Three somewhat cumulative items that speak for themselves. Here, here and here. Encountering the first of the items caused a google leading to the confirming pair.
Eric Holder in his Covington and Burling corner office must be laughing and laughing.
RAW?
Ya betcha.
Would you, Joe/Jane Citizen get such fine federal accommodation?
Ya betcha, not.
WE do need Bernie to succeed.
_______________UPDATE________________
For some, whose noses have to be rubbed in it before they can smell it, that protest letter was generated on behalf of the public by three Democrats. Only. Republicans would have happily let it slide. Republicans like that must think the rule change fits their friendships and predilections, and squares with Citizens United, which must mean to them that super persons, Wall Street and BIG BANKING are, what else, special. Brought to you by money in excess in the hands of some, and the two party system being generally compliant, with a few on the outskirts of the system being such whiners ...
Oh, also; where was Tom Emmer? On the House Financial Services Committee, within the majority party bloc. MIA? Big Surprise?
____________FURTHER UPDATE____________
Upon reflection, while brewing and enjoying Thursday morning coffee, the subtleties of the situation have sunk in, allowing what is hoped to be a more adult outlook, and one more future oriented.
Turning to history for an analogy, as best understood with it not being a major field of study, Luther's key objection to the ways and means of the Roman Church was sale of indulgences.
Regulation should be regulation, not sale of indulgences, but theory and practice can diverge.
First, there is the revolving door with Citizen Holder being current poster child. Then there is Covington and Burling. Their game is to sell advice, i.e., to get a piece of the action, up front.
The regulators have degenerated to something like The Godfather; finding some of the mob families have uncovered a good thing, and taking a piece of the action. The Covington firm and its big DC and New York kin specialize in telling the regulators the equivalent of, "We know litigation. We can make your lives hell, making you work harder for your paychecks with less time for coffee breaks and eBay surfing at the job, if you do not play the game as it has come to be scripted." Like the nobility expecting to be sold indulgeces, as/when needed/wanted.
They, the Covingtons, can be litigation pests much like adult versions of Larry Klayman.
So, regulators discover (or are handed on a silver platter) proof of wrongdoing. The protocol at that point becomes, not punishment and people hauled off in handcuffs, but instead wording of the indulgence to be issued.
Sin no more is part of any text, expected boilerplate, and negotiation is over the cut of the take.
Rather than directly taxing, (a/k/a tithing), the income stream for the government is supplemented by an intermittent but reasonably regular stream of income from sale of indulgences, with boilerplate tuned to specific transgression facts, and to include the negotiated, after-the-fact and after-the-uncovering negotiated, price per each specific indulgence.
Spitzer while New York AG perfected the indulgences approach.
Nobody goes to hell (a/k/a jail), there is no public admission of wrongdoing but as part of the confessional between miscreant financial institution and regulator, there are words of absolution, spoken in private along with the "Sin no more," add-on.
Everyone is happy. "Sin no more" is respected by banking magnates as much as the nobility respected it in buying indulgences from the Roman Church during Luther's lifetime.
In the specific instance atop the post, the capitulation in wording a form to indulge past wrongdoing, what option was there? Too Big To Fail, becomes Too Big To Regulate, in practice. Insinuate regulatory agencies into taking a Godfather piece of the action and move on. If the Too Bigs were to be closed from FHA guaranteed loans, wannabe homeowners - the peasantry = would bear the brunt of any imposition upon the miscreant aristocrats. The Too Bigs would simply move their wars to a different stage than fleecing the peasantry, that particular way. They have, after all, a multitude of ways, and means.
So - what about Mr. Emmer Goes to Washington?
As a first cut at the question, we all in CD6 hope for better than the predecessor - collecting a pay check and carrying a bullhorn. Already Emmer shines, in having eschewed the bullhorn. Give credit for that where it is due.
Now, being, as with the predecessor, on the House Financial Services Committee, what in theory and practice we should want of Mr. Emmer is to be the Martin Luther of a big-time long-overdue Reformation. Not much. Only that.
And with Stanley Hubbard - media mogul Stanley Hubbard - in tow, he'd have a voice if only he'd use it. What else? Well there are people right here in Ramsey who have staffed Emmer past campaigns and had the man into their home during the primary between Mr. Emmer and Ms. Sivarajah (and the nonentity Tax Payer Leaguer, what's-his-name), where guests were invited and Mr. Emmer allowed a sales pitch to the assembled faithful. Okay, I'd at least want those people, who have a voice (a/k/a access) to voice concern over the need of a Reformation; to be critical of the practice of regulatory agency sales of indulgences. Nuances do exist, but basically some in Ramsey have gone on record as having been for a time in Chicago, and during that stint being appalled (shocked, SHOCKED) by wrongdoing in Chicago politics. Those are the ones who can effectively prod Mr. Emmer to eschew lethargy and to move to being the GOP's Martin Luther of the House Financial Services Committee. Brown, Warren, and Waters wrote the letter, so a GOP Martin Luther is needed to join the fray, to make it real.
If those with access to Emmer would push a little, and if Emmer would listen and want to fight, (something you do playing hockey), then we might see fairness and light. To a degree, since we must be realists. Also, the Reformation came with its share of bloodletting throughout Europe, so the changes would be feisty, but aside from that, the need is real. The challenge is there, and I expect if the will is there people have the tools and mind power to effect positive results.
We wait. We see.
