Big Bank Buddies: The GOP vs. Financial Regulation

So the battle over the Financial Regulation bill has yet to pass the filibuster stage. Deja vu anyone?

Like in the battle for healthcare, the GOP has set up camp with Big Money; rather than those well-meaning and sweet-hearted insurance corporations, though, they're bedded with the financial firms that brought our economy to its knees in the first place. With their campaign chests stuffed with bonus money, the Republicans are fighting the same stalling battle as before; desperately holding off legislation that will make it harder to swindle American citizens with fine print and outrageous fees.

Last week, President Obama gave a speech outlining his plan. It's not too long, and it outlines his administration's goals with the new legislation being delayed now in the Senate.

One quote I noticed was this:

"Some on Wall Street forgot that behind every dollar traded or leveraged, there is family looking to buy a house, pay for an education, open a business, or save for retirement. What happens here has real consequences across our country."

I believe the President is referring the dubious practice of short selling, wherein firms can bet on the failure of a company (or the nation of Greece if you're JP Morgan Chase) and thus make money on the death of another corporation. The Daily Show's Samantha Bee outlines the wonders of this little system in her Money Honey Bee segment. Basically when people notice there are bets being placed against a company, that company's stock prices plummet as investors are scared away. This panic selling is bad.

The other fun thing that Wall Street was doing to cause the financial collapse was, quite literally, pulling money out of thin air.

So instead of working with Democrats to construct and move the bill along, the Republicans are more content to use political games to delay a law that improves America for everyone.

I assume its because more regulation somehow infringes on the freedoms of corporations. This idea is amusing because it assumes businesses are people. They are not. They are staffed and operated by people, all of whom have the same equal rights. The corporation is like a tractor that the CEO is paid to drive for a while, and like how we have regulations for how you drive down the street, we should have regulations for how CEOs handle their monstrous rigs on the economic highway.

Bowing to greater authority, I'll end with words from the President:

"That's why we need to give consumers more protection and power in our financial system. This is not about stifling competition or innovation. Just the opposite: with a dedicated agency setting ground rules and looking out for ordinary people in our financial system, we'll empower consumers with clear and concise information when making financial decisions. Instead of competing to offer confusing products, companies will compete the old-fashioned way: by offering better products. That will mean more choices for consumers, more opportunities for businesses, and more stability in our financial system. And unless your business model depends on bilking people, there is little to fear from these new rules."

EDIT: Daily Show covers a bit of the Sachs Trial.