As Frank Zappa would say…
Thursday, 11/12/2009 - 4:06 pm by Robert Johnson | 2 Comments“This is the crux of the biscuit”
From Ryan Grim on HuffPo (”Wall Street Banks Tricking Little Guys Into Lobbying for Them”)”:
Wall Street titans, recognizing that they have something of a credibility problem when it comes to opposing regulatory reform, are enlisting more sympathetic, everyday folks to lobby on their behalf on Capitol Hill.
Bankers, brokers and swaps dealers have been browbeating their clients — farmers, fuel companies, airlines, municipal power companies — who are the “end users” of financial derivatives: Lobby Congress against reform of the derivatives market, the bankers say, or the cost of your derivative deals will skyrocket.
“There are many end users who just don’t understand the issue, so they’re heavily influenced by anybody who does,” said Jim Collura of the New England Fuel Institute.
“Many of these guys are influenced by one or both of the following: It’s either someone from the financial community whom they’ve known or respected. It may be their broker, their financial adviser, their swap dealer, whoever. Or they’re a member of a trade group and they’re getting hammered constantly with: ‘You’re going to be put out of business; you’re not going to be able to hedge; you’re not going to be competitive anymore’ — including some of my members,” Collura said.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) said he sees evidence of the bankers’ influence when end users lobby him. “The end users have been basically used by the major investment banks,” he told HuffPost Tuesday.
Dr. Robert Johnson … I’m a ‘fan’ based on the Bill Moyer’s interview. … I wrote these lyrics which I hope to set to music in a month or so. … in the spirit of carrying the stone. …
.
World in Tatters Blues © F.H.Lindsay-09/06/22 … lyrics
mind over Monday’s …
financial crisis matters.
the broker-dealer, self-regulated wheeler,
free-market cranksters, banksters,
casino ponzi style pranksters
.
democratize those liars loans
no due diligence, non-recourse…
jingle-mail homes.
overvalued, asset backed, ARM’s
commissioned, bonus’d, pooled and packed
what’s wrong with obese to lean …
no in-between
.
Cheered-on, revved-up
bubble-nomics going for bust
invisible hand , head in the sand
borrow borrow , … there’s no tomorrow,
forget the past , shadow masters dash
corporatocracy will pad the crash …
with public cash … imagine that!
.
off balance sheet, under regulated
toxic risk in overdrive to hide
in SIV’s, OTC’s, CDS’s,CDO’s,
a stagnant mess is just redressed
too big to scrutinize
.
speculatively derived, rated fast
worth less but tripled A’d as best
securitized, leveraged, globalized
its the mark to market then to model ride
.
Revved-up, rave-on …
bubble-nomics going for bust
head in the sand,invisible hand ,
there’s no tomorrow, borrow borrow
shadow masters dash, forget the past
corporatocracy will pad the crash
with public cash … Abra..Ca-Daver-ah
.
T.A.R.P., …T.A.L.F., … P.P.I.P.,
… its quite a list … spin-off
bail-out the counter-parties from the under-capitalized,
theirs yesterday, from our sorrows tomorrows …
what’s that you say … they need to borrow.
.
need to greed and always needy
spread the risk to even more off-shore
the given … takes … controls finance political
and … what’s the matter … with
the world in tatters … blues
.
Rave-on, revved-up
bubble-nomics going for bust
invisible hand , head in the sand
borrow borrow , there’s no tomorrow,
forget the past , shadow masters dash
corporatocracy will pad the crash … imagine that!
. …
(music bridge … anchor news voice RealNews or Democracy Now)
. …
see network news & the President’s men, assure us that the system will come together again. … For who … and for what … we have been waiting to be told , but it is very clear, that the boat we’re in now is really being towed. … Is that the horizon or a storm cloud of dust? … Those overly anxious among us say … “ my god it looks like mustard gas stuff. … Our union has been busted & our numbers will die if there’s acid rain too in the mustard gas sky. … I remember the old days, and that car I’ve been wanting to buy … but now I can’t save with my salary being one fourth of the size. … I’m always confused in the midst of this fuss … when the rules keep changing you’ve got no-one to trust. … We’ve been taught to obsess on our one giant ego … consuming on credit and grab as you go … think not of tomorrow … we’ll never grow old … but … the cynic iinside me is growing … or so I’ve been told.
.
Cheered-on, revved-up
bubble-nomics going for bust
invisible hand , head in the sand
there’s no tomorrow, borrow borrow
forget the past , shadow masters dash
corporatocracy will pad the crash
with public cash … imagine that!
……………..
Lyrics for World In Tatters Blues by F.H.Lindsay (thephrase) © July 22, 2009
Posted by F.H.Lindsay | December 14th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Just wrote a comment on your Huffington Post about restimulating the US economy/mind set. Please find below.
Thank you for saying it so well and putting it out there for us neofights.
It was also great to see your comments on OTC instruments. The idea I’d like to get A Team feed back on is however the Idea of installing a quality stock exchange to regulate derivatives/Hedge Funds in order to get a trillion or two return on for the USA directed to paying down our debt until paid.
Huff comment follows:
Not only do we need investment in infrastructure but at this point we must directly invest in domestic industrial capacity in a forward thinking way. The world industrial complex and it’s owners would be revolted but for myself it might mean a living wage job, stability, and maybe a way out of foreclosure. More so we must target others as we are targeted so well as the easy mark. First I’d place on all major trading partners a dynamic tariff based on the ratio of trading imbalances relative to the population/workforce. This is war in the new century as I see it. It might just be a good way out of bad trade agreements with China for instance. We are asked to support/underwrite the insanity of a Jewish, Sunni, and Shia hate and they well want our ass and money as well. These costs should be shared by all major industrial nations more equitably. Finally shocking amounts of our best corporate base have been bought buy foreign entities and the consolidation of residential and commercial real estate is due to the rock bottom dollar as much as anything. The treasury is right to say they believe in and want a strong dollar. To work for a strong Chinese Yuan seems to me a contradiction that works against our best interest. The Fed represents the owners only, the money and they have over hedged the assets to China. Per the definition of treason in the U.S. Constitution I see the lobby efforts of the Fed view working in favor of the foreign sovereign wealth funds/the other side that does not play fair in so many areas.
All the Best,
Tom J. Flaherty
Posted by Tom J. Flaherty | December 31st, 2009 at 1:30 am