It is perhaps the epitome of ironic that the Republican candidate for President in 2016 is considered to be the anti-big bank choice while more and more it is appearing that the Democratic nominees are completely in the financial industry’s corner.
Over the past four days Donald Trump spoke often about re-instituting the safeguards that once limited banks from their casino speculation, and even hinted at the need to return to a gold standard. But for the Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, not only is it well established that she bought and paid for by the banks, it appears also that her top choice for Vice President is as well.
Sounding another alarm for progressives wary of the Democratic establishment’s support for Wall Street, the man said to be leading the pack of potential Hillary Clinton running mates—Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine—has just this week sent a clear message to big banks: He’s in their corner.
Kaine, who is reportedly Bill Clinton’s favorite for the vice presidential slot, signed onto two letters on Monday pushing for financial deregulation—letters that show the Clinton camp “how Kaine could be an asset with banking interests on the fundraising trail,”according to David Dayen at The Intercept.
The first missive, signed by 16 Democrats and every Republican senator, calls on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to exempt community banks and credit unions from certain regulations.
As Dayen explains:
While this seems benign, tailoring rules that exempt large classes of financial institutions leaves consumers vulnerable to deceptive practices. A rule of this type could allow community banks and credit unions to sell high-risk mortgages or personal loans without the disclosure and ability to pay rules in place across the industry.
The second letter (pdf) deals with even bigger regional institutions, as it is aimed at helping “major firms including Capital One, PNC Bank and U.S. Bank, all of which control hundreds of billions of dollars in assets,” according to the Huffington Post.
Signed by Kaine and three other Democratic senators—Mark Warner (Va.), Gary Peters (Mich.), and Bob Casey (Pa.)—the letter to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation chair Martin Gruenberg “argues that it is unfair for these large banks to be required to calculate and report their liquidity―a critical measure of risk―on a daily basis,” HuffPo‘s Zach Carter continues. - Common Dreams
The 2016 Presidential campaign is in large part about turning away from the Bush and Obama years of not only appeasing the banks, but also ensuring they were bailed out at every measure from their speculative betting that nearly brought down the entire financial system. And starting with the Occupy Wall Street movement, and evolving to the stage of the Trump and Sanders phenomenon, it is Hillary Clinton who is proving to be the only candidate for the banking establishment to ensure that the status quo of government bailouts and central bank cheap money remains as is no matter the dire outcome this will create for America and her people.
Kenneth Schortgen Jr is a writer for Secretsofthefed.com,Roguemoney.net, and To the Death Media, and hosts the popular web blog, The Daily Economist. Ken can also be heard Wednesday afternoons giving an weekly economic report on the Angel Clark radio show.