NYT Editorial: The Republicans "Are Doing Nothing More Than Shilling For The Banks"

[kpete]

Editorial
Whose Side Are They On?

Published: April 17, 2010

Last month Democrats on the Senate banking committee passed a reasonably tough financial regulatory reform bill. Now Republican leaders have suddenly begun lashing out against it.

Did they belatedly discover some problem? No. They suddenly realized that their bet that reform would be watered down as it moved along might not pan out.

Their battle cry of “no more bailouts” is disingenuous. They are not worried that reform will make bankers’ lives too easy, they are worried that it will make them too hard.

The Republicans started loudly objecting only after Senator Blanche Lincoln, an Arkansas Democrat who is chairwoman of the agriculture committee, took an unexpectedly strong stand in favor of reining in financial derivatives, the complex and largely unregulated instruments that were at the heart of the financial crisis. (Her committee has jurisdiction, because derivatives have long been used to trade commodities.)

................

The White House and Democratic leaders need to push back hard against Republican posturing, making it clear to Americans that robust reform is the only way to protect the system — and taxpayers — from a repeat catastrophe. When Republicans try to block reform, they are doing nothing more than shilling for the banks.

more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/opinion/18sun1.html?hp

[Flying Dream Blues]

1. K&R nt

[Spazito]

2. Excellent editorial....

The Dems DO need to push back hard on this and, it seems, they are beginning to do just that.

Recommended.

[lib2DaBone]

3. You mean someone finally gets it? I hold my breath...

[pampango]

4. Good to see this in the Times. What the republicans are doing seems obvious, but

it is good to see it spelled out so clearly.

[quiet.american]

5. K&R nt

[gratuitous]

6. Blanche Lincoln is facing a strong primary challenge

She has to burnish some Democratic credentials, or she will soon become the former Senator from Arkansas. The Republicans thought Lincoln was a nice, safe bet to go easy on the banksters, and they got a nasty surprise. Well, just like a hog in a wallow, Republicans don't like surprises, and they reacted just about the same way: Much bellowing and snorting. But let's hope that Republicans mount an ineffectual counter-campaign to financial reform. What will their slogan be: Better the robber barons reducing you to penury than the uncertainty of a well-regulated financial market?