Barney Frank Schools BS Surrogate Robert Reich on All In

[stopbush]

Did you catch Barney Frank's EPIC take down of BS surrogate Robert Reich's talking points on last night's Chris Hayes show? It was magnificent, especially as Hayes let the debate go on over a planned break.

In essence, Frank explained to the audience - and Reich - that contrary to what one may think from Sanders' class warfare rhetoric, "too big to fail" has nothing at all to do with a bank being too wealthy, ie: having too many ASSETS. It has to do with the banks carrying too much HIGHLY LEVERAGED DEBT, which puts them into being insolvent, which led to the government bailout to keep some of them from going under.

Barney pointed out that under Dodd/Frank, banks must now be much more highly capitalized, that certain kinds of strategies are no longer legal and that any bank that hits the point of being close to insolvency can now be taken over by the Feds and shut down.

Not only did Barney destroy the entire "they're too rich" bull, he stipulated that if you wanted to say that banks could only be so wealthy, that you needed to say what that ceiling was. Is it $50b, $100b, $500b? Reich couldn't answer. His economic premise demolished, Reich tried unsuccessfully to change the subject, saying the question was political as much as economic. But Barney had an answer for that BS as well, saying that when he was working on Dodd/Frank, the biggest resistance to the new regulations came not from the big financial institutions, but from the small community banks that have local congressmen beholden to them. Pretty much destroyed the idea that the big banks were the ones controlling the political process back then.

I couldn't find a link on Youtube, but if anyone can find a link to embed in is thread, that would be great. Must-see TV!

[Fla Dem]

1. Here's the link

http://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/can-sanders-plan-to-break-up-the-banks-work-660514883919

[stopbush]

5. Thanks!

[livetohike]

2. I love Barney Frank - his intelligence and his wit.

Not too many people can match him when he talks about this .

[pandr32]

3. I hope to see the link

[pandr32]

4. Just saw it posted above!

[liberal N proud]

6. That is about has simple as I have heard Dodd/Frank explained

But then most the people that try to explain Dodd/Frank are against it.

[DURHAM D]

7. Saw that last night. Epic take down.

The small community banks want to break up the big banks because it will make it easier for them to buy a congress critter.

Reich is a gadfly and I have never liked him.

[Her Sister]

10. I watched it too last night!

Reich tried to roll his eyes while BFrank was talking but then he ended up being the one to look like a fool or sidestepping the truths of the matter for the sake of his arguments to make BS right on the matter. BF did not let him, good.

Why are most of BS surrogates so unlikable? Pretty weird

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

8. Oh those pesky facts

Welcome to the reality based community.

[SunSeeker]

9. He made Reich look like a Sanders campaign hack--which is what Reich has become.

Despite being asked repeatedly by Frank, Reich couldn't or wouldn't answer the most basic question: how big must a bank be before you would break it up?

That is because you cannot answer that question honestly. As Frank explained, it is not the size of the bank, it is the size of the bank's debt load that is the reason a bank should be cut up--or taken over by the feds. It is the huge debt that makes the bank dangerous to the economy, not its size per se. That is the Dodd-Frank criteria. It appears Reich knows about as much as Sanders when it comes to Dodd-Frank.

BTW - I think it was on Lawrence O'Donnell's show too.

[Her Sister]

12. Chris Hayes video: Bernie Sanders' Lacks Plan To Break Up The Banks | All In | MSNBC

[Sparkly]

11. I saw some of this, too -- and the point is made on her website.

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/briefing/factsheets/2015/10/08/wall-street-work-for-main-street/

VERY detailed, thoughtful and thorough, looking at every aspect of banking and not just 1930s ideas or bank SIZE alone. Her plan goes BEYOND that.

[stopbush]

13. They used to say "if you want to live like a Republican,

vote for a Democrat."

We can now say, "if Sanders has you thinking that we need financial reform, vote for Hillary."

[Historic NY]

14. He forgot his Glass - Steagall talking point....

[Jim__]

15. Barney Frank definitely knows what he's talking about.

Robert Reich - not so much.

[stopbush]

16. Barney also pointed out that Sanders is attacking Obama

when he implies that there would be prosecutions of individuals in the financial sector were it not for the big banks buying Hillary through campaign contributions.

Frank took this lie head on, pointing out that as SoS, Hillary had no power whatsoever to bring any indictments. But the president does have such power, so Sanders' attacks are leveled at Obama.

The other glaring lie here is that Sanders implies that the banks are giving millions to her campaign. They are not. They may well be giving money to a pac that supports Hillary, but it would be illegal for her to even have contact with such a pac, let alone have anything to do with accepting money. Just like Sanders, donations to her campaign from the financial sector consist entirely of individual contributions made by employees in that sector. We're talking bank tellers and financial planners.

To those who would say "what's the difference," the difference would be like a person writing a check to you personally to buy food, and that person handing that check over to a food bank. Either way, you may end up getting some food, but if the money goes to the food bank you have no say over what food will be available.

I'd say that Sanders needs to get better surrogates, but when the message is rotten to its core, no surrogate is going to make the proverbial silk purse.

[R B Garr]

18. Excellent summations. This is the type of basic vetting that should have been done months ago.

Frank also referenced "McCarthyite" and McCarthyism type tactics that Sanders has been employing by suggesting that any contribution implies wrongdoing. Sanders' generalized accusations have basically been a McCarthyite type attack.

The whole segment was just an epic takedown and sorely needed. This interview along with Sanders' bumbling performance with the New York Daily News has really exposed him for being a very superficial and unreliable candidate. He can't even answer basic questions.

[SharonClark]

22. So agree!

When you only give speeches at stadiums, there is no vetting.

[Historic NY]

23. Except that blow ups brought in the unprecedents billions of dollar settlements....

Wall St has had with various Federal agencies and the Justice Dept.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/10/us/politics/new-justice-dept-rules-aimed-at-prosecuting-corporate-executives.html

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323808204579084932990175004

http://www.wsj.com/articles/goldman-reaches-5-billion-settlement-over-mortgage-backed-securities-1452808185

http://fortune.com/2016/03/10/bank-mortgage-fines-wall-street/

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

17. A thing of beauty to witness. Barney destroyed Robert Reich, someone I actually really admire...

But Barney Frank really cleaned his clock and inserted humor as he always does.

[Amimnoch]

19. He's already been thrown under the Bernie bus.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511619255

He's a "shill", he's guilty of being "richer than Bernie", he's "bankster Barney who threw trans people under the bus", he less smart than a "daffodil growing in a back yard".. etc..

Barney has been a GREAT Senator with a very distinguished history.. unlike some other poser who's done decades playing it safe in the 2nd lowest populated state, and 2nd most homogeneous state in the country.

[stopbush]

20. Barney wasn't a Senator, he was a House member.

He retired from the job because he got tired of having to run every two years.

[Amimnoch]

21. That's right.

My gaff.

I'm not a supporter of the other person so I don't mind admitting when I'm wrong.

I could go their route though:
"well, he SHOULD have been a Senator!"
"Election Fraud kept him in the House!"
"It was the fault of those southern people!"
"he never made Senator because the MSM is all bought and paid for biased against him!"
"DWS ate his dog and prevented him from becoming a Senator!"
"He wasn't a senator because of HRC's Iraq vote.. nobody else, just her's!"

[Iliyah]

26. Plus he married and wanted to spend time with his lovely spouse

[DemonGoddess]

24. That was an illuminating debate

Barney Frank really, really knows his stuff! I learned a great deal just from that small clip.

[Tarheel_Dem]

25. Someone should have warned Reich that his pre-programmed TP's wouldn't escape Barney Frank. I....

could have listened to an entire hour of that.