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Congress' Choice: Real Derivatives Reform Or Another Wall Street Earthquake by Robert Johnson, OurFuture.org | November 18, 2009
This post is an excerpt of testimony presented to the Senate Agriculture Committee on November 18, 2009 in a hearing on legislation reforming regulation of financial markets. The testimony was presented on behalf of Americans for Financial Reform. read more »$140 Billion for Bonuses, Zero for America’s Future by Dave Johnson, OurFuture.org | November 11, 2009
Here is another story about Wall Street’s war on the real economy. US Steel was planning to invest $1 billion in building an environmentally-friendly new “coke battery” plant in Clairton, PA. The new battery would dramatically reduce the emissions used in the process, and use the gases to produce electricity. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, read more »The Angelides Commission: Tell America What Happened by Robert Borosage , OurFuture.org | September 17, 2009
Today the new Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, modeled after the New Deal-era Pecora Commission, begins its investigation into possible misconduct by the financial sector causing last year's market meltdown. read more »Pecora II Meets, Grassroots Mobilizes by Isaiah J. Poole, OurFuture.org | September 17, 2009
In their first meeting Wednesday, members of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission—often characterized as the second coming of the Pecora Commission that investigated the causes of the Great Depression—clarified how they see their mission and what we can expect. read more »Wall Street Rules: The Bernanke Reappointment by Robert Borosage , OurFuture.org | August 27, 2009
The reappointment of Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Federal Reserve -- cleverly timed to defuse the news of burgeoning federal deficits -- was preordained. The "markets" demanded it, and as James Carville noted, when the markets speak, presidents listen. read more »Let The Financial Inquest Begin by Isaiah J. Poole, OurFuture.org | July 15, 2009
Now that congressional leaders have named the members of the Financial Services Inquiry Commission—what is often referred to as the "Pecora Commission"—we are going to see once again who is prepared to lay the groundwork for real financial reform and who is going to stand in the way. read more »Financial Reform: Up To Us To Change The Game by Isaiah J. Poole, OurFuture.org | June 17, 2009
There's a reason why lawbreakers don't get to negotiate the terms of their punishment or their parole. There is no bartering to be done between the protectors of law and order and the violators of law and order. There are only two basic questions for the person who dared to stand outside the law: What is required of you to atone and what must be done to prevent that lawbreaking from recurring. read more »A New Player in the Banking Reform Fight: Citizens by Mike Elk, OurFuture.org | June 11, 2009
The fact that regular citizens have been largely excluded from the debate over financial regulation on Capitol Hill was underscored most vividly when Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill, said last month that "frankly the banks own the place." read more »The U.S. Chamber of Commerce: Threat To Capitalism by Eric Lotke, OurFuture.org | June 11, 2009
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce announced yesterday that it would “develop a sweeping national advocacy campaign … to defend and advance America’s free enterprise values in the face of rapid government growth and attacks by anti-business activists.” The Chamber doesn’t get it. They aren’t defending capitalism and free enterprise. They are all but destroying it. read more »Wall Street Journal Throws Citi Under The Bus by Robert Borosage , OurFuture.org | June 10, 2009
I stopped reading The Wall Street Journal editorial page when it soared off into wingnuttery, writing tomes on the imaginary conspiracy to off Vince Foster and other fantasies. The news pages remain useful; the editorial page hasn't improved much. read more »
The Latest
Citigroup Says It Didn't Use 'Robo-Signers,' Still Faces Increased Risk Due to Sour Mortgages, Huffington Post | October 19, 2010
Top Citigroup executives sought to assure investors and the public Monday that the firm's foreclosure process and its handling of key documents in securitizing home mortgages is "sound," despite growing concerns over how lenders may have skirted the law when bundling home mortgages, selling them and kicking delinquent borrowers out of their home.
Don't Believe The Bank Lobby: Foreclosure Fraud Is Bad For Homeowners And The Economy, ourfuture.org | October 19, 2010
The bank lobby is spreading a host of silly myths about the foreclosure fraud outbreak in an effort to downplay the scandal and minimize concerns over potential bank losses that have emerged in the blogosphere. Housing Wire’s Paul Jackson spouts most of them in his post today. more »
The Feds New Bubble (Masquerading As A Jobs Program), tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com | October 19, 2010
Wall Street Money Flows to GOP, blogs.wsj.com | August 11, 2010
Republicans candidates collected about 70% of the political donations from the employees and political accounts of financial services firms in June, the most recent month in which records are available, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. That’s a reversal from March, when Democrats collected 70% of the donations from Wall Street.
The AIG Bailout Scandal , The Nation | August 10, 2010
The government’s $182 billion bailout of insurance giant AIG should be seen as the Rosetta Stone for understanding the financial crisis and its costly aftermath. more »
Democrats Seek Allies in U.S. Consumer Agency Debate, Reuters | August 10, 2010
Nominees Will be Crucial in Enactment of New Wall Street Law, thehill.com | August 10, 2010
President Obama will have the opportunity over the next year to dramatically remake the leadership at the nation’s financial regulators. The president’s appointments on bank regulation, insurance rules and consumer financial protection will have broad power to carry out the 2,300-page financial overhaul enacted by Obama last month.
Basel Capital Rules May Prompt Banks to Shrink Trading, OCC's Dugan Says, bloomberg.com | August 5, 2010
The new rules being negotiated by regulators in the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision would have a greater impact on the firms’ so-called trading books, which include stocks, bonds and other securities, Dugan said in an interview. Loans and other debt held until maturity in their banking books would be less affected.
Bank Failures Up 5 More to 108; Florida’s Tally at 20, ecreditdaily.com | August 3, 2010
Dodd, Frank Plan Congressional Hearings on Basel Bank-Capital Regulations, bloomberg.com | July 29, 2010
Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank, authors of the U.S. financial overhaul, plan hearings on the status of global talks to revise bank-capital standards amid worries that proposed rules are being watered down. more »
