Tag: too big to fail

Whatever Time said about the liberalish new pope or Glenn Greenwald tells us about Edward Snowden's NSA revelations, the most important story of the...

WASHINGTON-- Monday evening, Republicans in the U.S. Senate voted against Sen. Chris Dodd's American Financial Stability Act, which seeks to reform regulation of the financial sector. It was only one round. There are many to come. Democrats only need one crossover to move the bill forward and the GOP line on the bill has already evolved, as Republican spin artist Frank Luntz's "bank bailout" false talking point has failed to winover Americans, who overwhelmingly back reform. Bonus-loving Goldman Sachs has run out of sympathy on struggling Main Street.

DENVER-- Roughly 200 people gathered in front of the Wells Fargo "Cash Register" building downtown here Wednesday to protest "too big to fail" banks in general and Wells Fargo in particular-- financial institutions that outrageously mismanaged depositor savings and fueled the global economic crisis last year. The banks received taxpayer bailout funds to the tune of $700 billion, which they used at first to stay afloat but ultimately to increase profits and even lobby lawmakers to vote against consumer protections. Protesters took turns withdrawing their Wells Fargo savings.

WASHINGTON-- Appearing before a House panel on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner made his best pitch for legislation granting the White House broad new powers to seize Wall Street firms when their collapse might torpedo others in the industry. It didn’t go so well.