Community | November 13, 2009 | 19 comments

Breaking up is hard to do

source: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/496401/breaking_up_is_hard_to_do

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WakeUpPeople
When it comes to understanding the real economy and the struggles of ordinary Americans, Senator Bernie Sanders always seems to be ahead of the curve and fighting like hell for Congress to show leadership and be responsive.

Now he's doing it once again with his legislation to break up the Too Big To Fail financial institutions that pose a threat to our entire economy.

Sanders coined the phrase, "If you're too big to fail, you're too big to exist," back when he voted against the initial Wall Street Bailout in October 2008. Now, none other than former Fed Chairmen Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker are parroting it, and a lot of other notables from across the political spectrum have come around to support busting up the banks too, as the Senator describes below.

The bill itself is a thing of beauty in its simplicity (and length! only two pages in this age of 1000-page behemoths!). It would give Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner 90 days to compile a list of commercial banks, investment banks, hedge funds and insurance companies that he deems too big to fail, including "any entity that has grown so large that its failure would have a catastrophic effect on the stability of either the financial system or the United States economy without substantial Government assistance." Within one year after the legislation becomes law, the Treasury Department would be required to break up those financial institutions.

I spoke with Senator Sanders about the bill, its potential, and the challenge of organizing to take on Wall Street. Here is what he had to say:

Q&A at the link....

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/496401/breaking_up_is_hard_to_do
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  2. tags:
    News and Politics,  Economy,  US News,  Bernie Sanders,  1 more
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19 comments // Breaking up is hard to do

  • SleepDirt
  • Maeveeo
    • 0
      Maeveeo  

    • With all the mistakes the U.S. has made for the past 8 years ( BUSH & COMPANY )
      and all the people pointing fingers here & there , giving people money to help them & when it's time to give back they do nothing ! This is a time in everybody's life
      ( And I Mean Everybody ) were it's all about GREED , LIES , & DISHONESTY !
      Thats the world the way it is now no matter how you look at it !

    • 2 years ago
  • chinese_democracy
  • ii386
  • ii386
    • 0
      ii386  

    • "And maybe the last issue is that--you know, some of my colleagues talk about regulating Wall Street. I think the evidence is pretty clear that it is Wall Street that regulates the Congress. Over a 10-year period, Wall Street has put $5 billion into lobbying and campaign contributions. They were extremely effective in doing away with Glass-Steagall and moving toward deregulation. They had the leadership of both parties working for their interests. And I think when you leave an institution like Wall Street so powerful, with so much wealth, it is very hard to imagine that Congress can in fact stand up to them."

      That statement makes me seriously wonder how this is ever going to get passed.

    • 2 years ago
  • jubal
  • asherp
    • 0
      asherp  

    • SWEET.

      He is also the author of S 703, for a single payer health care system.

      C-Span lists him as independent, but he's a card carrying socialist.

      God Bless his heart.

    • 2 years ago
  • Wetdog
  • asherp
    • 0
      asherp  
    • asherp:

      Put in the simplest of terms, socialism = government.

      There's nothing good or bad about government. It's all about what you do with it.

      People in America are afraid of socialism, because they're still afraid of the Soviet Union, which fell in the 1980s.

      Most modern nations are socialist. England- Socialist. Canada- Socialist. Sweden- Socialist. France- Socialist.

      None of them resemble the Soviet Union in any way shape or form.

      Besides, it's an absurd thread of logic to say that because you have free health care, or free college, or a decent public transportation infrastructure, that you are somehow less free. Absolutely absurd.

    • 2 years ago
  • booksellergirl
  • tomofnorthcal
  • kennymotown
  • thebullet
    • 0
      thebullet  

    • COMPLEX - would this put US companies at a disadvantage to companies from other countries that did not have such a law? What if the "largest" financial institution in the usa was foreign bank? Very sticky stuff.

      it was all caused by the repeal of glass steagall and regulators allowing higher leverage ratios. Glass Stegall kept banks SIMPLE not necessarily small. Once they got too complicated for the regulators to understand the regulators allowed more leverage. They could effectively borrow more against there "savings" or reserves. that is where i would focus not on making banks small but making the lines of business they can be in simple and easy for the regulators to evaluate. While making sure that have plenty of cash to fix there own problems.

    • 2 years ago
  • samthesixth
  • Wetdog
    • 0
      Wetdog  

    • It is high time to get Theodore Roosevelt's Big Stick out of the back of the closet and dust it off.

      Then go do some Trust Bustin'.

    • 2 years ago
  • Progresshiv
  • Gravity_Man
  • noxidereus
  • SleepDirt
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