Reading Matt Taibbi's damming account of duplicitous backstabbing by the Old Boy network embedded within the Democratic leadership just confirmed my worst suspicions. That we got screwed by our own congressional leadership along with a captive Treasury Department, working against the public's interests.
Wall Street's Big Win: Finance reform won't stop the high-risk gambling that wrecked the economy - and Republicans aren't the only ones to blame
Throughout the debate over finance reform, Democrats had sold the public on the idea that it was the Republicans who were killing progressive initiatives. In reality, Republican and Democratic leaders were working together with industry insiders and deep-pocketed lobbyists to prevent rogue members like Merkley and Levin from effecting real change. In public, the parties stage a show of bitter bipartisan stalemate. But when the cameras are off, they fuck like crazed weasels in heat.
After watching the Democratic Old Boy network reject proposals for fundamental health care reform, in favor of a corporate friendly approach, this came as no surprise.
The Democratic leadership along with the White House concocted a shamelessly corporate friendly approach to health care reform. Their approach left Big Insurance's regional monopolies intact, and left Big Pharma free to continue gouging Americans with their astronomical prices.
Taibbi's scandalous account of congressional sausage making that leaves our economy vulnerable to future financial calamities deserves to be read in its entirety:
From the start, Dodd had been opposed to the ban on proprietary trading. "Hey, I would gladly dump the Volcker rule," he told industry lobbyists. "But I can't, because of the pressure I'm getting from the left."
Et tu, Brute?
Geithner went all out for the de minimis exemption; one Senate aide was told flatly by "those who are in charge of counting noses" that the proposal was not subject to negotiation. This was the horse-head-in-the-bed moment of the Dodd-Frank bill – the offer that couldn't be refused. "We were told that there needed to be de minimis or there would be no bill," the aide says.
Et tu, Brute?
But that was before the senator from Wall Street showed up. In the final hours of negotiations, a congressional delegation from New York, led by Sen. Chuck Schumer, decided to take one last run at gutting the Volcker rule. It was as though someone had sent the scrubs off the court and called in the varsity. Schumer, a platitudinous champion of liberal social issues, moonlights as a pillbox-hat bellhop to Wall Street on economic matters. The self-aggrandizing New Yorker has not only fought to keep taxes low on hedge-fund billionaires, he got up onstage with Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein at a Democratic fundraiser in 2006 and performed "nostalgic furniture-store jingles."
Et tu, Brute?
Its almost like Democratic leaders took an oath to: First, do no harm to corporate revenue streams
With Democratic "leaders" like these doing the Republicans (and Wall Street's) dirty work for them, is it any wonder that the Democratic base is less than thrilled about the performance of party "leaders"?
The Time has come to fire Geithner
Since Obama got bad advice from Geithner on financial reform, Obama is almost certainly getting bad advice from Geithner on how to get the economy rolling again. Firing Geithner would send an unmistakable signal to the Party's base (and all Americans) that Obama is more concerned about the needs of Main Street than the wants of Wall Street.
More importantly firing Geithner would signal a course correction, that this President won't cling to a failing economic policy (as Bush did) that restores corporate profits and bonuses, while leaving millions of Americans without a job, in a stagnant job market.
Hat tip to bobswern for his diary: Two Weekend Must-Reads: Rich and Taibbi