Obama to junk thrifts office

As part of “improving” fiscal regulation, the Obama Administration plans to get rid of the Office of Thrift Supervision and eliminate the federal charter under which savings and loans operate.

What’s being touted? Not regulatory tightness, by The One, in a clear neolib manifesto:

“There is going to be streamlining, consolidation ... so that you don’t find people falling through the gaps,” President Barack Obama told reporters earlier on Tuesday.

“Whether it’s on the consumer protection side, the investor protection side, the systemic risks ... It’s going to be a much more effectively integrated system than previously,” he said.

“Streamlining” and “effective.” Nice neolib codewords for “regulation will be less, er onerous for the folks who give money to neoliberal Democrats like me.”

And, Reuters gets in on the act, talking about “regulatory overhaul” rather than re-regulation. It also grants somebody from Team Obama (Summers?) anonymity, without the catch phrase of “not authorized to speak” or the Beltway code words of how high in the administration this anonymous person is.

Be. Very. Wary.

Of course, this plan has to be approved by Congress. But, half of Democrats approved Summers’ junking of Glass-Steagall a decade ago with Gramm-Leach-Bliley.