By Mr. Curmudgeon
For Democrats Rep. Barney Frank and Sen. Christopher Dodd, financial reform means never having to say you’re sorry. And since government by its nature is incapable of competence, the next best thing is to hide its incompetence…and corruption.
Our current economic depression, caused by big government Federal Reserve low interest rates (meant to boost housing prices) and big-government sub-prime lending, was supposed to be addressed by the recently enacted “financial reform” legislation signed into law by President Obama. There is just one hitch to the new law, Frank and Dodd snuck in a provision that exempts the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from having to answer Freedom of Information Act requests.
Their thinking goes: If idiot voters can’t see how lousy big government is at regulating anything more complicated than the temperature in the House and Senate chambers, we can keep feeding said idiots the line that big government solutions can cure big government disasters.
According to an SEC statement, “Because registrants insist on confidential treatment of their documents, this new provision also removes an opportunity for brokers, investment advisers and other registrants to refuse to cooperate with our examination document requests.”
In other words, regulating Wall Street chicanery can only succeed outside the sunshine of public scrutiny.
Remember Countrywide? They’re the sub-prime lender that established a special unit to provide “Friends of Angelo” (Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozillo) special low interest loans designed to keep our public-spirited big-government regulators from looking too deeply into the sub-prime Ponzi scheme.
According to CBS News, then Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson got sweetheart loans totaling $10 million. Other recipients of Countrywide payoffs included Fannie Mae’s Vice Chairman Jamie Gorelick (a Clinton appointee). In all, Countrywide purchased 42 officials at Fannie Mae.
According to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, “With Countrywide-originated loans serving as fuel and Government-Sponsored Enterprises (“GSEs”) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac acting as a furnace, the alliance of companies created an enormous fire that eventually consumed the American economy. Many of the people in positions to reform the GSEs and extinguish the flames before the danger spread were receiving perquisites from a VIP loan program…two Senators with legislative jurisdiction over the issues at heart of the emerging financial crisis – Christopher Dodd and Kent Conrad.”
Countrywide’s refinancing of Dodd’s Connecticut and Washington, D.C., homes saved the Senator $75,000.
The disclosure rendered Dodd’s re-election prospects zero. So he opted for ignominious early retirement rather than face voter wrath. But as a parting gift to all Congress men and women that choose to follow in his corrupt footsteps, Dodd made sure nosy media (read Fox News) won’t have the tools to shine light on our big-government “protectors.”
Because, as Christopher Dodd can tell you, there’s too much easy “protection” money to be had.
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