. On the Glass-Steagall thing, like I said, if > you could demonstrate to me that it was a mistake, I'd be glad to look > at the evidence. > > "But I can't blame [the Republicans]. This wasn't something they > forced me into. I really believed that given the level of oversight of > banks and their ability to have more patient capital, if you made it > possible for [commercial banks] to go into the investment banking > business as Continental European investment banks could always do, > that it might give us a more stable source of long-term investment." > > We agree that Mr. Clinton isn't wrong about everything. The > Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act passed the Senate on a 90-8 vote, including 38 > Democrats and such notable Obama supporters as Chuck Schumer, John > Kerry, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Dick Durbin, Tom Daschle -- oh, and > Joe Biden. Mr. Schumer was especially fulsome in his endorsement. > > As for the sins of "deregulation" more broadly, this is a political > fairy tale. The least regulated of our financial institutions -- hedge > funds -- have posed the least systemic risks in the current panic. The > big investment banks that got into the most trouble could have made > the same mortgage investments before 1999 as they did afterwards. One > of their problems was that Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns weren't > diversified enough. They prospered for years through direct lending > and high leverage via the likes of asset-backed securities without > accepting commercial deposits. But when the panic hit, this meant they > lacked an adequate capital cushion to absorb losses. > > Meanwhile, commercial banks that had heavier capital requirements were > struggling to compete with the Wall Street giants throughout the > 1990s. Some of the deposit-taking banks that were allowed to diversify > after 1999, such as J.P. Morgan and Bank of America, are now in a > stronger position to withstand the current turmoil. They have been > able to help stabilize the financial system through acquisitions of > Bear Stearns, Washington Mutual, Merrill Lynch and Countrywide > Financial. > > Mr. Obama's "deregulation" trope may be good politics, but it's bad > history and is dangerous if he really believes it. The U.S. is going > to need a stable, innovative financial system after this panic ends, > and we won't get that if Mr. Obama and his media chorus think the > answer is to return to Depression-era rules amid global financial > competition. Perhaps the Senator should ask the former President for a > briefing. > > And this > http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/10/20/buffett-lehman-derivatives-oped-cx_sf_rcs_1020figlewskismith.html > > </OPINION PIECE> > > > On Mon, Oct 20, 2008 at 8:54 PM, Gruss Gott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> Ah, dammit Sam. Now you've made me pity you. >> > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:275754 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
