Last night on the Lou Dobbs Show on CNN he revealed that the six key members of Congress leading the negotiation of the bailout plan for the financial industry were HUGE recipients of contributions from companies in the financial industry.

Six members of Congress are leading the negotiations of the largest government bailout in history. Democrats, Senator Christopher Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Congressman Barney Frank, Chairman, House Financial Services Committee. Republican Senator Judd Gregg, ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, Congressman Roy Blunt, House Minority Whip. Senator Richard Shelby and Congressman Richard Bachus have also emerged in the leadership of the negotiations.

That's your lineup, folks and over the past two decades, those six men have accepted almost $24 million in donations from finance, insurance and real estate firms. Several of the contributors are among the very same firms that stand to benefit from that almost trillion dollar federal bailout.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd leads the list having accepted a total of $13,205,556. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank has accepted a total of $2,494,611. The other four members involved in the negotiations have accepted a total of almost $9 million between them.

Yep, our democracy is based on "one man-one vote". If you believe that, the bridge over Lake Sumter is avaialble for purchase. Ever wonder why the members of Congress have resisted new campaign finance reform legislation? Because once they're elected it's a very sweet deal--that's why.

we're screwed - and not in a good way.

I stated this in a more detailed lengthly fashion on the General Discussion board under the bail-out thread.

Originally Posted by oshunluva

Last night on the Lou Dobbs Show on CNN he revealed that the six key members of Congress leading the negotiation of the bailout plan for the financial industry were HUGE recipients of contributions from companies in the financial industry.

This has been common knowledge for some time now. Chris Dodd and Obama are the largest recipients from Freddie and Frannie, McCain received a much smaller amount but is indeed there as well.
Term limits now, term limits forever!!

But McCain is the one that has been voting and pushing for deregulation for the past 25 years! Same old, same old.

In light of what is going on it may be worthwhile for all of us and our current and future "leaders" to re-visit the words of Andrew Jackson in this veto message.

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/pr...ef=patrick.net

Originally Posted by hancle704

in light of what is going on it may be worthwhile for all of us and our current and future "leaders" to re-visit the words of andrew jackson in this veto message.

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/pr...ef=patrick.net

beautiful !!!!!

Originally Posted by chelsea24

But McCain is the one that has been voting and pushing for deregulation for the past 25 years! Same old, same old.

The key "degregulation" action was the Gramm-Leach-Blibey Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999. We've brought this Act up on other posts.

Sen McCain was a Not-Voted on this bill - Sen. Obama was not yet in office - Sen. Biden and Dowd voted YEA - Rep. Pelosi voted YEA and Rep. Frank voted NAY.

A Democratic President signed it into law, a veto would not have mattered as it passed both Houses of Congress with more than sufficient votes to override a veto.

So, the forces for "deregulation" include by their votes most of the Democratic and Republican leadership, with Sen. McCain and Rep. Frank going against the grain.

Originally Posted by oshunluva

Last night on the Lou Dobbs Show on CNN he revealed that the six key members of Congress leading the negotiation of the bailout plan for the financial industry were HUGE recipients of contributions from companies in the financial industry.

This has been common knowledge for some time now. Chris Dodd and Obama are the largest recipients from Freddie and Frannie, McCain received a much smaller amount but is indeed there as well.
Term limits now, term limits forever!!

Wait...Wait I thought we already said that was Obama....now its Dodd.

Originally Posted by SteveZ

The key "degregulation" action was the Gramm-Leach-Blibey Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999. We've brought this Act up on other posts.

Sen McCain was a Not-Voted on this bill - Sen. Obama was not yet in office - Sen. Biden and Dowd voted YEA - Rep. Pelosi voted YEA and Rep. Frank voted NAY.

A Democratic President signed it into law, a veto would not have mattered as it passed both Houses of Congress with more than sufficient votes to override a veto.

So, the forces for "deregulation" include by their votes most of the Democratic and Republican leadership, with Sen. McCain and Rep. Frank going against the grain.

I wondered about that veto......

This is from Time Magazine

Not familiar with credit default swaps? Well, we didn't know much about collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) either — until they began to undermine the economy. Credit default swaps, once an obscure financial instrument for banks and bondholders, could soon become the eye of the credit hurricane. Fun, huh?
The CDS market exploded over the past decade to more than $45 trillion in mid-2007, according to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. This is roughly twice the size of the U.S. stock market (which is valued at about $22 trillion and falling) and far exceeds the $7.1 trillion mortgage market and $4.4 trillion U.S. treasuries market. "It could be another — I hate to use the expression — nail in the coffin."
Banks and insurance companies are regulated; the credit swaps market is not. As a result, contracts can be traded — or swapped — from investor to investor without anyone overseeing the trades to ensure the buyer has the resources to cover the losses if the security defaults. The instruments can be bought and sold from both ends — the insured and the insurer.
All of this makes it tough for banks to value the insurance contracts and the securities on their books. And it comes at a time when banks are already reeling from write-downs on mortgage-related securities. "These are the same institutions that themselves have either directly or through subsidiaries invested in the subprime market." "They're suffering losses all over the place," and now they face potentially more losses from the CDS market.
Indeed, commercial banks are among the most active in this market, with the top 25 banks holding more than $13 trillion in credit default swaps — where they acted as either the insured or insurer — at the end of the third quarter of 2007, JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, Bank of America and Wachovia were ranked among the top four most active.
Credit default swaps were seen as easy money for banks when they were first launched more than a decade ago. Reason? The economy was booming and corporate defaults were few back then, making the swaps a low-risk way to collect premiums and earn extra cash.
But as the economy soured and the subprime credit crunch began expanding into other credit areas over the past year, CDS investors became jittery. They wondered if the parties holding the CDS insurance after multiple trades would have the financial wherewithal to pay up in the event of mass defaults. "In the past six to eight months, there's been a deterioration in market liquidity and the ability to get willing buyers for structured finance securities," causing the values of the securities to fall.
The situation is exacerbated by the heavy trading volume of the instruments, the secrecy surrounding the trades, and — most importantly — the lack of regulation in this insurance contract business. "An original CDS can go through 15 or 20 trades, so when a default occurs, the so-called insured party or hedged party doesn't know who's responsible for making up the default and if that end player has the resources to cure the default."
Being unregulated, there is no standard contract, no standard capital requirements, and no standard way of valuating securities in these transactions. As a result, we wouldn't be surprised to see a surge in litigation as defaults start happening. "There's a lot of outcry right now for more regulation and more transparency,"
A meltdown in the CDS market has potentially even wider ramifications nationwide than the subprime crisis. If bond insurance disappears or becomes too costly, lenders will become even more cautious about making loans, and this could impact everyone from mortgage-seekers to municipalities that need money to fix roads and build schools. "We're seeing players in all of those spaces being more circumspect about whose credit they're going to guarantee and what exactly the credit obligation is."
Still, most agree the potential repercussions are far-reaching. "It's the ripple effects, the domino effects" that are worrisome. "I think it's [going to be] one of the next shoes to fall" in the credit crisis. The subprime debacle, rising unemployment, record-high oil prices, and now CDS market troubles "have all the makings of the perfect storm.... There are some economists who say this could be another 1929." "We have a lot of safeguards built into the system that did not exist in 1929 and 1930." None of them, though, are directly targeted at CDS. On Wall Street, innovators are always ahead of regulators. And that can sometimes have a very steep price.

Doesn’t that sober you up! Come to think of it, I believe I will go have a drink while I can still afford one!

Don't know how McCain's history of voting for deregulation's can be ignored.

http://globalinvestmentwatch.com/200...idential-race/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUJ_Qn0AHTU

Oops!

Originally Posted by chelsea24

Don't know how McCain's history of voting for deregulation's can be ignored.

http://globalinvestmentwatch.com/200...idential-race/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUJ_Qn0AHTU

Oops!

Do you prefer more laws or fewer?
Are you satisfied that all existing laws are still pertinent?
Do you really believe all existing laws should be enforced?
Do you believe the government should only enforce the laws we "really like?"

How you answer these questions determine if you are a "deregulator" or need much more control placed over you.