H.R. 992 — the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act

[Master Shake]

https://represent.us/action/somethin...presentatives/

Not any specifics on the bill, just that it was crafted by evil-doers. Anyone familiar with it?

The U.S. House just passed a bill called H.R. 992 — the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act — that was literally written by mega-bank lobbyists. It repeals the laws passed in 2010 to prevent another meltdown like the one that crashed our economy in 2008. The repeal was cosponsored by a former Goldman Sachs executive and passed with bipartisan support from some of the House’s largest recipients of Wall Street cash. It’s so appalling… so unbelievable… so blatantly corrupt… that you’ve got to see it to believe it:

In 2010, Congress passed the “Dodd-Frank” law to clamp down on risky “derivatives trading” that led to the financial collapse of 2008. Dodd-Frank was weakened by banking lobbyists from the start and has been under attack by those lobbyists ever since. Now a new law written by Citigroup lobbyists
(we couldn’t make this stuff up if we tried) exempts derivatives trading from regulation, and was passed this week by the House of Representatives with broad bipartisan support.
It sounds bad… but don’t worry, it gets much, much worse:

• The New York Times reports that 70 of the 85 lines in the new House bill were literally written by Citigroup lobbyists (Citigroup was one of the mega-banks that brought our economy to its knees in 2008 and received billions in taxpayer money.)

• The same report also revealed “two crucial paragraphs…were copied nearly word for word.” You can even view the original documents and see how Citigroup’s lobbyists redrafted the House Bill, striking out ideas they didn’t like and replacing them with ones they did.

• The bills are sponsored by Randy Hultgren (R – IL), and co-sponsored by Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) and others. Himes is a former Goldman Sachs executive, and chief fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

• Maplight reports that the financial industry is the top source of campaign funding for 6 of the bills’ 8 cosponsors.

• Maplight’s data shows that members of the House received $22,425,740 million from interest groups that support the bill — that’s 5.8 times more than it received from interest groups opposed.

• “House aides, when asked why Democrats would vote for this proposal even though the Obama administration opposes it, offered a political explanation. Republicans have enough votes to pass it themselves, so vulnerable House Democrats might as well join them, and collect industry money for their campaigns.” — New York Times

Yep, it’s actually that bad. For the full story, check out this revealing piece by Represent.Us Communications Director Mansur Gidfar. You can also find out if your Rep. voted for H.R.992 here.

[shiny!]

Re: H.R. 992 — the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act

Term limits. Campaign contribution limits- no contributions allowed except from individuals. Break up TBTF. Restore Glass-Steagall. But the pols who would have to vote for these things have too much of a vested interest in opposing them, so it will never, ever happen*.

We are toast.

* I will be very happy to be proven wrong.

[Forrest]

Re: H.R. 992 — the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act

I am wondering what state of disaster has to be reached to impel the politicians to do their jobs without interference of the lobbyists...to make them withdraw from their source of maintaining power?

I very much fear that there is nothing that will convince them to do what is necessary to restore honesty to the marketplace.

Only when there are pitchforks at their throats will they attempt to amend matters, and it will be too late.

Alas, I think you are right...we are toast.

[photon555]

Re: H.R. 992 — the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act

I am wondering what state of disaster has to be reached to impel the politicians to do their jobs without interference of the lobbyists...to make them withdraw from their source of maintaining power?

I very much fear that there is nothing that will convince them to do what is necessary to restore honesty to the marketplace.

Only when there are pitchforks at their throats will they attempt to amend matters, and it will be too late.

Alas, I think you are right...we are toast.

I'm pretty sure an asteroid of sufficient size and speed to produce an extinction level event would have many of our congress critters doing what's right, so long as it didn't take too long for the asteroid to strike once it was detected. Then again, they just might pack up their families and themselves into that giant spaceship they're building with our tax dollars out in the middle of the Mohave desert. After all, government continuity must be ensured, even if there's nothing left to govern.

[Forrest]

Re: H.R. 992 — the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act

I'm pretty sure an asteroid of sufficient size and speed to produce an extinction level event would have many of our congress critters doing what's right, so long as it didn't take too long for the asteroid to strike once it was detected. Then again, they just might pack up their families and themselves into that giant spaceship they're building with our tax dollars out in the middle of the Mohave desert. After all, government continuity must be ensured, even if there's nothing left to govern.

Photon, if the Asteroid is of sufficient size, it will be seen, and the people who have access to all those military holes in the ground prepared for 'Continuity of Succession' will disappear as soon as notified!

(how do you build a large asteroid?)

[dcarrigg]

Re: H.R. 992 — the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act

https://represent.us/action/somethin...presentatives/

Not any specifics on the bill, just that it was crafted by evil-doers. Anyone familiar with it?

From what I understand, it guts section 716 of Dodd-Frank. Basically, the way Dodd-Frank 716 goes, if you want to gamble in swaps, you can't get federal aid. So no FDIC backing and no access to the Fed's discount window if you're taking deep positions in swaps and derivatives. So commercial banks that want to play that game (or provide that service in some cases), have to spin off other affiliated companies to do the heavy gambling. It was designed to try and prevent Uncle Sam from being on the hook if the swaps blow up. Smaller transactions that don't require SEC or CFTC registration were still allowed, as were some types of interest rates swaps and other things of that nature. This bill would let the commercial banks get back in on the action, and also bring some foreign banks under a bit more scrutiny at the same time. I think if this bill were to pass the Senate and get to the President, all it would do is expose the public sector to risk. The banks can have affiliates that do everything this bill would allow now. The affiliates just aren't backed by the FDIC and don't have access to the discount window.

[shiny!]

Re: H.R. 992 — the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act

To my above list of solutions (Term limits. Campaign contribution limits- no contributions allowed except from individuals. Break up TBTF. Restore Glass-Steagall) I add:

No bills to be introduced and voted on that are longer than 25 pages.

That would go a long way towards keeping government honest.

[dcarrigg]

Re: H.R. 992 — the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act

To my above list of solutions (Term limits. Campaign contribution limits- no contributions allowed except from individuals. Break up TBTF. Restore Glass-Steagall) I add:

No bills to be introduced and voted on that are longer than 25 pages.

That would go a long way towards keeping government honest.

Actually, this one's only about a page long. But it takes some doing to disentangle the references and figure out what they're up to.

[shiny!]

Re: H.R. 992 — the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act

Actually, this one's only about a page long. But it takes some doing to disentangle the references and figure out what they're up to.

True, just as coral snakes are only little things, the Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act is only about a page long. But it's referencing the 9,000 page Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which in in all its complexity and obfuscation should neve have been allowed.

The Affordable "We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it" Care Act is 2,400 pages long, with conservative estimates of 10,000 pages of regulations attached to it.

In contrast, the Emancipation Proclamation was 5 pages long, the Federal Reserve Act was 31 pages (so eliminating the Fed should be a trivial matter, right?), Glass-Steagall was 37 pages, the Social Security Act was 82 pages, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was 74 pages long.

I'm nothing if not flexible, so I'll allow bills of up to 100 pages. Anything longer than that, and I can just about guarantee that someone's pockets are being lined in the fine print.