Sanders To Introduce Bill To Break Up The Big Banks

[Ichingcarpenter]

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - Bernie Sanders, a self-described socialist U.S. senator who has launched a bid for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, said on Tuesday he will introduce a bill to break up the biggest banks, a position far to the left of the party's front runner, Hillary Clinton.

Calls for Wall Street's largest firms to be cut down were numerous after taxpayers spent billions of dollars to prevent the financial system from collapse during the 2007-09 financial crisis, but they have since gradually died down.

Sanders faces long odds against Clinton's fund-raising might, and his views might help position the former secretary of state and first lady more as a moderate and buttress her efforts to attract money from banks' deep pockets.

Under the Sanders proposal, regulators on the existing Financial Stability Oversight Council would compile a list of institutions that are 'too big to fail' and implicitly rely on government support during a crisis.

"If an institution is too big to fail, it is too big to exist," Sanders said in a statement.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/05/bernie-sanders-banks_n_7217746.html?cps=gravity_3967_-4174660181237093328

[marym625]

1. K&R!

[merrily]

2. I agree that a bank too big to fail without a taxpayer bailout is too big to exist.

However, I wonder if introducing this bill is a tactical misstep or not. It's never going to pass, which will give fodder to Sanders' foes. On the other hand, it helps get his name out, which he needs.

Dunno.

[dreamnightwind]

3. Strategically, I don't know

if it is smart or not. I think it is, because right now, with no money for ad buys, a MSM that will do their best to ignore him, and the recent exclusivity rules the DNC made saying candidates in their sanctioned debates can ONLY debate in those debates (with party-approved ground rules for those debates), it is very difficult for Bernie to present his issues to the public.

A proposition like this one, which Bernie genuinely believes in and so do most Americans (I am guessing here), will say loud and clear to people that this candidate is different, in a way they agree with. I get your "it won't pass so they can say he isn't serious" question, that could be, hopefully it will be outweighed by the positive aspects.

Too big to exist, in my view, isn't quite right, we could give them the option of being nationallized and existing under the federal government (since taxpayers are on the hook anyway for their liabilities) as an alternative to being broken up into smaller pieces. They aren't too big if the government is running them in a sane way, probably as non-profit entities serving taxpayers.

Anyway I like this move by Bernie, very gutsy and it shows me he welcomes their hatred, as did FDR.

edit to add: Elizabeth Warren will have his back on this issue, and she is hard to ignore

[merrily]

4. Speaking of nationalizing banks.

If I recall correctly, when Prime Minister Brown was on the Daily Show, he said that the Brits bailed out the banks, too. However, they took stock (or did he say outright ownership?) in the banks in exchange. Once you hear it, it seems like a duh, doesn't it?

[dreamnightwind]

6. I missed that

Have a few Daily Shows on the DVR I need to watch, so if it was recent I'll see it, thanks. I thought the British banks owned their government much as ours do, but yeah maybe they got something in return for the bailouts. It would be a no-brainer if anyone other than the banks was running this country.

[merrily]

8. Not very recent.

I didn't watch this before posting, but this may be it. http://thedailyshow.cc.com/episodes/ul768k/december-13--2010---gordon-brown

If not, I apologize.

[dreamnightwind]

9. Wow, well done

That was it, and it was good to see. He was there promoting his book and also it seemed promoting global trade agreements, but he did talk the talk on how the U.S. needs to get control of its banking system, and claimed, as you said, that his country got control of the banks (stock) in return for the liquidity (money) their government gave the banks. I doubt they really have control of their own banks, at least they appear to have done something and it was good to see him urging us to reign in our banks.

My son and I watched Jon pulling his hair out with Judith Miller (from our DVR) tonight, extremely painful, kudos to Jon for his efforts, he will be greatly missed. Then we watched him make fun of Bernie, that was always a side of Jon I had a hard time with, he likes Bernie, just used him for cheap laughs I guess, oh well.

[merrily]

10. I posted that Miller video in a couple of DU forums.

As for Bernie, I think Jon is very well connected in and to the Democratic Party establishment and is himself centrist. As long as he's going after Republicans, that is less obvious. But, when he goes against Democrats, it's the liberals diverging from the centrists. Colbert Report as well.

I always had a hard time with that and with Jon's going all Southern belle every time he mentioned Lindsey Graham.

Still, I try not to miss a single show and I bow down to him.

[dreamnightwind]

11. Agreed, he is in what he sees as the reasonable center

His stubborn efforts to debunk the crazy make up for his other shortcomings, love him for that.

[merrily]

12. He's a genius. The one issue I noticed him going off campus on

are issues around teaching. That's because his mom is (was?) a teacher and fills hin in. You'd think that would have told him something about other issues.

[stillwaiting]

5. Nothing truly good is going to pass this Congress.

That doesn't mean that great bills/legislation shouldn't be introduced. On the contrary, they should continue to be introduced so the public can see who is stopping great legislation from being implemented.

I can't stand the argument that Bernie is not a good leader due to his inability to get his legislation through Congress. They are blaming one of the very few legislators that is actually uncorrupted by Big Money/Banks/Multinationals, and they are blaming HIM for the corruption of so many of the others. Do they really believe that SANDERS should be able to single-handedly overcome the massive amounts of money that have bought off so many of "our" Congresscritters and lead these people to do the right thing? The system is thoroughly corrupt. It's a little like expecting a "good cop" to single-handedly reform their entire police department. How often does that happen, and how often should that reasonably be expected to happen? It's a ridiculous argument. Should Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Sherrod, etc. never present fantastic legislation because our corrupt Congress will never allow these bills to be passed? Are they just grandstanding for political reasons and should they not even try? We'll absolutely get nowhere in this country if even the very few that might present great legislation stop trying because their bills won't get passed. I can't imagine the despair that would result in this country from such a decision.

We as a people are going to have to nationally show very strong support towards Sanders and politicians like Sanders before politicians will EVER support someone like Sanders over the power and wealth that our system of legalized bribery that opposing Sanders brings.
Supporting Sanders for President would be a great first step at changing the disastrous direction our country has been on over the past 3 to 4 decades, and it would be a huge wake-up call to Congress that they better start serving our interests over the interests of the financial elite.

It's up to us to mobilize and creatively use social media strategies to overcome the media stranglehold that TPTB have over our brainwashed population. It's a huge challenge, and it's perhaps our most important if we are ever to turn things around. We have to wake up our fellow Americans and persuade them to support politicians like Sanders. Sanders is fighting for us, but he won't ever be able to implement his ideas if the public don't hop aboard the Sanders Express, build a movement, and demand change in this country in huge numbers. Those that continue to yell "wishful thinking" are giving no weight to how much the average person is disgusted by the current system and wants huge change from the status quo, and they are discounting just how fast political realities, viewpoints, and expectations can change in a country when the population is as disenchanted with the status quo as ours currently is. Now is the perfect time for Sanders to run for President, and he should absolutely continue to present fantastic legislation that the public wants to see implemented even if our corrupt Congress continues to shut him down. For me, that's a very easy decision.

[sabrina 1]

7. Every elected Democrat should support that bill.

Maybe they all need some phone calls.