Crossposted from Hillbilly Report.
Since the rampant greed on the banking industry and Wall St. caused the crash of our economy late in 2008 not one reform or regulation has been added to stop such a thing from happening again. Now, if Republicans led by the Senator of Communist China Mitch McConnell have their way the American people will not even be allowed to have a debate on the Senate floor about the best way to keep this from happening again. In fact, all the Republicans offer is what they and McConnell do best, lie.
Yes, when Harry Reid asked to begin debating the bill on the Senate floor, allowing the American people to have these folks on the record saying what their ideas for regulating the rampant greed that cost so much money and millions of jobs, he was stonewalled by Communism's favorite Senator, McConnell:
The majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, asked Republicans to agree to begin debating the measure, which would impose a sweeping regulatory framework on Wall Street and big financial institutions. But the Republican leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, objected, saying Democrats were pre-empting negotiations to reach a deal.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Yes, in a time of record profits and bonuses for Wall St. while unemployment remains high, Republicans seem determined to keep the party rolling on at all costs. The excuse given by McConnell was well past laughable:
Republicans have said that renewed talks are yielding progress that could lead to an agreement, but neither Democrats nor Republicans have pointed to any concrete changes that had been agreed to in recent days.
"Every indication is that the chairman and the ranking member are making progress in their discussions, and that this bill will have needed improvements," Mr. McConnell said in a speech on Thursday.
But wait, how long has it been since the need for legislation and regulations were made glaringly obvious?? Have the American people not already seen months of "negotiation" which has proved completely fruitless because Republicans simply will not allow the greediest and least patriotic among us to be regulated??:
Mr. Reid, however, noted that Democrats had tried for two months to reach a deal with Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the senior Republican on the banking committee, and another month working with Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, who is also on the committee. If Republicans are ready to deal, he said, they should agree to begin debate.
"I’m not going to waste any more time of the American people," Mr. Reid said.
But instead of offering the American people what they need and have clamored for en masse, Mitch McConnell can only offer the same thing he has always had in his arsenal, lies:
"This bill not only allows for taxpayer-funded bailouts of Wall Street banks, it institutionalizes them," Mr. McConnell says on the video in a speech on the Senate floor. In another clip, Mr. McConnell says, "It provides for an endless taxpayer bailout of Wall Street banks."
And as always with McConnell, his lies are easily refuted. One begins to wonder if his reading skills are at a second grade level:
Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat, accused Mr. McConnell of ignoring the legislative text.
"If you listen to this comment by the minority leader of the United States Senate you wonder if he has read the bill, particularly if he has read the section between pages 110 and 295, which is entitled ‘Orderly Liquidation Authority,’ " Mr. Durbin said.
"Liquidation is the end of the bank," Mr. Durbin said, "not a bailout that it could continue in business. It describes all the steps that would be taken under the bill to liquidate the bank. The management team is fired. The shareholders are wiped out. The firm’s assets are sold off to pay any firm debts. Once the money is gone, the creditors are wiped out. The taxpayers don’t pay for any part of this, and at the end of it, the company is gone. There is nothing to bail out."
Ah, but even Jon Kyl got in on the scamming of the American public to into the act, and was quickly refuted:
Then, the Democrats showed clips of the No. 2 Republican, Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, saying the legislation would interfere with auto dealers, dentists or optometrists who allow their customers to pay off bills over time.
"Senator Kyl says that the bill would regulate your dentist or your optometrist or your butcher if they let you pay over time — once again, not true," Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said.
Mr. Schumer said Democrats were moving quickly to hit back after learning a lesson from the recent health care debate.
"On the health care bill we allowed too many lies to get out there without rebuttal because we thought they were so obviously untrue," he said. "Well, we have learned our lesson and the minute these things come out of the mouths of some of our Republican colleagues, we rebut them."
You see, the plain and simple truth of the matter is this. Despite all their bluster one fact remains constant. The Republicans quite simply do not want ANY reform or regulation of our financial industries. Why would they?? When yourself, your buddies and your big dollar contributors are making out like bandits padding their own pockets with no-risk investments at the expense of the hardworking American taxpayer, why would you want to change anything. Most of all, why would you want debate in a public forum that showed the American people just what you stand for.
For Mitch McConnell and the Republicans the only thing they ever stand for is the greediest and least patriotic among us.