Bank control of congress and the White House, pays off big time for Wall Street

The US Senate has more interest in the big pools of money the banks funnel for campaigns through their lobbyists, than for the people who elect them to office.

This was exemplified last night (May 7) when the Senate rejected the single most important element of Wall Street reform, being able to break up the “too big to fail banks” the Senate rejected this provision by a vote of 33 to 61; 27 Democrats joined all but three Republicans to vote against breaking up the banks.

The 61 votes against the measure are votes in favor of Wall Street's continuing stranglehold over our economy. But more importantly it allows business as usual on Wall Street, and without fear of government reprisal. It also guarantees future bail outs when they become necessary. (And they will)

At the same time, the Senate also voted down a $50 billion Wall Street tax that would have been used to fund the cost of shutting down a major failing bank, assuring future taxpayer funding when a “too big to fail” bank again finds itself in trouble.

By rejecting both the break-up bill and the bank tax, Wall Street has emerged as a clear winner and shown what clout and control they have over the US political system and particularly over congress, and the president.

President Obama who strongly opposed both the tax and the break-up measures, hosted J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon for dinner at the White House on Monday. J.P. Morgan is the largest U.S. bank, and spent more money on lobbying in 2009 than any other bank. House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) has aggressively courted Dimon for campaign cash, as has Obama

It seems that money is more important to congress and the president, that the interests of the nation!

The failure of congress to address the banking problems in the US and to protect the interest of the American people over their benefactors, have assured further reckless behavior from these mega financial institutions.

By allowing the megabanks to remain super-sized, Congress has insulated them from the fallout associated with the Fed disclosures, and given them a tool to fight other reforms. Our giant financial institutions are not only too-big-to-fail they are now too-big-to-regulate!

No matter what else Congress may “ultimately” enact, in the name of Bank reform, Congress has decided that it will not confront the single greatest problem and threat to the U.S. economy: the “Too Big To Fail banks”.

If any meaningful legislation is passed it will be a total surprise.

Perhaps the issue of “too big to fail” will ultimately be address by a different forum, the American People themselves who after all have the last word.

Following is a list of Senators, who voted to protect the banks against the interest of the American people, its time to retire each and ever one of them.
Akaka (D-HI);
Alexander (R-TN);
Barrasso (R-WY)
Baucus (D-MT);
Bayh (D-IN);
Bennet (D-CO);
Bond (R-MO);
Brown (R-MA);
Brownback (R-KS);
Burr (R-NC);
Carper (D-DE);
Chambliss (R-GA);
Cochran (R-MS);
Collins (R-ME);
Conrad (D-ND);
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX);
Crapo (R-ID);
Dodd (D-CT);
Enzi (R-WY);
Feinstein (D-CA);
Gillibrand (D-NY);
Graham (R-SC);
Grassley (R-IA);
Gregg (R-NH);
Hagan (D-NC)
Hatch (R-UT);
Hutchison (R-TX);
Inhofe (R-OK);
Inouye (D-HI);
Isakson (R-GA);
Johanns (R-NE)
Johnson (D-SD);
Kerry (D-MA);
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI);
Kyl (R-AZ);
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ);
LeMieux (R-FL);
Lieberman (ID-CT);
McCain (R-AZ);
McCaskill (D-MO);
McConnell (R-KY);
Menendez (D-NJ);
Murkowski (R-AK)
Nelson (D-FL);
Nelson (D-NE);
Reed (D-RI);
Risch (R-ID);
Roberts (R-KS);
Schumer (D-NY);
Sessions (R-AL);
Shaheen (D-NH);
Snowe (R-ME);
Tester (D-MT);
Thune (R-SD);
Udall (D-CO);
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (D-VA);
Wicker (R-MS)

But equally important remember that Obama as well is financially beholden to the mega bank interests.