Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Legislature State Rep. Stewart Demands Accountability for Too-Big-to-Fail Banks
Posted by Jeff Woods on Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 11:49 AM
His bill also bans financial institutions that took TARP bailout funds from contributing to candidates for the Tennessee House and Senate. That seems unconstitutional, but Stewart said: "Large banks should not be able to take bailout funds from the American taxpayer and then turn around and use those funds to prevent those same taxpayers from fully regulating them."
"I think you'll find, as we head into this legislative session, that the too-big-to-fail banks will take this legislation very, very seriously," Stewart said. "Actually, the people of Tennessee have a lot of power over institutions that choose to do business in this state. So while it is definitely true that the Tennessee legislature cannot entirely reform the national banking system, what we can do is tell too-big-to-fail banks, 'if you're going to be doing business in Tennessee and you're going to be subject to the jurisdiction of our courts, you are not going to be able to hide behind complex financial transactions and avoid responsibility for Tennessee citizens for those transactions.' "
One of the state's few politicians who stuck up for the plaza protesters while the governor was trying to evict them, Stewart represents the Socialist Republic of East Nashville, so he can flail away at fat cats without fear of political repercussions. That's the good news for Stewart. The bad news? The Republican-run legislature will shoot down his bill at the first opportunity.
Comments (6)
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Given the Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case, I don't see how Stewart could imagine that a bill prohibiting contributions by TARP-bailed banks would pass constitutional muster.
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I don't think he expects it to pass, I think this:
"The Republican-run legislature will shoot down his bill at the first opportunity.:
is what he's after; to let the GOP demonstrate that their allegiance is to their corporate masters and not the flesh-and-blood citizenry.
Well, I don't much care for stunt-show politics when the Republicans do, so I can't support it from Stewart. I'm more favorable toward the idea of letting people sue the big banks for damages and wish he'd left it at that.
AG Holder has criminally cleared the CEO of Countrywide Mortgage,
which was the biggest crook in the entire business, and is doing nothing
about any of the other major players on Wall St.
Instead this administration is allowing the SEC do their bidding
which can only be Civil Suits and they have no criminal charging authority.
A better effort for Rep. Stewart would be to see why real estate closing
cost in this state is in the top 10 most expensive in the country.
Especially given the average home buyer is probably within the bottom
20 states for income!
If Stewart had watched CNBC during the crisis he would know that Bank of America was pressured by Treasury officials to take the money or face further regulations to inhibit business. Stewart ought to be going after the government that caused the meltdown, not the businesses that implemented the government programs.
If you want an accurate account of the situation try the following:
http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj30n2/cj…
The pages are fairly brief so it's not a slog. Page five is particularly revealing.
