Wall Street

Good stuff from The Tribune's John Darkow: 

h/t Ezra Klein

Remember when Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), the top Republican on the Senate Banking committee, told an "enthusiastic crowd" of banking lobbyists that the best way for Wall Street to prey on consumers without hindrance was to send Roy Blunt $10,000 and help Republicans win seats in the Senate? 

ABC News reports today that "Wall Street got the message."

An ABCNews.com/Center for Responsive Politics analysis of financial industry contributions to senatorial campaign fundraising arms and to candidates in a dozen key races revealed a distinct fiscal alliance between Wall Street and the Republicans.

Any questions?

The Hill: "Congress early Friday moved to the brink of passing a landmark overhaul of Wall Street, which would hand President Barack Obama a major victory ahead of the midterm elections...The 2,000-page bill aims to prevent taxpayer-funded bailouts and revamp regulation of mortgages, credit cards, broad financial system risks and the $600 trillion derivatives market."

Good news for consumers.  The "small people," if you will.

In Washington Times op-ed published earlier this week, Rep Blaine Luetkemeyer complained about the Wall Street Reform legislation currently before Congress, recycling debunked talking points provided by GOP pollster Frank Luntz.  Democrats "want to establish a $150 billion permanent bailout fund," Luetkemeyer wrote, and the proposals would make "bailouts a permanent part of the regulatory arsenal."

Luetkemeyer's goal with the bailout language-- a goal shared by many of his GOP colleagues in Washington -- is to scare the public, not inform or accurately describe the legislation.

Kit Bond voted against the Senate's Wall Street Reform bill last night, which passed by a 59-39 vote.  Four Republicans -- Sens. Scott Brown (R-MA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) -- joined with the Democratic majority to support the bill.  Two Democrats -- Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Russ Feingold (D-WI) -- voted against the legislation because they thought it didn't go far enough. 

A recent Washington Post-ABC News poll found that "about two-thirds of Americans support stricter regulations on the way banks and other financial institutions conduct their business." But sadly, Bond has given every indication he will never support legislation that resembles real reform.

Politico summarizes the bill:

The bill contains several provisions intended to prevent a repeat of the crash of 2008. Most importantly, the Obama administration touts the bill’s new so-called “resolution authority,” which would allow the government to take over and shut down ailing financial institutions in much the same way the FDIC shuts down ailing banks today. It includes a new council of regulators who would be tasked with watching the entire financial system for signs of stress as opposed to policing individual pieces of it, as regulators did before the crash.

The Senate bill creates a consumer protection agency housed in the Federal Reserve and tasked with writing new rules to protect consumers from abusive lending practices. It also forces banks to spin off their derivatives businesses into separate entity — a major concern of big banks that make billions from trading the complex financial instruments that were at the heart of the 2008 meltdown.

The top story on The Huffington Post right now...

Standing behind Bond is Sen. Richard Shelby, who infamously told an "enthusiastic crowd" of banking lobbyists that electing Roy Blunt to the U.S. Senate "would help immensely," and that they should send each send Blunt $10,000 straight away.

Kit Bond this morning on CNBC: "Under this administration, if you don't say you support them, then you're hauled out and dropped in the Chicago River." Watch it:

Kit Bond and Senate Republicans dropped their filibuster yesterday to allow Wall Street reform debate to continue. Bond now says that "it's time we got the details laid out for the public" -- even though he voted on Tuesday and Wednesday to block debate on the Senate floor (he skipped Monday's cloture vote).

Still, Bond remains adamantly opposed to the legislation, referring to unspecified concerns about 'Main Street.'  "This bill absolutely cripples Main Street," he says -- but it's not at all clear what that means.

KUDLOW: The Republicans caucus has changed its position, and has agreed to unanimous consent to bring the bill to the floor. Why?  May I ask why, Mr. Bond? 

BOND: It's time we got the details laid out for the public...because this bill absolutely cripples Main Street. We're hearing from back home, and I want people back home to know what this bill will to the business, to the credit lenders in our state...

I'm hoping that we can get a majority to change the bad parts. If we continue to have the bad parts in, I'll do everything I can to kill it.

Something tells me this won't be the first commercial of 2010 focusing on Sen. Richard Shelby's statement to banking lobbyists that helping elect Roy Blunt (with a $10,000 check) and other Republicans to the Senate would "help immensely" in their efforts to block important reforms.

Via Salon's War Room, here's a new cable ad from the DNC blasting Senate Republicans for blocking a Wall Street reform debate on the Senate floor.  Kit Bond missed Monday's vote, but supported the GOP filibuster yesterday. The ad also highlights a recent GOP fundraiser with "power lobbyist" Charlie Black, a key DC fundraiser for Roy Blunt. 

A united GOP caucus just blocked a motion to begin debate on Wall Street reform legislation, which needed 60 votes pass. The vote today wasn't on a specific financial regulation package -- it was just a motion to begin debate.

Kit Bond was one of two Republicans who did not vote on the bill, though he is on record supporting the GOP obstruction.  

New Washington Post-ABC News poll: "About two-thirds of Americans support stricter regulations on the way banks and other financial institutions conduct their business."

Wall Street may have won over Kit Bond and Roy Blunt, but not the American public.

The following news story press release was posted to KMOX.com this morning:

Bond passes along Missouri values in financial reform debate
Brett Blume Reporting

WASHINGTON D.C. (KMOX)  -- President Barack Obama will talk financial reform Thursday during a speech at a New York college not far from Wall Street.

U.S. Senator Kit Bond of Missouri met with two of the president's top financial advisors this week to pass along what he's heard from Missourians during recent public hearings.

"Basically, they want to stop 'too big to fail', they don't want government picking winners and losers," Bond told reporters during a conference call after the White House meeting.

Bond says most of the blame for the financial meltdown can be placed on what he calls "a few bad apples" on Wall Street.

Honestly - what are the "Missouri values" that Kit Bond has conveyed regarding the Wall Street reform proposals before Congress?  Politicians often use "Missouri values" (or Kentucky Values, Arkansas Values,  etc.) as code for conservative social positions. Or, "Missouri values" can be shorthand for "commonsense values," and a way to suggest that the opposing position or politician has the values of a foreigner (e.g. hippies, Frenchies, corporate lobbyists, etc.).

This KMOX story does little to clarify Bond's position on the important legislation being debated right now in Washington. The headline could have read, "Kit Bond wants a good bill," and it would have been just as illuminating.  

Paul Singer in 2007

Blunt, along with six other GOP senate candidates, were the guests of honor at the February 24 event.  A total of $1,240,908 was raised into the committee and then distributed to Blunt, Kelly Ayotte (NH), Jane Norton (CO), Rob Portman (OH), Marco Rubio (FL), Rob Simmons (CT) and Pat Toomey (PA).

"Who's got two thumbs and doesn't do _____?"

The DNC has a new ad calling on Republicans -- especially Republicans in the Senate -- to drop their unified opposition to banking reform.

Salon's Mike Madden sums up the GOP position:

The Plum Line: 

Battle lines are drawn: Mitch McConnell’s office emails out a letter, signed by the entire GOP caucus, pledging to oppose the Dems’ financial regulatory reform plan unless they adopt a more “bipartisan” approach.

The letter repeats the widely-debunked claim that the reform plan would lead to endless bailouts, and claims the GOP caucus is “united” in opposition, suggesting McConnell has been able to keep the caucus together and prevent defectors...