New Treasury Department Plan: "Rehashed Industry Wish-List"
US PIRG's Ed Mierzwinski thinks the Treasury Department's recently announced plan for reforming financial regulation,
...may include some good ideas, but it is largely a re-hashed, unsubstantiated industry wish-list that seeks to eliminate state enforcement authority over insurance, securities and other financial products, without even guaranteeing strong consumer protection at the federal level.I gotta say, when I first read about Henry Paulson's plan, it sounded like they said, hey, we've got this pile of proposals here, let's go down to Kinkos, use their binding machine, and call it a day.
Statement: Treasury regulatory proposal-- a Wall Street home run and a Main Street strike out [U.S. PIRG Consumer Blog]
PREVIOUSLY: Treasury Secretary Calls For Supercharged Fed, Streamlined Regulatory System
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But the Republicans did such a swell job of Katrina. Maybe for 2008, they'll use, "Yesterday: Louisiana. Tomorrow: the entire country!"
Besides, it's not as thought the Founding Fathers afforded any role for individual states, or were against a unitary King (err, "Executive") or nothin'...
Having more centralized regulation is a good theory, but doesn't work as well in practice. The problem is that some administrations (not naming names) have trouble regulating anything. They also have a tendency to politize everything (food safety, clean air, criminal prosecutions, etc.) That failure to regulate contributed to the mess we're in. So if we can have a regulatory body that is truly independent (or close as we can get), considers long term, and also considers consumers in addition to big business, it would be worth considering for some of the efficiences we might get.
We need another Eliot Spitzer, minus the whores.
In the months before a lame-duck administration limps out of office, it's not unusual to see a flurry of nebulous activity as its prime benefactors squeeze in their special-interest wish lists.
The process isn't new, this happens at the end of every presidency, although we should watch carefully what exactly is being proposed. The devils are in the details.
What's sad is that it seems in the media that this is being sold as a solution to the abuses that led to the current economic crisis, and in reality it will probably just take care of a very few specific ones and open the doors to far more.
@smoothtom: Why is it that Spitzer is forced to resign for a hooker, but Craig can blow men in an airport bathroom and stay in congress? Oh ya, and surprise surprise they used the Patriot Act to catch him.... good for you boys, you nabbed another horny democrat... But god forbid they go after a douche like "Tubes" Stevens of Alaska for actual bribery and corruption charges.
This action is yet ANOTHER example of why republicans shouldn't be allowed to run the country. Reagan f'ed up the banking and airline industries, which is why they are the way they are today, and this continues down that moronic trail.
Good to see that the PIRG agrees with our point of view.