Casino Royale.....starring Tim Geithner

[marmar]

from the NY Times:


Editorial

Mr. Geithner’s Loophole
Published: April 30, 2011


Until recently, the big threats to the Dodd-Frank financial reform law came from Republican lawmakers, who have vowed to derail it, and from banks and their lobbyists, who are determined to retain the status quo that enriched them so well in the years before, and since, the financial crisis. Now, the Obama Treasury Department has joined their ranks.

In an announcement on Friday afternoon — the time slot favored by officials eager to avoid scrutiny — the Treasury Department said it intends to exempt certain foreign exchange derivatives from key new regulations under the Dodd-Frank law. These derivatives represent a $4 trillion-a-day market, one that is very lucrative for the big banks that trade them.

A loophole in the law — which the bankers and their friends, including the administration, fought for — allows the Treasury secretary to exempt the instruments. The arguments in favor of exemption, beyond a desire to please the banks, were always unconvincing. They still are. The Treasury Department has asserted that the exempted market is not as risky as other derivatives markets, and therefore does not need full regulation.

That claim has been disputed by research, but even if it were true, it would be a weak argument. For instruments to be relatively safer than the derivatives that blew up in the crisis, necessitating huge bailouts, hardly makes them safe. Worse, dealers could probably find ways to manipulate the exempted transactions so as to hedge and speculate in ways that the law is intended to regulate. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/01/opinion/01sun2.html

[geckosfeet]

1. Mr.Geitner is making it legal for friends and cronies to ignore banking regulations.

Graft and corruption at the highest levels of our government.

Regulation that only applies to those not in his circle of associates. For everyone else, there is Mastercard.

[WillyT]

2. More Here:

Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x995381

:hi:

:kick:

[Hotler]

3. k&r n/t

[lame54]

4. I can picture the beginning of this flick...

Geithner walks across the screen as the James Bond theme is playing. The eyeball centers on him. He quickly turns to fire his gun but instead drops it. He fumbles around trying to pick it up but instead kicks it across the room. He runs to retrieve it. The eye is moving around the room searching for him. A shot rings out. The eye finds him lying in his own blood. He accidentally shot himself. Blood runs down the screen.

[bvar22]

5. You know that "LIST" of the President's achievements?

You know the one that says,
"Instituted Historic Wall Street Reform"?

Well, we can cross that one off The List.

[Mimosa]

6. I wondered why Geithner was appointed, doubly so when he was outed as tax cheat

Obama could get rid of Geithner if he desired.

[Canuckistanian]

7. They're gambling addicts

They look for any way to continue with their reckless behavior. They seriously need an intervention before they hurt someone AGAIN.

[girl gone mad]

8. k & r