Robert Reich - Bill Clinton's scolding of Bernie on blame for Wall St collapse

[kristopher]

Robert Reich

Yesterday, Bill Clinton scolded Bernie Sanders for being part of the near-unanimous House vote in favor of the 2000 Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which removed derivative transactions from oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission – and contributed to the financial crisis of 2008. Clinton charged that “her opponent, a champion of all things small, an enemy of all things big, voted for that bill. But you will never hear her say that he is the tool of Wall Street because of that."
Bill Clinton neglected to mention he was the president who signed that bill into law. And before he signed it, his Treasury Secretary and Deputy Treasury Secretary (Bob Rubin and Larry Summers) privately and publicly attacked those who sought to regulate derivatives, including Brooksley Born, then chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

Via FB

[merrily]

1. The real story (short version)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=1156092

[southerncrone]

2. Bill greased the skids for the W admin & cronies to collapse the economy.

Who might Hillary choose as Sec of Treas? What are the odds they're a Wall Street big wig.

[HooptieWagon]

4. They work for the same masters.

[southerncrone]

6. Yep

[Dragonfli]

5. I have an idea on her first choice

He looks good in that picture and ripe for the choice when one considers how close a relationship Hillary has with him.

[southerncrone]

7. Certainly a top contender!

[DUbeornot2be]

8. The likely...

...plan...

...Lloyd Blankfein to void bank fines...

[cui bono]

10. She already tipped her hand on that. Read a quote today, I think it was from this weekend

that said you need someone with financial experience to be Sec of Treasury...

mmkay...

.

[pnwmom]

13. Robert Reich wrote in his book about how, as Labor Secretary,

he successfully pushed Clinton to make passing NAFTA the top priority of his administration -- against the wishes of Hillary, who thought healthcare should be the #1 priority, and that NAFTA would use up too much political capital. After NAFTA was passed, the healthcare plan failed, and Reich acknowledged that Hillary had been right.

So in the long run, I think we should look all the way back to Reich's beloved NAFTA plan for the roots of the collapse of the economy.

[elleng]

3. Right, they made Born's life miserable.

[mikehiggins]

9. That is just insane. Don't they know all this stuff is a matter of record and easily uncovered?

So Bernie is to blame.

Who was President?

Who signed the Bill?

[cui bono]

11. But the lie is easily understood and the explanation of why it is a lie is more complex.

What's that saying about the lie getting out there and the difficulty of the truth getting out, or by the time the truth gets out it's too late.

.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

14. They're running a 20th century campaign....

Back in the days when phones had a dial tone.

[renate]

12. I won't blame Hillary for her husband's actions

She wasn't in office at the time.

But his criticizing Bernie for voting a bill that he himself signed? Blech. I am so over Bill.

[TTUBatfan2008]

15. Bill's words in 1992 campaign...

"Two for the price of one." They were a team and she is quick to take credit for the successes of the Clinton administration. That said, she currently has a bunch of his financial advisers on her campaign advisory team. Incidentally these people were also advisers for the Obama administration. These advisers have corrupt, lousy ideas.

[Chakab]

16. Why not? Wasn't she co-president?

[Depaysement]

17. Best description of Bernie's vote

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-wall-street_us_5617f634e4b0dbb8000e5a58

When Sanders voted for the House version of the CFMA in October 2000, the bill was not yet a total debacle for Wall Street accountability advocates. The legislative text Sanders supported was clearly designed to curtail regulatory oversight. The GOP-authored bill was crafted as a response to a proposal from ex-Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Brooksley Born to ramp up oversight of derivatives. But the version Sanders initially voted for was more benign than the final, Gramm-authored version, and it didn't draw any of the protests that the 1999 repeal of Glass-Steagall did. In October 2000, the bill passed the House by a vote of 377 to 4 (51 members didn't vote), and then sat on the shelf for weeks.

But in December, Gramm -- after coordinating with top Clinton administration officials -- added much harder-edged deregulatory language to the bill, then attached the entire package to a must-pass 11,000-page bill funding the entire federal government. After Gramm's workshopping, the legislation included new language saying the federal government "shall not exercise regulatory authority with respect to, a covered swap agreement offered, entered into, or provided by a bank." That ended all government oversight of derivatives purchased or traded by banks. He also created the so-called "Enron Loophole," which barred federal oversight of energy trading on electronic platforms.

This was an era in which voting against funding the federal government was considered a major governance faux pas. The bill sailed through both chambers of Congress, with few lawmakers even aware of the major new deregulatory changes.

Sanders has since hammered the CFMA, its architects and specific provisions in Senate hearings and on the Senate floor. He helped push through legislation to close the Enron loophole in 2008. He voted against the bank bailouts of 2008, and has cried foul on heavy Wall Street speculation in the derivatives market for oil, saying it needlessly drives up gas prices. He has voted to break up the largest banks, and supports reinstating the Depression-era firewall between conventional lending and risky securities trading.

[Fairgo]

18. Breath taking

But then again, I understood everything I needed to know about this man when he used the power of the presidency to have an underling perform fellatio on him in the oval office. Some forms of sociopathy are rewarded in our culture. Not sure we can survive another two-fer.