Durkin: Bankers "Own" Congress - New England Patriots Forums

***Leave No Doubt*** · 06-08-2009, 12:12 PM

Not news to most people but it's news that someone in power finally said it:
Top Senate Democrat: bankers "own" the U.S. Congress - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

Quote:

Sen. Dick Durbin, on a local Chicago radio station this week, blurted out an obvious truth about Congress that, despite being blindingly obvious, is rarely spoken: "And the banks -- hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created -- are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place." The blunt acknowledgment that the same banks that caused the financial crisis "own" the U.S. Congress -- according to one of that institution's most powerful members -- demonstrates just how extreme this institutional corruption is.

One example:

Quote:

Former Barney Frank staffer now top Goldman Sachs lobbyist

Goldman Sachs' new top lobbyist was recently the top staffer to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., on the House Financial Services Committee chaired by Frank.
Michael Paese, a registered lobbyist for the Securities Industries and Financial Markets Association since he left Frank's committee in September, will join Goldman as director of government affairs, a role held last year by former Tom Daschle intimate, Mark Patterson, now the chief of staff at the Treasury Department. This is not Paese's first swing through the Wall Street-Congress revolving door: he previously worked at JP Morgan and Mercantile Bankshares, and in between served as senior minority counsel at the Financial Services Committee.

Quote:

So: Paese went from Chairman Frank's office to be the top lobbyist at Goldman, and shortly before that, Goldman dispatched Paese's predecessor, close Tom Daschle associate Mark Patterson, to be Chief of Staff to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, himself a protege of former Goldman CEO Robert Rubin and a virtually wholly owned subsidiary of the banking industry.

A meaty read...
Top Senate Democrat: bankers "own" the U.S. Congress - Glenn Greenwald - Salon.com

Sen Bayh says:

Quote:

There's been a tendency on the part of some who are advocates for the legislation to overestimate the number of votes in favor," said Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.). "When I was actively involved at the moment it broke down it was my impression there were no Republicans who were willing to support it and at least a few Democrats have stated openly on the record that they were in opposition. How you get to 60 with those numbers is a mathematical problem."

Dick Durbin: Banks "Frankly Own The Place"

***maverick4*** · 06-08-2009, 01:21 PM

Lobbyists, of all forms, are the big problem, not just lobbyists for banks.

This government does not act for the people. It acts for those who pay up through lobbyists, and so works for those with money, whether it be weapons companies, banks, pharma companies, or AIPAC.

Holy Diver · 06-08-2009, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maverick4

Lobbyists, of all forms, are the big problem, not just lobbyists for banks.

This government does not act for the people. It acts for those who pay up through lobbyists, and so works for those with money, whether it be weapons companies, banks, pharma companies, or AIPAC.

AGREED!

Its funny how corporate interests pervert the constitution's right to petition the government as lobbiests.

I think its time we end corporations, and special interests using the constitution to act like americans.

Companies are NOT people, and thus not protected under the constitution.

while we are at it, we need term limits for congress, and a nationaly funded election cycle that lasts 1 month long. thus elimination the need for congress to be thinking about re-election and how they will fund it.

***Leave No Doubt*** · 06-08-2009, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maverick4

Lobbyists, of all forms, are the big problem, not just lobbyists for banks.

Of course but what's a bit different here is that Team Obama happens to be full of bankers, in fact one could say the amount of bankers and Wall Streeters in this administration is almost unprecedented.

This fact makes these Senators' claims all the more pertinent.

***Harry Boy*** · 06-08-2009, 02:50 PM

Scumsucking Swine

Keep Your Daughters Away From Filthy Politician Pig Dogs