Thursday, March 11, 2010

The Headline the New York Times Will Never Write

Financial Regulation Coming, GOP pretends to care, disingenuous throughout negotiations

It won't happen. It will never happen. This is nothing new, but come on! At least state the obvious, the GOP never wanted regulation in the first place. So going on "without the GOP" is the way it was always going to be. If health care reform taught us anything the Baucus process is worthless. Yet the New York Times can't even state that. Want to know why print media is disintegrating before our very eyes? Case in fucking point.

The GOP has been setting this up for the past couple of months. Delay the bill, block the bill, then lambaste its existence as a giveaway.

Sam Stein Huff Post:

In a 17-page memo titled, "The Language of Financial Reform," Luntz urged opponents of reform to frame the final product as filled with bank bailouts, lobbyist loopholes, and additional layers of complicated government bureaucracy.

"If there is one thing we can all agree on, it's that the bad decisions and harmful policies by Washington bureaucrats that in many ways led to the economic crash must never be repeated," Luntz wrote. "This is your critical advantage. Washington's incompetence is the common ground on which you can build support."

Luntz continued: "Ordinarily, calling for a new government program 'to protect consumers' would be extraordinary popular. But these are not ordinary times. The American people are not just saying 'no.' They are saying 'hell no' to more government agencies, more bureaucrats, and more legislation crafted by special interests."

In Republican circles Luntz's words, which have helped the party score win the message wars over health care and other legislative battles, are often treated as gospel. Already, some of the advice he's offered on regulatory reform has found its way into the political discourse -- with a proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency seemingly on life support under Republican objections.

In addition to tying regulatory reform to a massive government takeover, Luntz's memo includes several other data points and messaging suggestions as a blue print for the legislation's defeat. Opponents, he writes, would be well served to link the package to the financial industry bailout (which, it should be noted, is fundamentally not part of the legislation). According to accompanying polling data, 52 percent of voters said they would be "much less likely" to vote for their member of Congress if they voted for a financial reform bill that contained a fund to bail out banks and Wall Street.

"Public outrage about the bailout of banks and Wall Street is a simmering time bomb set to go off on Election Day," Luntz wrote. "Frankly, the single best way to kill any legislation is to link it to the Big Bank Bailout."


Chalk this up to another day of negligible reporting by the NYT. This is how it works. The media will play soggy biscuit with the faux meme for the next couple of weeks that "the GOP was cut out of financial reform and it's the fault of the Black Jimmy Carter along with Chris Dodd who were not bipartisan enough."

Meanwhile the Tax Tea Partiers will stage rallies televised and promoted by Fox News and Freedom Works to decapitate the corporate swine/ Hitlers/ socialist/ gubbament takeover that is financial reform. President John McCain will use his economic expertise to fellashsh about bipartisanship, closed doors and freedom stocks. Then TIME will have an anonymous filled exclusive explaining that financial regulation is the first secret step to nationalizing banks, stocks, and urinal cakes. Chuck Todd will drool over the political football and how this is just another sign of Obama's inability to "fix the broken system." (he will then tweet about it for two days straight).

And while all this goes on, while all the fisting of information is regurgitated by talking heads, pundits and Congress; the gambling sociopaths of Wall St will be sipping martinis made with the melted cash of taxpayers. Laughing, vacationing and enjoying every single minute of the mess they created.

God Bless America.


I am Frank Chow and I approved this message

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