SocraticGadfly: Bipartisan hypocrites pop out of the Immunity 2.0 woodwoork

September 22, 2008

Bipartisan hypocrites pop out of the Immunity 2.0 woodwoork

At least some of them are arising like Punxsatawny Phil to see if they cast a shadow from the past, or can now don the mantle of reform:
"We're going to demand, as a coequal branch of government, accountability," Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, told reporters.

This is the same Chris Dodd who was a Senate cosponsor of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America-promised “tort reform” legislation. Thanks to people like Dodd, this was one of only two Clinton vetoes to be overridden; you can’t even blame this bit of “neoliberalism” on the Slickster!

Meanwhile, here’s his GOP counterpart, Richard Shelby:
Shelby, ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, blamed “greed and lack of regulatory oversight” for the financial mess.

Also appearing on “Face the Nation,” Shelby predicted there would be more such problems unless there is “tough regulatory reform in the next Congress.”

Point me to one bill, or even one amendment, you’ve sponsored or been a primary cosponsor on, that has been about tighter financial regulation, Sen. John McCain Jr.

And, Greider is well worth a read:
The United States is ill equipped to deal with it smartly, not to mention wisely. We have a brain-dead lame duck in the White House. The two presidential candidates are trapped by events, trying to say something relevant without getting blamed for the disaster.

Meanwhile, though I’m not in the same political world as Mish, he’s been on top of the whole subprime issue for three years or more, and I agree with him on Barney Frank.

There’s no easy way to do a home mortgage bailout on this, or as a standalone.

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