Economy

Financial Industry Front Group "Stop Too Big To Fail" Runs New Ads

by Anne Landman — May 5, 2010 - 2:25pm

Sam ZamarripaInvestment banker Sam Zamarripa, spokesman for the financial industry's front group "Stop Too Big To Fail" (STBTF) announced that his group is

Main Source: 
EarthTimes, May 5, 2010

Critical Week for Financial Reform!

by Mary Bottari — May 5, 2010 - 11:24am
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • The financial reform bill is now on the Senate floor. The bad news is that Senate leadership has not yet decided if critical amendments will see a vote. For instance, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) and Ted Kaufman (D-Delaware) have not been assured of a vote on their amendment to cap the size of "too big to fail" banks. Is this a democracy or a dictatorship? Senators should be allowed a debate on their measures followed by a vote. Send a message to Congress at BanksterUSA.org. Also Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) has not yet seen a vote yet on his simple amendment to audit the Federal Reserve. If you have not taken action yet, send a letter to the Senate by clicking here.

    Blanche Lincoln Rambos Wall Street

    by Mary Bottari — May 2, 2010 - 8:37am
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • The financial services reform bill is on the Senate floor this week. The recently announced criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs, the bumbling testimony of Goldman's Fab" and the rocking Wall Street protest last Thursday show that momentum is with reformers.

    This bill could codify the "doom loop" of a "boom and bail" economy, or it could set us on the path to a more sustainable future. The good news is that a group of Senators has stepped forward to champion a critical set of issues worth getting excited about. Send a message to your Senator in support of these "too big to fail" amendments at BanksterUSA.org

    Big Bank Front Group Ad Tries to "Swift Boat" Financial Reform

    by Anne Landman — April 30, 2010 - 4:33pm

    A financial industry front group with the deceptive name "Stop Too Big To Fail" (STBTF) is running a new TV ad in Virginia, Missouri and Nevada that tries to trick voters into opposing financial reform by claiming the bill before the Senate institutionalizes taxpayer-funded, big-bank bailouts.

    Main Source: 
    Huffington Post, April 28, 2010

    Showtime for Bank Reform in the Senate

    by Mary Bottari — April 28, 2010 - 11:03am
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • Sign the petition at BanksterUSA.

    A financial services reform bill passed the House in December. Now the action moves to the Senate. The Republicans (and one Democrat) are currently obstructing a vote to debate the bill, but few think their resistance will last in the face of public outrage about bailouts, bonuses and other Bankster shenanigans.

    Will the Fabulous Fab Push the Bank Reform Bill Over the Top?

    by Mary Bottari — April 28, 2010 - 10:04am
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • On Monday night, Senate Republicans lined up like lemurs and voted “no” on a motion to bring the Senate bank reform bill to the floor for a debate. Forty Republicans and one Democrat, Senator Ben Nelson (D-Kansas), stood shoulder to shoulder with 1,500 bank lobbyists and said “no” to Wall Street financial reform. (Evidently, Nelson was displeased that his friend Warren Buffett did not get special treatment in the bill.)

    Before gloom sets in, it is worth noting that on Tuesday, all eyes will be on the “Fabulous Fab,” the Goldman Sachs trader at the heart of the SEC’s recent charges against the firm. Some of us are rooting for the Fab, hoping that his testimony will put financial reform back on the floor and put us on the path to reform.

    Larry Summers: “Mistakes Were Made,” But Not By Me

    by Mary Bottari — April 27, 2010 - 11:30am
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Economy, U.S. Government

    • President Obama's chief economic adviser, Larry Summers, was interviewed on PBS late last week about the state of play on financial reform. In an odd, shifty-eyed discussion, Summers admits "mistakes were made," but none by him.

    Anti-Reform Front Group Wears a Populist Mask

    by Anne Landman — April 22, 2010 - 2:45pm

    A corporate front group with the populist-sounding name "Stop Too Big To Fail" (STBTF) is running a $1.6 million TV advertising campaign designed to appeal to liberal/progressives and get them to advocate against

    Main Source: 
    TPMMuckracker, April 21, 2010

    The SEC vs. Goldman: The Kitty has Claws

    by Mary Bottari — April 20, 2010 - 9:13pm
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Economy, Real Economy Project

    • Last week’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) action against Goldman Sachs landed like a bombshell on Wall Street. To the titans of Wall Street it must have seemed like the nice little kitty they had been stroking and cuddling over the years, viciously sank in teeth and claws.

    The SEC has faced intense criticism from the public and media regarding the way it loosened leveraging rules, a key cause of the implosion of major investment banks and the meltdown as a whole. The SEC also took a pounding over its handling of the Bernie Madoff fiasco. SEC officials chose to ignore explicit warnings from whistleblowers that Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme. The SEC also mishandled its first major case related to the crisis, being roundly scolded by a federal judge for not being tough enough on Bank of America’s secret bonus and salary deal with Merrill Lynch.

    Goldman Accused of Cutting the Brakes

    by Mary Bottari — April 19, 2010 - 6:07am
  • Topics: Banking, BanksterUSA, Corporations, Economy, Politics, Real Economy Project

    • One of the most salient analogies of the financial meltdown was offered by Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission chair Phil Angelides when he grilled Goldman Sachs CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, over the firm’s unsavory proprietary trading. Angelides was questioning Goldman’s practice of minting toxic, mortgage-backed securities and badgering credit-rating companies for the highest rating for those securities, while betting in the market that those securities would later fail.

    Angelides likened this business practice to “selling someone a car with faulty brakes and then taking out an insurance policy on the driver.” With Friday’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing of civil fraud charges against Goldman Sachs, we learned more about those faulty vehicles. We learned that Goldman had cut the brakes.

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