Hopes and Prospects: on Budget & Economy


Charles Schumer: Broke records in contributions from Wall Street

Treasury's Geithner hinted that he would impose some controls on exotic financial instruments, but there has not been much action. Not much help in changing the world of finance could be expected from the Democratic Congress either. Charles Schumer broke records in obtaining contributions from Wall Street, helping the Democrats win Congress and increasing the industry's clout in the capital. He also "helped save financial institutions billions of dollars in higher taxes or fees. He succeeded in limiting efforts to regulate credit-rating agencies, sponsored legislation that cut fees paid by Wall Street firms to finance government oversight, pushed to allow banks to have lower capital reserves & called for the revision of regulations to make corporations' balance sheets more transparent," the last a move to which rational business groups would have no objection. His personal reward was to collect more campaign contributions from the financial industry than anyone in Congress except for John Kerry.
Source: Hopes and Prospects, by Noam Chomsky, p.220-221 Jun 1, 2010

Chris Dodd: Dec. 2009: proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency

In theory, inherent market inefficiencies and perverse incentives could be overcome by efficient regulation. But the same deep-seated tendencies that concentrate wealth and power in private tyrannies reduce the likelihood of such steps. Dodd succumbed to Wall Street pressure & abandoned his financial reform proposal in Dec. 2009. One of its components was a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency intended to "crack down on abusive & risky lending practices that helped fuel last year's financial crisis.
Source: Hopes and Prospects, by Noam Chomsky, p.109 Jun 1, 2010

Noam Chomsky: Banks thrive due to bailouts, while people suffer recession

Scott Brown's senatorial campaign outcome was depicted as a right-wing revolt of an angry population against the excesses of the liberal elitists. The official data showed that Brown was carried to victory by very high voting and enthusiasm in the "affluent suburbs," alongside low turnout and general apathy in the urban areas that are largely Democratic. The outcome can be construed as an uprising against Obama's policies: for the wealthy, he was not doing enough to enrich them further, while for the poorer sectors, he was doing too much to achieve that end.

Doubtless there was some impact of the populist image crafted by the PR machine, but this appears to have had only a secondary role. The popular anger is quite understandable, with the banks thriving thanks to bailouts while the population remains in deep recession. Unemployment is at 10% and in manufacturing industry at the level of Great Depression, with one out of six unemployed, as was reported the day of the Massachusetts election

Source: Hopes and Prospects, by Noam Chomsky, p.230-231 Jun 1, 2010

Timothy Geithner: OpEd: Took no action on exotic financial instruments

Obama appointed for treasury secretary Timothy Geithner. As the economic crisis began to hit, Geithner hinted that he would use the enormous leverage he had as president of the New York Fed to impose some controls on exotic financial instruments, but "there is no evidence that there has been much action."
Source: Hopes and Prospects, by Noam Chomsky, p.220-221 Jun 1, 2010

  • The above quotations are from Hopes and Prospects, by Noam Chomsky.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Budget & Economy.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Noam Chomsky on Budget & Economy.
  • Click here for more quotes by Barack Obama on Budget & Economy.
Candidates and political leaders on Budget & Economy:
2010 Retiring Democratic Senators:
CT:Dodd
DE:Kaufman
IL:Burris
IN:Bayh
ND:Dorgan
WV:Byrd
WV:Goodwin 		<2010 Retiring Republican Senators:
FL:Martinez
FL:LeMieux
KS:Brownback
KY:Bunning
MO:Bond
NH:Gregg
OH:Voinovich
PA:Specter
UT:Bennett 		Newly appointed/elected Senators, 2009-2010:
DE:Kaufman (D)
CO:Bennet (D)
IL:Burris (D)
MA:Brown (R)
NY:Gillibrand (D)
Please consider a donation to OnTheIssues.org!
Click for details -- or send donations to:
1770 Mass Ave. #630, Cambridge MA 02140
E-mail: submit@OnTheIssues.org
(We rely on your support!)

Page last updated: Jul 19, 2011