TPP, Graft and Corporatocracy

The end game is approaching in negotiations for a sweeping "free trade" pact known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP for short, and alarm bells are ringing out everywhere.  Public Citizen published a fact-check on the myths promulgated by the TPP supporters.  Elizabeth Warren has warned that:

Sen. Elizabeth Warren raised concerns Tuesday that negotiations over new trade agreements could be used as a backdoor way to water down financial regulations.
Speaking at a Senate confirmation hearing for Export-Import Bank President Fred Hochberg, Warren (D-Mass.) said there are “troubling indications” that negotiations over trade deals with Asia and Europe could be seen as an opportunity for banks to quietly weaken oversight of the financial services industry.  The agreements are “a chance for these banks to get something done quietly out of sight that they could not accomplish in a public place with the cameras rolling and the lights on,” Warren said.

The major banks have indeed given millions of dollars in "bonuses" and "incentives" to former executives that take government jobs at agencies that regulate banking according to a report published at Bill Moyers blog.

Many large corporations with a strong incentive to influence public policy award bonuses and other incentive pay to executives if they take jobs within the government. CitiGroup, for instance, provides an executive contract that awards additional retirement pay upon leaving to take a “full time high level position with the US government or regulatory body.” Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, the Blackstone Group, Fannie Mae, Northern Trust and Northrop Grumman are among the other firms that offer financial rewards upon retirement for government service. 
Stefan Selig, a Bank of America investment banker nominated to become the undersecretary for international trade at the Department of Commerce, received more than $9 million in bonus pay as he was nominated to join the administration in November. The bonus pay came in addition to the $5.1 million in incentive pay awarded to Selig last year.
Michael Froman, the current US Trade Representative, received over $4 million as part of multiple exit payments when he left CitiGroup to join the Obama administration. Froman told Senate Finance Committee members last summer that he donated approximately 75 percent of the $2.25 million bonus he received for his work in 2008 to charity. CitiGroup also gave Froman a $2 million payment in connection to his holdings in two investment funds, which was awarded “in recognition of [Froman's] service to Citi in various capacities since 1999.”

 Just another day for the Corporatocracy machine.

Banks Still Too Big To Jail

Elizabeth Warren is still hammering on the Obama Administration on the last 5 years of inaction since the great financial crash of 2008, nearly nothing has been accomplished in changing the structure and culture of banks in the US.  The Guardian reports:

"We have got to get back to running this country for American families, not for its largest financial institutions," said Warren, who said the issue was an indictment of how little had changed since the 2008 banking crash.  The four biggest Wall Street banks are 30% larger than before the financial crisis, she said, while the five biggest institutions hold more than half the bank assets in the country.
Warren claimed this amounted to an $83bn-a-year taxpayer subsidy for some Wall Street institutions, because they were so large that they could safely rely on a government bailout in the event of a future crisis, and were therefore able to take bigger risks than rivals. She also cited research suggesting the crash had cost up to $14tn, or $120,000 for each American household.
"Three years since Dodd-Frank was passed, the biggest banks are bigger than ever, the risks to the system have grown and the market distortions continue."
She said current regulators do not give "much reason for confidence" and added: "It is time to act: the last thing we should do is wait for another crisis."

GM Food Labeling by Bernie Sanders Shot Down

What do Sherrod Brown, Al Franken, Carl Levin, Amy Klobuchar, Kirsten GIllibrand and Elizabeth Warren all have in common?  They voted against an amendment sponsored by Bernie Sanders to allow states to require foods containing GMO ingredients to be labeled as such.  That is a stunning betrayal by these progressives and Bernie was pissed, decrying the corporate-controlled Senate.

I am frankly stunned at the votes, especially Warren.  In my view she has some explaining to do, as do all the Democrats who voted against it.  Jeff Merkley was a co-sponsor and both he and Ron Wyden voted for the amendment.

Bank Prosecution-Free Zone

Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and the Senate Banking Committee are making a lot of noise about big banks never being prosecuted, but yet Eric Holder has not been moved to action.  What does it take to wake them up?  My own thought is that the inquiry should go to President Obama and he should justify his administrations acceptance of criminal money laundering for drug lords and other criminals.

Holder told the Senate Judiciary Committee he was concerned that the size of some banks had made prosecuting them difficult because their downfall could damage the financial system and economy.

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) contended that this claim suggested that "we have a prosecution-free zone for large banks in America."  "Does this create a fundamental concern about a fair system of justice across America?" he asked.

"Yes," responded Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) suggested the matter would not end at the close of the hearing, requesting the DOJ officials be summoned before the committee to explain their rationale for not pursuing criminal charges. Warner said he would take up the matter with the committee's chairman, Sen. Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), who attended another hearing.

My thoughts?  So when does someone go to jail folks (Obama and Holder)?  I'm hearing lots of noise, but no action.