Goldman Sachs, New Financial 'Regulation' and Republicans Caving?

by the Left Coast Rebel

I haven't weighed in on the Goldman Sachs/SEC investigation yet. As an independent thinker the first thing that struck me was the timing of SEC charges against Goldman Sachs. Never Let a Good Crisis go to Waste obviously comes to mind. And in this situation perhaps it is a case of (Creating) a Good Crisis and Not Letting it Go To Waste.

Professor Jacobson at Legal Insurrection weighs on in the Goldman Sach story. Those of you that think the 'screws' should be put to Goldman Sachs, listen up!:

It would be easy to cheer as the Obama administration seeks to take down Goldman Sachs. After all, Goldman Sachs has become a proxy for Wall Street, since so many of the old icons no longer exist or have been consumed as a result of the 2008 credit crunch.

But do not cheer too quickly this time. As even the NY Times now is admitting, the actual civil charges against Goldman Sachs are far from clear cut.

Civil charges by the government can bring down an entire organization for reasons having nothing to do with the charges. As we speak, there is a clamor in Britain for the government to cease doing business with Goldman Sachs as a result of the charges.

Expect the same thing to happen here, as Democrats ratchet up the crisis atmosphere to get a quick vote on financial regulations which would give the government vast powers over the financial services industry. As I documented yesterday, the Goldman Sachs charges are being politicized for the administration's purposes.

It's the health care fiasco all over again. A manufactured crisis with an identifiable demon.

As tempting as it is to say "to hell with Goldman Sachs," remember the saying about "first they came for ...."

Goldman is not the first they came for. This administration already has emasculated the entire private health insurance industry, brought the health of hundreds of millions of people under its regulatory control through Obamacare, and demonized as racists and extremists law-abiding patriotic Americans who spoke out for individual freedom and constitutional federalism.

Well said. An impressing aspect of this story has been the complete GOP opposition to the manufactured crisis Obama financial 'overhaul.' Until now? WaPo:

Key Senate Republicans on Tuesday began to back away from their sharp criticism of proposed new financial regulations and expressed optimism that a bipartisan deal on a bill that would drastically change the way Wall Street operates could emerge in the coming days.

After a week of attacking the proposals as paving the way for new taxpayer "bailouts," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on the Senate floor that he was "heartened to hear that bipartisan talks have resumed in earnest." Later, after a meeting with fellow Republicans, he told reporters that while he believes that there are still serious flaws in the legislation, "I'm convinced now there is a new element of seriousness attached to this, rather than just trying to score political points. . . . I think that's a good sign."

All too predictable. Since GOP leadership is buckling and not willing to lead on this issue, they need to be led. Leslie Eastman at the Temple of Mut has the activist action that we can take:

URGENT UPDATE FROM TEA PARTY PATRIOTS!

THIS FRIDAY, SENAT BILL 3217, also known as the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010,introduced by Democrat Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut,is scheduled to hit the floor of the US Senate where it must wait 72 hours before it comes up for a full vote.

CLICK HERE to read the actual 1,421 page bill:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:s3217pcs.txt.pdf

In short it grants permanent, UNLIMITED BAILOUT AUTHORITY to the Federal Reserve. It’s like TARP forever without the nasty, unpopular debates and votes in Congress.

Beyond that it gives the Fed the power to takeover vaguely defined “nonbank financial companies”. And the Fed has the power to decide whatconstitutes a “nonbank financial company”on a case by case basis.

As Leslie notes, the Senate is pushing another 1000 + page bill that they ostensibly will not read. She also has a list of links on just how bad this bill is and how it perpetuates a never-ending bailout cycle.

Go here to read the rest.

Via Memeorandum, here.