...But it is the banks’ own conduct since the crisis that makes the most compelling case for restructuring. Wall Street has used every resource at its disposal to thwart reform. In the last two years alone, securities and investment firms spent more than $200 million on federal lobbying — on top of hundreds of millions of dollars in campaign contributions — fighting reform in Congress, then at regulatory bodies, and then in the courts if all else fails. Sadly, the banks’ counteroffensive has paid off. As of July 2013, less than 40 percent of the rules required under the Dodd-Frank financial reform law enacted in 2010 had been put in place. Simply stated, the megabanks are too big to fail, too big to manage, too big to regulate and too big for a truly competitive marketplace. In their unrestrained use of their enormous political power to fight change, they have also proven they are too big for a healthy democracy... onlineathens/opinion/2013-09-26/angelides-large-banks-too-big-healthy-democracy
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 02:02:38 +0000