Liberal Free Chat Zone

[basserdan]

A Bad Trade

The economy once ago sank
From abuses at many a bank,
Which Congress attacked
In a really big act
That went by the name of Dodd-Frank.

As Wall Street perceived a montrosity
Of Congressional excess verbosity
That was bound to constrain
Their potential for gain,
They resisted with extra ferocity.

An especially prominent section
That met with the bankers' objection
Expressly forbade
The derivatives trade
From counting on federal protection.

It's a problem the banks have endured
Since young J.P. Morgan matured:
How to keep the return
The good bets may earn,
While the bad are by others insured.

To safeguard their profits from harm
They launched an offensive of charm;
Contributions were made,
And lobbyists paid
To dazzle, dissuade and disarm.

But none of those flacks could compare
To the JPMorgan Chase chair;
His pockets well-lined,
His manner refined
And silver his tongue and his hair.

Mr. Dimon instinctively knows
How to lobby his friends and his foes
To attach what he will
To an omnibus bill
That few can afford to oppose.

A bill to keep government funded
Not many would like to see undid,
So you plant your revision
Where few can envision,
While quietly hoping that none did.

But for some, there was just no ignorin':
Moral hazard, once out, was once more in,
A setback so bitter
That Sen. Vitter
Admitted he felt just like Warrin'.

So once again Congress was played
To help the derivative trade;
The hazard is moral,
But no one would quarrel
That that's how the sausage is made.

- Dr Goose
http://www.limericksecon.com/2014/12/a-bad-trade.html


CONGRESS HITS ROCK BOTTOM
— POLITICO’s Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan: “The last two years were marked by some of the worst moments in recent congressional history: long periods of legislative stalemate, a 16-day government shutdown, threats to default on the nation’s debt, major changes to the Senate’s hallowed rules and an endless series of partisan attacks. When the gavel fell this week, it might have marked the moment when Congress hit rock bottom. … Yet Capitol Hill has a strange way of recalibrating itself. With a new Congress beginning in just a few weeks — including a new Senate GOP majority and the largest number of House Republicans since Herbert Hoover was in the Oval Office — many top lawmakers hope that Congress can start climbing back. …

“House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), first elected to the House in 1981, cautioned that it was important not to confuse the recent burst of congressional action — after two years of inaction — as real progress. ‘The 113th Congress was abysmal, there’s no doubt about its lack of dealing with issues in long term ways’ Hoyer said. ‘We did some short-term things that were needed. Republicans, in both the Senate and House, were in a full shutdown mode. Not necessarily shutting down the government, but shutting down Congress.”
http://politi.co/1Jcmlku