The recent efforts from Citi and the banking establishment to repeal key provisions of the Dodd- Frank reform bill and the furor it is causing may have some positive effect. The public is getting more insight into how the Too Big To Fail banks are writing the rules. According to Scott Burns, Dallas Morning news columnist, “The passage of the Omnibus spending bill guaranteed hyperinflation for the cost of political influence. It also guaranteed the end of Abraham Lincoln’s ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people”.
Burns comments, that “we now have a government of the lobbies, by the lobbies and for the lobbies, a government funded by the entities with the biggest checkbooks. Citigroup has written a bill that erodes our very foundations. In 2014, Citigroups political action committee contributed $804,000 to congressional campaigns. 34 of the 57 Democrats who voted for this recent bill had received money from their PAC at some point since 2010”. These changes allow for political contributions that could be ten times larger.
In a recent post I talked about Senator Elizabeth Warren, D- Mass, and what she terms the “Wall Street Giveaway”. Warren stated, “This Congress can’t be here to say what we can do to improve the profitability of half a dozen of large institutions and shove all the risk off to the American people again”. “This Congress has to stand for a little more safety and security in our financial system”. She’s right and it took this long for voices like hers to start speaking up!
I applaud her and others in Congress who are saying enough is enough and only wish the voice could be even louder and more vehement. Citigroup’s subversion is getting pushback and it’s about time. The Omnibus as written by Citi and their coterie of Too Big To Fail banks poses a grave danger to our economy and our democracy.
The rider will support even more lobbying; increasing the amount of money individuals can contribute to national party committees from a current $97.000 a year to over $777,000. While some think raising the cap for donations to parties will help tilt power back to the parties themselves and away from the super PACs, others are extremely leery. Campaign finance reform advocate, Fred Wertheimer says,” If this passes it will be the most corrupting campaign finance provisions ever enacted”.
I applaud her and others in Congress who are saying enough is enough and only wish the voice could be even louder and more vehement. Citigroup’s subversion is getting pushback and it’s about time. The Omnibus as written by Citi poses a grave danger to our economy and our democracy.
Richard Bowen is widely known as the Citigroup whistleblower. As Business Chief Underwriter for Citigroup during the housing bubble financial crisis meltdown, he repeatedly warned Citi executive management and the board about fraudulent behavior within the organization. The company certified poor mortgages as quality mortgages and sold them to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other investors.
