Populists Press Democrats to Ease Clinton-Era Embrace of Bankers
When populist Democrats such as Senator Elizabeth Warren complain about the consequences of Wall Street influence on government policy, here’s what they mean:
Since the March 2009 depths of the credit crisis, the KBW Bank stock index, which includes the nation’s largest financial companies, has gained 297 percent. During that same period, workers’ inflation-adjusted average hourly earnings have actually fallen.
Warren’s anti-bank revolt -- which almost derailed a government spending bill and may yet cost investment banker Antonio Weiss a top Treasury Department job -- signals a widening split among Democrats over economic policy.
“We’re seeing the same sort of division in the Democratic Party now that we saw throughout the 1980s,” said Stuart Rothenberg, a political analyst. “Between the Clinton pragmatists and the ‘true believers.’”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-19/populists-press-democrats-to-ease-clinton-era-embrace-of-bankers.html
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Volcker ... was Chairman of the Federal Reserve under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan from August 1979 to August 1987. He is widely credited with ending the high levels of inflation seen in the United States during the 1970s and early 1980s. He was the chairman of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board under President Barack Obama from February 2009 until January 2011.....
Volcker was an economic advisor to President Barack Obama, heading the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. During the financial crisis, Volcker has been extremely critical of banks, saying that their response to the financial crisis has been inadequate, and that more regulation of banks is called for. Specifically, Volcker has called for a break-up of the nation's largest banks, prohibiting deposit-taking institutions from engaging in riskier activities such as proprietary trading, private equity, and hedge fund investments.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Volcker
Volcker was so good thar after he became Fed Chairman and began to bring the inflation of the 70's under control, Reagan re-appointed him. Obama sought and heeded his advise during the financial crisis through 2011, appointing him to head the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
Unfortunately, Volcker's advice to break up the largest banks has not been heeded, and restrictions on risky banking activities are now being reversed (risks which have and likely will result in future bailouts paid for again by the 99%).
Volcker left the board when its charter expired on February 6, 2011, without being included in discussions on how the board would be reconstituted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Volcker
Volcker is not alone: Former CitiBank CEO Sandy Weil agrees:
If Teddy Roosevelt were around, there's no doubt he would heed Paul Volcker's advice and break up the big banks as quickly as he broke up the big trusts, rather that water down Volcker's advice (as was done with the Volcker rule, while ignoring his advice to break up the big banks) and then start reversing the restrictions on reckless banking practices that caused the meltdown (as is now occurring).
Elizabeth Warren are Bernie Sanders are the Teddy Roosevelts of our day.
Outside the beltway, Americans across the political spectrum are yearning for leaders with the intestinal fortitude to take on the big banks.
This is an issue that is not only right, but a political winner, once one gets past the shortsighted benefit of tainted political contributions from the big banks.
If HRC is serious about uniting Americans, she would be well advised to unequivocally align herself with the American people (and with her supporter Sen. Warren), hire Paul Volcker as economic adviser, and pledge to take Volcker's advice and break up the big banks.
