Who Broke It?

The Republicans obviously don't believe in “you break it, you own it!” It was not Dodd-Frank or Elizabeth Warren who crashed the economy in 2008. It was Wall Street and the Big Banks who crashed the economy, and it was in large part the repeal of the Glass Steagall act that allowed them to do it. Neither Elizabeth Warren nor Senator Dodd nor Congressman Frank got so big and recklessly greedy that we had to bail them out. It was the Big Banks and Wall Street we had to bail out. What bothers me the most about people who vote for Republicans is not that they refuse to listen to reason but that they simply ignore all the contradictions contained within their own arguments. I mean here they are screaming about the TARP bailouts as if keeping the world economy from collapsing was the most terrible thing anyone has ever done, yet they steadfastly oppose any regulations that could prevent the big banks or Wall Street from crashing the economy again! The only thing I can conclude from this is that in spite of all their histrionics, the Republicans actually enjoy shoveling billions of tax payer dollars out to greedy, irresponsible banks and greedy, irresponsible Wall Street Firms.

According to some recent articles the Republicans are now trying to run against Elizabeth Warren by saying the Democrats are too afraid of her to compromise on cutting any of the regulations governing the banks and/or Wall Street. All I can say is that she must not be too scary because the Cromnibus bill of 2015 gutted Dodd-Frank by requiring the FDIC to insure derivatives. And yes, they still sell derivatives even though derivatives were a huge part of the problem leading up to the crash of 2008. Unlike Republicans, I really do object to private institutions that are too big to fail and too recklessly greedy not to fail.  In fact the Cromnibus bill is what made me realize how much we need Elizabeth Warren!

So here is my answer to Republicans vilifying her: “You might be right about Senator Warren being the gadfly who reminds her fellow Democrats of their duty to their constituents, but I do not recall her becoming so big and reckless that we had to spend billions of dollars bailing her or her party out!"