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BernieforPres2016

(3,017 posts)
16. Bob Rubin is the personification of the Wall Street/government revolving door
Sun Feb 28, 2016, 06:01 PM
Feb 2016

He goes from Goldman Sachs to Treasury Secretary, where he blows up regulation of Wall Street, then on to Citibank where he gets a $20 million per year position with no management responsibility or accountability. That was a condition of him taking the job at Citi. He basically used his political connections for Citi's benefit and advised management at Citi to ramp up risk.

And even after Citi and Wall Street blew up, Rubin's inner circle still dominates the Treasury Department under Obama and no doubt would in a Hillary Clinton administration.

http://www.americanbanker.com/news/law-regulation/the-long-shadow-of-robert-rubin-1071601-1.html

Clinton administration officials, for example, pushed for the passage of the Gramm-Leach-Blilely Act, which repealed a Depression-era provision separating commercial banking from more risky activities and codified the merger that led to megabank Citigroup.

"Bob Rubin and his administration blessed the universal banking model and embraced it and said, ‘make that happen,'" said Wilmarth.

Critics, including Warren, see this as a crucial moment, one that allowed the biggest institutions to become even larger and more complex, eventually forcing the government to bail them out. (Warren has co-authored a bill to undo Gramm-Leach-Bliley and bring back the old Glass-Steagall Act restrictions.)

Adding fuel to the fire, Rubin decamped from Treasury in 1999, shortly after the passage of Gramm-Leach-Bliley, to join Citigroup, which at the time was the principal benefactor from the law. He has become Exhibit A when progressives talk about the "revolving door" between banks and Washington.

In a speech on Tuesday to advocacy groups, Warren cited Rubin by name, noting that three of the last four Treasury secretaries under Democratic presidents, "starting with Robert Rubin," have been affiliated with Citigroup either before or after their service.

There it is. Gregorian Feb 2016 #1
Yes thae are the new republicans Ferd Berfel Feb 2016 #14
"A center of cynicism and opportunism and really quite reckless." And that's putting it politely. Karmadillo Feb 2016 #2
Every word true! K&R Carolina Feb 2016 #3
She is a foul shape-shifter...Her only constant is her mendacity. AzDar Feb 2016 #4
Perfect description. CharlotteVale Feb 2016 #11
Well, if a radio pundit says so... brooklynite Feb 2016 #5
I remember Robert Scheer from his Ramparts days and his run for congress. K&R Tierra_y_Libertad Feb 2016 #6
kicked and rec'd Vote2016 Feb 2016 #7
They really did harm so many hungry kids, to this day. & Rubin...criminy. What a nightmare. RiverLover Feb 2016 #8
you have to go back to the history and see who else starved those kids. Jitter65 Feb 2016 #10
Bob Rubin is the personification of the Wall Street/government revolving door BernieforPres2016 Feb 2016 #16
but Amy and Robert aren't pop stars olddots Feb 2016 #9
Or, models/actresses like Emily Ratajkowski. grossproffit Feb 2016 #12
I feel exactly the same way. CharlotteVale Feb 2016 #13
He has many, many millions of Dems who say the same thing amborin Feb 2016 #15
Robert Scheer is TOPS. Telling truth about Bush & Iraq got him fired from LA Times. Octafish Feb 2016 #17
I didn't know that background, Octafish. Thanks. RiverLover Feb 2016 #18
Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe Feb 2016 #19
Okay Scheer has passed from PITA to lovable curmudgeon. ucrdem Feb 2016 #20
Robert Scheer is great. K&R. nt. polly7 Feb 2016 #21
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