Yup, the original inequality did seem at odds with my expectations! -- No harm done. We all make mistakes, and I certainly make WAY more typos and mistakes that I have ever seen in your posts. -- Dear HCR, what is far more important is your brilliant explanation in layperson's terms about the FDIC, the SVC situation in particular, and, as always, the historical context behind our current events. Thanks!
Yes, an excellent explanation even for me an economic dolt. Our ex-banker neighbor issued a warning this weekend about this failure and tied it to the R threat concerning the debt ceiling. I note that those who oppose government regulation want a rescue and are first in line when there is a problem.
Reminds me of Florida and Ohio clambering for FEMA help with each major climate / catastrophe crisis. Otherwise, their governors sneer at the federal government "safety net". It turns out for everybody but them, right? Definition of hypocrisy.
Yes, funny how that works. First in line for their own bailout, in amounts over $250,000, and also first in line to rail against giving a helping hand to college students in need of debt relief. Student loan debt relief to the tune of $10,000 - $20,000 per student. And they see no hypocrisy in that because they are entitled.
Yes, thank you Steve for kudos to our mind expanding mentor, HCR!
Now if we could get the facts out in the whole country in great big letters and explanations. Regulations make a Capitalist Democracy strong and great! Just like “regulations( boundaries) make young people become strong and great.
I share HCR daily letters on Facebook. I am never sure how many take the time to read! I wish all of my friends would read and then that they would share! But, this dreamer knows that will never happen! I am sure I have a lot of stalkers! Read and run!
Dear Jean, because it matters…the USA is not a “Capitalist Democracy” but rather…a constitutional federal republic. What does this mean? “Constitutional” refers to the fact that government in the United States is based on a Constitution which is the supreme law of the United States. The Founding Fathers wanted republicanism because its principles guaranteed liberty, with opposing, limited powers offsetting one another. Regulation is like “Porridge,” often times it’s too hot while other times it’s too cold. Regulation combined with Mandates = Socialism/Communism…which is something too many US citizens don’t really understand. So be careful with your calls for more regulations — you’ll be super-excited in the beginning…right up until you’re disenfranchised during every facet of your day down the road.
You ended your post with “Nothing becomes great without order.” Did you feel that way during the BLM - ANTIFA riots that caused more than a Billion in damages across the country?
The reality is “group-think” has destroyed individuals desire to seek the truth. One side says all problems are created by Democrats and the other says everything is the Republican’s fault. Guess what…it’s BOTH! With regards to the Proud-Boys and ANTIFA’s involvement in the BLM protests... best intelligence (if one is seeking the truth) says they both had a presence and wreaked plenty of havoc as a result. Bottom line, people need to STOP it already with my Democratic Representatives and Senators and/or my Republican Representatives / Senators are working in my best interest. It’s all about MONEY and POWER. Need proof…? Just look at the “Congressional” Stock-Performance results compared to the BEST and BRIGHTEST individual and/or investment firm performances. Can you say “legalized-insider-trading” going on each and every single day? It’s appalling if you think about it…worst offender…? Drum roll please….Nancy Pelosi…! This is from the Huffington Post so those on the LEFT can forget about using the “I don’t trust your source” argument. It’s the flipping HUFFINGTON Post for Heaven’s sakes.
Here’s another report on “Insider-Trading” in Congress. Once again, these Representatives and/or Senators are not focused on making America strong and vibrant — most interested in POWER and getting RICH.
Regarding Antifa presence in racial justice protests, see the free Washington Post link I posted above. From the WaPo article: "Out of nearly 14,000 racial justice protests in 2020, antifa was identified in just 37, or 0.2 percent. That would not qualify as an infiltration of the Black Lives Matter movement."
I think it is essential to have both internal and external regulation in order to be a functional human being in a society. Without both there would be chaos. The founding fathers certainly did not want unbridled liberty as they set down laws to govern people's behaviors. What they knew is that the balance of liberty and regulation had to be adjusted to the changing circumstances hence we have ways to adjust our laws/regulations and even our constitution. Excess liberty has its risks also. It is finding a functional balance that is necessary.
P.S. I know of no-one who has supported those that caused damage during the riots after George Floyd's death but shooting rioters would not have helped.
You can rebuild a store, you can't reverse a death and would you be willing to pull that trigger?
“P.S. I know of no-one who has supported those that caused damage during the riots after George Floyd's death but shooting rioters would not have helped.”
I'm not sure that this should be taken as support for those doing damage or support for those who are too poor to afford bail but caught up in the protests. I would hope that this charity would make a distinction between the two groups when they bail someone out.
Please don't misunderstand me. I feel strongly that any violence is unacceptable and that those who can not regulate themselves should be punished appropriately. But just as the protesters are constrained with laws/regulations to prevent them from injuring or damaging others or property so should banks have reasonable regulations. Maybe I misunderstood your post because it seemed that you were against all regulations. I hope we can agree that reasonable regulations are necessary. Once we have a problem where someone has harmed others in some way we should incorporate clear regulation to prevent others from doing the same. I try to learn from my mistakes or snafus so that I don't repeat them. Shouldn't society as a whole do the same?
I’m glad it was a typo! I read that several times and finally concluded that banking had finally reached the higher-math plane that was beyond my comprehension or I was simply too old to figure it out!
I noted that too, so I am glad to see th correction. The upside is that I was motivated to consult the Bloomberg/Matt Levine source cited as "the best explanation," and you were right. It actually made a lot of sense to me. This is a fast-moving story with major implications for all of us to understand the importance of regulations and active oversight of the financial system.
HSBC's £1 will buy it SVC-UK's assets, which are considerable - but also SVC-UK's liabilities. That could prove to be a very expensive single pound sterling.
Thank you for this excellent summary. I wonder if Signature was really in as bad a plight as SVB
but I guess the administration decided it would be better to stave off a general run on banks by a decisive step with regard to Signature, which will also leave Signature’s assets intact and make it more realistic to sell Signature to another bank or to have an orderly liquidation whereby most depositors can be made whole without a tax on other banks and without taxpayer support.
And once again the federal government, under strong leadership, has played the role that it's supposed to play — and decisively so.
Can we somehow make today's letter required reading for Republicans in Congress? Do they not have a clue that the majority of voters would hold them forever responsible for tanking the economy if they don't raise the debt ceiling?
But of course come Monday some of the radical right GOP will try to blame Biden for the financial problems that Trump unleashed.
Yes, Republicans will blame Biden, Republican media will reinforce the message, and 74 million voters will believe those lies, including Jr’s ridiculous claim that 16 bank failures during Trump’s presidency didn’t happen. That is, the lies of radical right will succeed with the people they must convince to stick with them, and nothing will change. We still have to defeat them by getting almost everyone who is not invested in Republican lies to get to the polls and cast ballots against all Republican candidates.
Rupert may someday realize that his big bucks depend on leadership by Democrats. Chump and Repub cronies would have us in the toilet by now. Won’t hold my breath for them to come to their senses, not even when their fortunes are at stake…
From what I can tell, it's not that Republican leadership (even MTG) does not know that they are creating and promoting disinformation. They see it as their path to victory and domination by doing so. It's an old despotic trick. Liz Cheney and Kinzinger let some cats out of the bag, and look how the RNC reacted.
But who do Americans blame for the collapse of 2007 and the resulting Great Recession? Americans have shorter memories than the life spans of fruit flies.
That's because we do bailouts. The Wall Street Journal, in one its normal about faces, blames "bad policy" which, they will likely associate with Democrats (even though Trump reduced the regulations).
But, honestly, giving the banks a free pass is always bipartisan. We really need to put in place regulation, leave it in place EVEN when someone drops a nice campaign contribution on us.
The Wall Street Journal article points out that guaranteeing ALL deposits is just dumb.
If we just let catastrophe unfold, like the Great Depression, people would remember, for 50 years, not to vote Republican.
Like they remembered after the Great Depression. For 50 years a Republican could not get elected Dog Catcher. Except Eisenhower. Who, was not really Republican at heart.
BUT? We bail em out.
People forget.
I really, really do think bailing out idiots with poor judgement who are also crooks is extremely poor judgement on Biden's part.
It is always a bad idea to reward criminal behavior. Period.
Stock holders will not be bailed out. If large depositors had not had their deposits guaranteed, many ordinary workers in the tech industry would have not been payed and probably would have lost their jobs.
I’m not sure that anyone voting for a Republican now remembers or cares about who and what caused the Great Depression. They certainly don’t care about who and what caused the Great Recession just 15 years ago.
All of this amnesia is allowed to flourish because the media puts on politicians whom they know are lying and fails to confront those lies they know are coming.
It IS a bad idea to reward criminal behavior but WAY too many uneducated people who have been sucked into Trump Land end up affecting all the rest of us! Scary!
I am a Buckeye (Ohio) posting many of these comments on FB. Many of my FB friends are diehard Repubs. I'm so hoping they will see that this GOP is NOT the old GOP and that Trump and his ilk are dangerous to our country.
That requires critical thinking skills; I think those went out of the party sometime between Nixon and Reagan. Definitely by the time Shrub was in office.
And yesterday’s paper had a column by Marsha Blackburn about, among other things, “Freedom, free people, and free markets are essential to making Tennessee the best place to live, work, and rear your family.” She also slammed the IRS coming after YOU.
While I sympathize with the impulse, the fact that letting them fail is a bad idea is the main point of today’s letter. While satisfying, the ripple effects through the entire economy could be catastrophic. And further - as usual, it would be the people who lose their jobs in that fallout who would suffer the most, not the wealthy who caused the problem in the first place.
Better to reinstate the parts of Dodd-Frank which were removed in 2018, and to tighten banking regulations that were loosened during the previous administration, to provide safeguards against this happening again.
Nice comment, Kathy. The only way capitalism can work for everyone is when it is strongly regulated, and even then the best that can be said for it is that it is better than the known and tried alternatives. The GOP from Reagan on has done all it can to deregulate, thus regularly bringing the world to the edge of financial disaster. They must not fear the popular anger that would leave many of them hanging from lampposts if the worst ever came to pass.
You know, it is not the deregulation that is so bad, per se, but the fools that (literally) take it to the bank. I am so weary of the imbalance of the world's riches. Fewer and fewer have it all, and millions and millions are suffering. Yet all that money pays for grift and "legislation" to have their way.
Protect the workers with unemployment insurance and placement services, take charge of a business if the service is essential (a hospital for example) triage and don't retain the management team (as was done in the Subprime crisis) that brought the business down. Enforce the goddam anti-trust laws ans don't put too many eggs in one basket. Don't allow corporations to be in a position to hold the public welfare hostage. Try to minimize the damage with always the pubic good in mind. Be fair to stockholders but also honor the warning that their investment may lose value.
There are so many important words thrown about with little discussion of what they mean. "Free" and "freedom" is certainly one of them. "Freedom" as a social concept is meaningless Orwellianese if not tied to an honest effort to provide justice for all. The "freedom" of a dictator or apartheid party to do as they please at others expense is simply tyranny; and looked in the eye, that's what modern Republicans are selling. Modern Republicans reject accountability for themselves and gleefully impose their will on others. They rail against and sabotage egalitarian, universal rights that justice convey to all. You cannot separate freedom TO do as you please form freedom FROM oppression of others. The "sweet spot" is where the two overlap.
That is true of a free society, and also, since commerce is a subset of a society's functions, of a "free market". A real free market is one of reasonably equal opportunities. It limits the potentially "runaway" condition of using financial power to take power, just as the Constitution attempts to provide division of power and checks and balances to stabilize political power. That's Glass-Steagal, that's anti-trust. Allowing mega-corps to hoover in and control everything in sight just recreates the conditions of feudalism, what the Constitution was meant to replace.
"Accustomed to trample on the rights of those around you, you have lost the genius of your own independence, and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises." - Lincoln
Ah, a fellow Tennesseean. Ms. Blackburn gets my vote for the 3rd most IQ-short and ill-qualified senator of the 100 we have in this country. Beaten out only by Tuberville (AL) and R. Johnson - (WI). I think Hagerty might be in the top 10 as well (or should I say bottom ten). We are so well represented. Blackburn was also my US representative for a time, and she got a ton of mail from me - more than I have written all congresspersons combined.
Oh, and I have the honor of also being represented today by the honorable (?) David Kustoff (Trump bootlicker, insurrection supporter, election denier, and recipient also of lots of civil-worded hate mail from me).
Yeah, she’s an idiot. Hagerty campaign billboards said “trump likes me.” Hardly a ringing endorsement to me. My rep is “Carhart” Burchett. And now we have our own George Santos in Andy Ogles.
IMHO, another example of a poor candidate is my NH governor, Chris Sununu, (yes, son of John Sununu, Chief of Staff for H.W. Bush). He's been in office for 4 terms; during the last one, he gladly said "I'm a Trump man through and through." (or words to that effect.) He's been very chummy with an ultra libertarian group called the Free State Project (How chummy? The Republican leader of the House is one of those.) Now he's decided to run for President...
Probably lots of opinions on this subject! I would say that to beat out Tim Ryan, either he or his campaign staff did some things right. Not all wingers are stupid.... perhaps the smarter ones are also the more evil.
Yes, I agree....and of course the amount of $$ from the national GOP made a huge difference. Unfortunately the DNC did not consider the Tim Ryan Campaign "worthy" of investing national funds in...
The weakening of Dodd-Frank in 2018 isn't all on the Republicans. While Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown did raise alarms, there was a bipartisan push in the Senate that included Joe Manchin (no surprise) and a number of Democratic stalwarts like my own senator, Mark Warner and then Senator, now MSNBC commentator, Claire McCaskill. Without Democratic support, the "reforms" would have died. The problem is money in politics.
Fault with this country's bank and finance policies rests with Clinton and Obama, too. Is Biden following in their footsteps with the way he has chosen to address recent bank failures?
Of course money is the main way we get things done, so squeezing the blatantly undemocratic influence of individual hoards of money on elections and policy is the one ring to rule them all. What stops curbing antibiotic abuse, or climate abuse, and a host of other problems besides M O N E Y? Would Manchin be such an ass if there wasn't so much money in it? Too many politicians (Warren and Brown exceptions) seem in it for the $$$ and status. Like highway accidents, we likely can't eliminate all corruption,, but we can enforce "speed limits".
Michael, I regret not responding earlier. Has Biden chosen the right path to address our bank issues? There is reason to question his decision.
‘Financial deregulation led to the crash in 2008 and it could again in 2023. It’s time to make banking boring again’
'You didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that when the Fed raised interest rates as much and as fast as it did, the financial cushions behind some banks that had invested in Treasury bonds would shrink. Why didn’t regulators move in?'
Those are quotes from Robert Reich, former US secretary of labor, professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now.
I recommend his Opinion, published in the Guardian today: 'There’s a deeper story to Silicon Valley Bank’s failure. What can we learn from it?' See link below.
I'm hardly an expert on these financial issues, but it seems to me that Biden took swift and smart action to protect thousands of companies and individuals — many of them of relatively modest means. Otherwise, the fallout likely would have been disastrous.
But it's a short term move, and Biden acknowledged the systemic problems that led to SVB's demise and called for corrective action. Clearly, history keeps repeating itself whenever Republicans and (as Bill Espinosa points out below) some Democrats weaken regulations. Of course, Biden's call for Congress to restore tougher regulations will go nowhere with Republicans controlling the House.
Michael, Biden and Buttigieg did what in terms of effecting the practices of the major railroad carriers while they were in negotiations with the unions for more than a year? Then close to the Holidays, oh, dear; it was no time to address the railroads' labor practices and sick time for the workers. Now our banking issues; slippin and slidin and avoiding that's my reading of Biden on these aspects of capitalism in the US. I think we came to different conclusions from reading of Reich's pieces.
Perhaps. I think it's too early to judge Biden on the banking problems. For maybe he should have addressed the system issue when he enjoyed a more favorable Congress, though Manchin was and still is an unreliable Democratic vote. But I couldn't agree more about the handling of the major railroad carriers and unions.
Truth has no home in the Republican Party. Get ready for “Willie Horton” like ads with no basis in fact.
Willie Horton who murdered a man and then raped his girlfriend was out on a furlough program. The ad blamed Mike Dukakis, the Democratic Nominee for President and sunk his campaign. The furlough program was created during the administration of Dukakis’ predecessor as Governor of Massachusetts, Edward King, a Republican.
A bit of history that I am delighted to learn. Didn’t blame the problem or Dukakis, having never learned the full story of the crimes, but find it totally unsurprising that a Democrat is blamed by the Republicans for the actions of Republicans. There should be a popular banner with the national deficits caused by Republicans, cured by Democrats.
This morning I posted the following on Robert Hubbell's open comments:
This week we (once again) learned that "big" government does work.
A bit of history:
Between the stock market crash of 1929 and 1933, almost 9,000 banks closed, insolvent, unable to fund the return of their depositors cash. In other words, you couldn't withdraw money from your bank. The banks reserves and investments were insufficient to cover their customers’ deposits. You’ve probably probably seen the example of this in Frank Capra's famous movie "It's a Wonderful Life" where Jimmy Stewart, playing George Bailey, the owner of a Savings & Loan company, finds himself in the unfortunate position where his banking institution unable to fund his customers (and friends) withdrawals.
By March 3, 1933, many banking institutions, particularly in the West, had closed their doors, unable to fund their depositors' withdrawals.
On March 12, 1933, 90 years ago today, and only 8 days after being inaugurated as the 32nd president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke to the Nation in the first of many his “Fire Side" chats.
In that speech only days after his inauguration, FDR sought to calm the Nation by explaining that the newly elected government would put in place new regulations that would protect the public from, what he called, "incompetent or dishonest" (a/k/a greedy) bankers who used depositors' money "in speculation and unwise loans.” I highly recommend listening to FDR’s address here:
On June 16, 1933 the "Glass-Steagall" Banking Act of 1933, signed by FDR .
The Act regulated banking and formed the Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC). The FDIC was a new government agency funded entirely by the banking system to monitor the banking system and insure deposits in member banks. Here is more information about the FDIC: https://www.fdic.gov/
On this past Friday, March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was deemed insolvent taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Company. The bank, which had funded huge loans to high tech start-up companies and venture capitalists, had invested it excess funds win bonds which, when interest rates climbed, lost value. In addition, when interest rates rose, funding for start-up companies dried-up so these companies started to withdraw their deposits in order to cover their expenses. One thing led to the next and the bank had to sell the now steeply discounted bonds at a $2B loss. Unable to meet its obligations to its depositor, the bank was closed by the State and taken over by the FDIC. Deposits up to $250,000 are insured so those funds will either be transferred to the new bank formed by the FDIC, The Bank of Santa Clara, or returned to the SVB’s customers.
Anyway, my point is that our federal government is there to protect us and assure stability. That government is under threat by a Republican Party that would end such regulation and government oversight in a heartbeat. It is up to us to remind Americans that our government is there to serve and protect us.
Later in the day, after posting that comment, I added to my post the following: -
The government announced it just closed Signature Bank, a bank that generally does business with law firms and hold large sums in escrow for banking clients. The federal government is using a "special assessment on banks" to protect "any losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund to support uninsured depositors."
Again, this is significant news. But for the quick actions of the Biden Administration, we could have be facing a banking calamity that would have been a direct result of Trump's and the Republican Congress' relaxation of banking oversight.
Big or small, as much as it takes. good government is good and bad government is bad. Churchill quipped that democracy was the worst form of government except for the others. It is democracy (if you track what they do) that modern Republicans regard as the enemy, not government per se.
And in 1995, that idiot Clinton signed the law that weakened Glass-Steagall and led to all the financial shenanigans of 2008, and the kind of bid'nezz that went on this weekend.
TC, I was working with an environmental group in 1995 that opposed then-Senator Rod Grams (R-MN) proposed legislation to allow more motor use in the Boundary Waters Wilderness. We worked with then-Representative Bruce Vento, (D-MN) to propose counter legislation that protected against more motors.
Vento was a member of the banking committee at the time, and angling to be the next chair. He adamantly opposed the loosening of regulations that were proposed and predicted “the Great Recession.” We talked at great length one weekend about the risks Clinton was taking - mostly in the context of how such regulations protected the environment AND the economy. Bruce went on an epic rant with the only Republican in the room who questioned how such regulations were putting small businesses at risk of failure. Bruce, who had been a biology teacher before being elected, told this guy, the retired CEO of a tech company in MN, that small business failure was nothing compared to ecosystem failure-and proceeded to lecture the man on the bank failures that led to the Depression; that then led to strong regulations, that led to economic recovery. And how a strong economy helps protect the environment through regulations, along with the fact that there are limits to “growth” in a closed biological system. Wish I’d recorded him. I’d put it on endless repeat on social media.
Not that today’s Republicans would listen but at least it would overcome the need to actually read anything.
.. And of course, only few recall such things TC, and broadcast media fails us all miserably in that they don't, won't, serve the greater good by using the platforms to broaden public knowledge of little such historic recall related to today and yesterdays context - and most critically when their agency is so desperately urgent.
But they are supposed to report “all” the news for their corporate sponsors, who interrupt with commercials just when the subject begins to be explored. Back to Cronkite days, say I. A tale to keep Cronkite in our heads: my daughter and another four-year old were having a discussion about their future careers. I don’t remember what my daughter thought, but her friend announced: “I am going to grow up to be Walter Cronkite.”
That's a well-thought elucidation by Politifact on the subject that you're not getting enough praise for finding. One of the biggest takeaways is the implied indictment of every Republican president since Reagan in the deregulation push that led to much of the crisis we've seen in the 2000's.
It also points out how "right" Bill Clinton was politically, which partly explains his fairly broad appeal at the time. Ironically, this "Republican in a Democrat's skin" element of Bill Clinton may have led to his impeachment for having sex at the office -- Repubs couldn't attack him on policy because he'd adopted so many of theirs, so they had to attack him personally, instead
Clinton was the least Democrat to ever hold the office. This Democrat is glad to say I saw his bullshit the first round and didn't vote for him twice and the only reason I voted for his wife was Trump.
'Obama endorsed the Wall Street bailout and appointed a team of Clinton-era economic advisers (led by Geithner, who became Obama’s treasury secretary, and Lawrence Summers, who became director of the national economic council). These were the same people who, working under Rubin in the 1990s, had prepared the way for the financial crisis by deregulating Wall Street. Geithner, as chair of the New York Fed, had been responsible for overseeing Wall Street in the years leading up to the crisis.'
Graf 6: Corrected to read that only about $8 billion were LESS than the insured amount, not GREATER than. Sorry. Something always slips through.
Yup, the original inequality did seem at odds with my expectations! -- No harm done. We all make mistakes, and I certainly make WAY more typos and mistakes that I have ever seen in your posts. -- Dear HCR, what is far more important is your brilliant explanation in layperson's terms about the FDIC, the SVC situation in particular, and, as always, the historical context behind our current events. Thanks!
Yes, an excellent explanation even for me an economic dolt. Our ex-banker neighbor issued a warning this weekend about this failure and tied it to the R threat concerning the debt ceiling. I note that those who oppose government regulation want a rescue and are first in line when there is a problem.
Reminds me of Florida and Ohio clambering for FEMA help with each major climate / catastrophe crisis. Otherwise, their governors sneer at the federal government "safety net". It turns out for everybody but them, right? Definition of hypocrisy.
Yes, it is. Hypocrisy is something people like Stubby DeSatan are good at.
Yes, funny how that works. First in line for their own bailout, in amounts over $250,000, and also first in line to rail against giving a helping hand to college students in need of debt relief. Student loan debt relief to the tune of $10,000 - $20,000 per student. And they see no hypocrisy in that because they are entitled.
Entitled hypocrites. Parasites of the highest order.
Also first in line to pull their deposits out and cause a bank failure
Exactly!
Noticing that Peter Thiel, that renegade Republican, got all his money out!
Most things the Republicans come with are simply unthinkable, not raising the debt ceiling being only one.
Always
Amen to that, Michele! The screaming minority!
Yes, thank you Steve for kudos to our mind expanding mentor, HCR!
Now if we could get the facts out in the whole country in great big letters and explanations. Regulations make a Capitalist Democracy strong and great! Just like “regulations( boundaries) make young people become strong and great.
Nothing becomes great without order.
I share HCR daily letters on Facebook. I am never sure how many take the time to read! I wish all of my friends would read and then that they would share! But, this dreamer knows that will never happen! I am sure I have a lot of stalkers! Read and run!
Dear Jean, because it matters…the USA is not a “Capitalist Democracy” but rather…a constitutional federal republic. What does this mean? “Constitutional” refers to the fact that government in the United States is based on a Constitution which is the supreme law of the United States. The Founding Fathers wanted republicanism because its principles guaranteed liberty, with opposing, limited powers offsetting one another. Regulation is like “Porridge,” often times it’s too hot while other times it’s too cold. Regulation combined with Mandates = Socialism/Communism…which is something too many US citizens don’t really understand. So be careful with your calls for more regulations — you’ll be super-excited in the beginning…right up until you’re disenfranchised during every facet of your day down the road.
You ended your post with “Nothing becomes great without order.” Did you feel that way during the BLM - ANTIFA riots that caused more than a Billion in damages across the country?
https://www.the-sun.com/news/1738968/dc-cops-clash-with-blm-and-antifa-protesters-outside-white-house/
On the whole the BLM marches were orderly. Still wondering how many Proud Boys and their accomplices were involved in “incidents.”
And Antifa was a tiny, fractional element reacting against the violence imported by right-wing groups in their attempts to delegitimize BLM protests.
Dear Judith — looking forward to seeing “links” to your sources that validate your claim(s). Thanks!
The reality is “group-think” has destroyed individuals desire to seek the truth. One side says all problems are created by Democrats and the other says everything is the Republican’s fault. Guess what…it’s BOTH! With regards to the Proud-Boys and ANTIFA’s involvement in the BLM protests... best intelligence (if one is seeking the truth) says they both had a presence and wreaked plenty of havoc as a result. Bottom line, people need to STOP it already with my Democratic Representatives and Senators and/or my Republican Representatives / Senators are working in my best interest. It’s all about MONEY and POWER. Need proof…? Just look at the “Congressional” Stock-Performance results compared to the BEST and BRIGHTEST individual and/or investment firm performances. Can you say “legalized-insider-trading” going on each and every single day? It’s appalling if you think about it…worst offender…? Drum roll please….Nancy Pelosi…! This is from the Huffington Post so those on the LEFT can forget about using the “I don’t trust your source” argument. It’s the flipping HUFFINGTON Post for Heaven’s sakes.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/pelosi-congress-insider-trading_n_63374676e4b0e376dbf6c714
Here’s another report on “Insider-Trading” in Congress. Once again, these Representatives and/or Senators are not focused on making America strong and vibrant — most interested in POWER and getting RICH.
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4534829-trading-like-nancy-pelosi
Regarding Antifa presence in racial justice protests, see the free Washington Post link I posted above. From the WaPo article: "Out of nearly 14,000 racial justice protests in 2020, antifa was identified in just 37, or 0.2 percent. That would not qualify as an infiltration of the Black Lives Matter movement."
I think it is essential to have both internal and external regulation in order to be a functional human being in a society. Without both there would be chaos. The founding fathers certainly did not want unbridled liberty as they set down laws to govern people's behaviors. What they knew is that the balance of liberty and regulation had to be adjusted to the changing circumstances hence we have ways to adjust our laws/regulations and even our constitution. Excess liberty has its risks also. It is finding a functional balance that is necessary.
P.S. I know of no-one who has supported those that caused damage during the riots after George Floyd's death but shooting rioters would not have helped.
You can rebuild a store, you can't reverse a death and would you be willing to pull that trigger?
“P.S. I know of no-one who has supported those that caused damage during the riots after George Floyd's death but shooting rioters would not have helped.”
Hmmmm…no-one? Here’s one for you — https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1267555018128965643
I'm not sure that this should be taken as support for those doing damage or support for those who are too poor to afford bail but caught up in the protests. I would hope that this charity would make a distinction between the two groups when they bail someone out.
Please don't misunderstand me. I feel strongly that any violence is unacceptable and that those who can not regulate themselves should be punished appropriately. But just as the protesters are constrained with laws/regulations to prevent them from injuring or damaging others or property so should banks have reasonable regulations. Maybe I misunderstood your post because it seemed that you were against all regulations. I hope we can agree that reasonable regulations are necessary. Once we have a problem where someone has harmed others in some way we should incorporate clear regulation to prevent others from doing the same. I try to learn from my mistakes or snafus so that I don't repeat them. Shouldn't society as a whole do the same?
YOU CAN NOT BE SERIOUS.
Robert🙏😳
I’m glad it was a typo! I read that several times and finally concluded that banking had finally reached the higher-math plane that was beyond my comprehension or I was simply too old to figure it out!
Lol Betsy... I was scratching my head too !
I noted that too, so I am glad to see th correction. The upside is that I was motivated to consult the Bloomberg/Matt Levine source cited as "the best explanation," and you were right. It actually made a lot of sense to me. This is a fast-moving story with major implications for all of us to understand the importance of regulations and active oversight of the financial system.
HSBC-UK has purchased SVB'S UK arm for One (1) English pound -- NOT a typo.
They may have overpayed.
Wow!!
HSBC's £1 will buy it SVC-UK's assets, which are considerable - but also SVC-UK's liabilities. That could prove to be a very expensive single pound sterling.
Thank you for the confirmation; I asssume there is another SVC "arm" in India to be accounted for promptly.
No worries--you caught it.
Thank you for this excellent summary. I wonder if Signature was really in as bad a plight as SVB
but I guess the administration decided it would be better to stave off a general run on banks by a decisive step with regard to Signature, which will also leave Signature’s assets intact and make it more realistic to sell Signature to another bank or to have an orderly liquidation whereby most depositors can be made whole without a tax on other banks and without taxpayer support.
Crypto needs to be declared a 20-year felony.
I can't understand why anyone would invest in this. It is just a scam.
Good catch.
I know that feeling quite well!
Libor = London interbank offered rate? Just asking. It is a term used in international economics.
Typos and errors hardly ever slip through for you, Heather. Please do not be hard on yourself.
Thank you for that. Questioning the rapidity of decline of my 70 year old reasoning abilities for a hot moment there!
Not always. By any means! 😊
An advantage of reading later is that it's the corrected version. I loved this!
And once again the federal government, under strong leadership, has played the role that it's supposed to play — and decisively so.
Can we somehow make today's letter required reading for Republicans in Congress? Do they not have a clue that the majority of voters would hold them forever responsible for tanking the economy if they don't raise the debt ceiling?
But of course come Monday some of the radical right GOP will try to blame Biden for the financial problems that Trump unleashed.
Yes, Republicans will blame Biden, Republican media will reinforce the message, and 74 million voters will believe those lies, including Jr’s ridiculous claim that 16 bank failures during Trump’s presidency didn’t happen. That is, the lies of radical right will succeed with the people they must convince to stick with them, and nothing will change. We still have to defeat them by getting almost everyone who is not invested in Republican lies to get to the polls and cast ballots against all Republican candidates.
Rupert may someday realize that his big bucks depend on leadership by Democrats. Chump and Repub cronies would have us in the toilet by now. Won’t hold my breath for them to come to their senses, not even when their fortunes are at stake…
Hear Hear👏 THANK YOU!
From what I can tell, it's not that Republican leadership (even MTG) does not know that they are creating and promoting disinformation. They see it as their path to victory and domination by doing so. It's an old despotic trick. Liz Cheney and Kinzinger let some cats out of the bag, and look how the RNC reacted.
But who do Americans blame for the collapse of 2007 and the resulting Great Recession? Americans have shorter memories than the life spans of fruit flies.
James,
That's because we do bailouts. The Wall Street Journal, in one its normal about faces, blames "bad policy" which, they will likely associate with Democrats (even though Trump reduced the regulations).
But, honestly, giving the banks a free pass is always bipartisan. We really need to put in place regulation, leave it in place EVEN when someone drops a nice campaign contribution on us.
The Wall Street Journal article points out that guaranteeing ALL deposits is just dumb.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-silicon-valley-bank-bailout-chorus-yellen-treasury-fed-fdic-deposit-limit-dodd-frank-run-cc80761e?mod=hp_opin_pos_1
If we just let catastrophe unfold, like the Great Depression, people would remember, for 50 years, not to vote Republican.
Like they remembered after the Great Depression. For 50 years a Republican could not get elected Dog Catcher. Except Eisenhower. Who, was not really Republican at heart.
BUT? We bail em out.
People forget.
I really, really do think bailing out idiots with poor judgement who are also crooks is extremely poor judgement on Biden's part.
It is always a bad idea to reward criminal behavior. Period.
Stock holders will not be bailed out. If large depositors had not had their deposits guaranteed, many ordinary workers in the tech industry would have not been payed and probably would have lost their jobs.
I’m not sure that anyone voting for a Republican now remembers or cares about who and what caused the Great Depression. They certainly don’t care about who and what caused the Great Recession just 15 years ago.
All of this amnesia is allowed to flourish because the media puts on politicians whom they know are lying and fails to confront those lies they know are coming.
That, and apparently teaching any kind of real American history is no longer a thing.
History is being taught, not just a history based on facts. It would better be called indoctrination.
News on television should no longer be called news. Perhaps Pablum for Sleepwalking Zombies would be a better name.
It IS a bad idea to reward criminal behavior but WAY too many uneducated people who have been sucked into Trump Land end up affecting all the rest of us! Scary!
🤣🤣🤣 Thank you. I don’t know the lifespan of fruit flies, but do know that the American memory span is less than a week.
Yeppers. Just like Trump rolled back railroad safety regulations and then disaster !
But?
Fox News was blaming Biden and the EPA. If you can somehow figure out that logic.
Good Luck.
Tucker says whatever he wants. It doesn’t have to make sense
He's beginning to seem pathological, and maybe even psychopathic, meaning he takes pleasure in harming others.
Michael,
I see you are optimistic today: "Can we somehow make today's letter required reading for Republicans in Congress?"
You appear to actually think that Republicans can read!
However, I think, perhaps, your optimism is unwarranted.
I am a Buckeye (Ohio) posting many of these comments on FB. Many of my FB friends are diehard Repubs. I'm so hoping they will see that this GOP is NOT the old GOP and that Trump and his ilk are dangerous to our country.
That requires critical thinking skills; I think those went out of the party sometime between Nixon and Reagan. Definitely by the time Shrub was in office.
And yesterday’s paper had a column by Marsha Blackburn about, among other things, “Freedom, free people, and free markets are essential to making Tennessee the best place to live, work, and rear your family.” She also slammed the IRS coming after YOU.
Yep.
And, the idiots listening "believe".
If America is a "free market" then why are we bailing out a bunch of criminals that run banks into the ground??
LET THEM FAIL!!
Let the people who made those choices face CONSEQUENCES.
While I sympathize with the impulse, the fact that letting them fail is a bad idea is the main point of today’s letter. While satisfying, the ripple effects through the entire economy could be catastrophic. And further - as usual, it would be the people who lose their jobs in that fallout who would suffer the most, not the wealthy who caused the problem in the first place.
Better to reinstate the parts of Dodd-Frank which were removed in 2018, and to tighten banking regulations that were loosened during the previous administration, to provide safeguards against this happening again.
Nice comment, Kathy. The only way capitalism can work for everyone is when it is strongly regulated, and even then the best that can be said for it is that it is better than the known and tried alternatives. The GOP from Reagan on has done all it can to deregulate, thus regularly bringing the world to the edge of financial disaster. They must not fear the popular anger that would leave many of them hanging from lampposts if the worst ever came to pass.
Hear, hear David! Unfettered capitalism is not the answer - not to banking, not to rail safety, not to health care, not to anything!
You know, it is not the deregulation that is so bad, per se, but the fools that (literally) take it to the bank. I am so weary of the imbalance of the world's riches. Fewer and fewer have it all, and millions and millions are suffering. Yet all that money pays for grift and "legislation" to have their way.
Protect the workers with unemployment insurance and placement services, take charge of a business if the service is essential (a hospital for example) triage and don't retain the management team (as was done in the Subprime crisis) that brought the business down. Enforce the goddam anti-trust laws ans don't put too many eggs in one basket. Don't allow corporations to be in a position to hold the public welfare hostage. Try to minimize the damage with always the pubic good in mind. Be fair to stockholders but also honor the warning that their investment may lose value.
There are so many important words thrown about with little discussion of what they mean. "Free" and "freedom" is certainly one of them. "Freedom" as a social concept is meaningless Orwellianese if not tied to an honest effort to provide justice for all. The "freedom" of a dictator or apartheid party to do as they please at others expense is simply tyranny; and looked in the eye, that's what modern Republicans are selling. Modern Republicans reject accountability for themselves and gleefully impose their will on others. They rail against and sabotage egalitarian, universal rights that justice convey to all. You cannot separate freedom TO do as you please form freedom FROM oppression of others. The "sweet spot" is where the two overlap.
That is true of a free society, and also, since commerce is a subset of a society's functions, of a "free market". A real free market is one of reasonably equal opportunities. It limits the potentially "runaway" condition of using financial power to take power, just as the Constitution attempts to provide division of power and checks and balances to stabilize political power. That's Glass-Steagal, that's anti-trust. Allowing mega-corps to hoover in and control everything in sight just recreates the conditions of feudalism, what the Constitution was meant to replace.
"Accustomed to trample on the rights of those around you, you have lost the genius of your own independence, and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises." - Lincoln
Ah, a fellow Tennesseean. Ms. Blackburn gets my vote for the 3rd most IQ-short and ill-qualified senator of the 100 we have in this country. Beaten out only by Tuberville (AL) and R. Johnson - (WI). I think Hagerty might be in the top 10 as well (or should I say bottom ten). We are so well represented. Blackburn was also my US representative for a time, and she got a ton of mail from me - more than I have written all congresspersons combined.
Oh, and I have the honor of also being represented today by the honorable (?) David Kustoff (Trump bootlicker, insurrection supporter, election denier, and recipient also of lots of civil-worded hate mail from me).
Yeah, she’s an idiot. Hagerty campaign billboards said “trump likes me.” Hardly a ringing endorsement to me. My rep is “Carhart” Burchett. And now we have our own George Santos in Andy Ogles.
IMHO, another example of a poor candidate is my NH governor, Chris Sununu, (yes, son of John Sununu, Chief of Staff for H.W. Bush). He's been in office for 4 terms; during the last one, he gladly said "I'm a Trump man through and through." (or words to that effect.) He's been very chummy with an ultra libertarian group called the Free State Project (How chummy? The Republican leader of the House is one of those.) Now he's decided to run for President...
where is JD Vance - R OH in your list?
Probably lots of opinions on this subject! I would say that to beat out Tim Ryan, either he or his campaign staff did some things right. Not all wingers are stupid.... perhaps the smarter ones are also the more evil.
Yes, I agree....and of course the amount of $$ from the national GOP made a huge difference. Unfortunately the DNC did not consider the Tim Ryan Campaign "worthy" of investing national funds in...
I feel your pain being represented by Sen Johnson and Rep Van Orden.
Absurd fear-mongering at its finest. That's what Republicans do best. Blackburn is a dangerous embarrassment.
She also signed on to the amendment to the constitution bill to limit the Supreme Court to the nine along with nine other Republican senators.
The Republicans need to finish grade school. What a cluster.
The weakening of Dodd-Frank in 2018 isn't all on the Republicans. While Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown did raise alarms, there was a bipartisan push in the Senate that included Joe Manchin (no surprise) and a number of Democratic stalwarts like my own senator, Mark Warner and then Senator, now MSNBC commentator, Claire McCaskill. Without Democratic support, the "reforms" would have died. The problem is money in politics.
Fault with this country's bank and finance policies rests with Clinton and Obama, too. Is Biden following in their footsteps with the way he has chosen to address recent bank failures?
Of course money is the main way we get things done, so squeezing the blatantly undemocratic influence of individual hoards of money on elections and policy is the one ring to rule them all. What stops curbing antibiotic abuse, or climate abuse, and a host of other problems besides M O N E Y? Would Manchin be such an ass if there wasn't so much money in it? Too many politicians (Warren and Brown exceptions) seem in it for the $$$ and status. Like highway accidents, we likely can't eliminate all corruption,, but we can enforce "speed limits".
Each paragraph is a succinct and thoughtful summary. Sadly, there are no RepulbiQans in congress that will agree.
Thank goodness some actually will agree. Will they be able to say anything ?
Doubtful.
Michael, I regret not responding earlier. Has Biden chosen the right path to address our bank issues? There is reason to question his decision.
‘Financial deregulation led to the crash in 2008 and it could again in 2023. It’s time to make banking boring again’
'You didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to know that when the Fed raised interest rates as much and as fast as it did, the financial cushions behind some banks that had invested in Treasury bonds would shrink. Why didn’t regulators move in?'
Those are quotes from Robert Reich, former US secretary of labor, professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His new book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now.
I recommend his Opinion, published in the Guardian today: 'There’s a deeper story to Silicon Valley Bank’s failure. What can we learn from it?' See link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/13/svb-collapse-2008-financial-crisis
Today, I read Reich's Substack, which also covers the same ground as the piece you linked to (helpful, thanks). https://open.substack.com/pub/robertreich/p/the-silicon-valley-bank-debacle?r=57fmo&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
I'm hardly an expert on these financial issues, but it seems to me that Biden took swift and smart action to protect thousands of companies and individuals — many of them of relatively modest means. Otherwise, the fallout likely would have been disastrous.
But it's a short term move, and Biden acknowledged the systemic problems that led to SVB's demise and called for corrective action. Clearly, history keeps repeating itself whenever Republicans and (as Bill Espinosa points out below) some Democrats weaken regulations. Of course, Biden's call for Congress to restore tougher regulations will go nowhere with Republicans controlling the House.
Michael, Biden and Buttigieg did what in terms of effecting the practices of the major railroad carriers while they were in negotiations with the unions for more than a year? Then close to the Holidays, oh, dear; it was no time to address the railroads' labor practices and sick time for the workers. Now our banking issues; slippin and slidin and avoiding that's my reading of Biden on these aspects of capitalism in the US. I think we came to different conclusions from reading of Reich's pieces.
Perhaps. I think it's too early to judge Biden on the banking problems. For maybe he should have addressed the system issue when he enjoyed a more favorable Congress, though Manchin was and still is an unreliable Democratic vote. But I couldn't agree more about the handling of the major railroad carriers and unions.
Yes, Michael❗️ ❗️ ❗️
Glory, “shame-on-you” lectures the way to go…
What would your mother say!
Absolutely! 🤣😂😅‼️ Especially in public! And especially since he started the whole mess in public! Karma. 😉
Truth has no home in the Republican Party. Get ready for “Willie Horton” like ads with no basis in fact.
Willie Horton who murdered a man and then raped his girlfriend was out on a furlough program. The ad blamed Mike Dukakis, the Democratic Nominee for President and sunk his campaign. The furlough program was created during the administration of Dukakis’ predecessor as Governor of Massachusetts, Edward King, a Republican.
A bit of history that I am delighted to learn. Didn’t blame the problem or Dukakis, having never learned the full story of the crimes, but find it totally unsurprising that a Democrat is blamed by the Republicans for the actions of Republicans. There should be a popular banner with the national deficits caused by Republicans, cured by Democrats.
They are already running an ad against Biden on the local TV stations and then they tie it to the newly elected D from Washington's third district.
This morning I posted the following on Robert Hubbell's open comments:
This week we (once again) learned that "big" government does work.
A bit of history:
Between the stock market crash of 1929 and 1933, almost 9,000 banks closed, insolvent, unable to fund the return of their depositors cash. In other words, you couldn't withdraw money from your bank. The banks reserves and investments were insufficient to cover their customers’ deposits. You’ve probably probably seen the example of this in Frank Capra's famous movie "It's a Wonderful Life" where Jimmy Stewart, playing George Bailey, the owner of a Savings & Loan company, finds himself in the unfortunate position where his banking institution unable to fund his customers (and friends) withdrawals.
By March 3, 1933, many banking institutions, particularly in the West, had closed their doors, unable to fund their depositors' withdrawals.
On March 12, 1933, 90 years ago today, and only 8 days after being inaugurated as the 32nd president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke to the Nation in the first of many his “Fire Side" chats.
In that speech only days after his inauguration, FDR sought to calm the Nation by explaining that the newly elected government would put in place new regulations that would protect the public from, what he called, "incompetent or dishonest" (a/k/a greedy) bankers who used depositors' money "in speculation and unwise loans.” I highly recommend listening to FDR’s address here:
https://www.fdic.gov/about/history/fdr_fireside_chat_banking_situation_03-12-33.mp3
On June 16, 1933 the "Glass-Steagall" Banking Act of 1933, signed by FDR .
The Act regulated banking and formed the Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC). The FDIC was a new government agency funded entirely by the banking system to monitor the banking system and insure deposits in member banks. Here is more information about the FDIC: https://www.fdic.gov/
On this past Friday, March 10, 2023, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was deemed insolvent taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Company. The bank, which had funded huge loans to high tech start-up companies and venture capitalists, had invested it excess funds win bonds which, when interest rates climbed, lost value. In addition, when interest rates rose, funding for start-up companies dried-up so these companies started to withdraw their deposits in order to cover their expenses. One thing led to the next and the bank had to sell the now steeply discounted bonds at a $2B loss. Unable to meet its obligations to its depositor, the bank was closed by the State and taken over by the FDIC. Deposits up to $250,000 are insured so those funds will either be transferred to the new bank formed by the FDIC, The Bank of Santa Clara, or returned to the SVB’s customers.
Anyway, my point is that our federal government is there to protect us and assure stability. That government is under threat by a Republican Party that would end such regulation and government oversight in a heartbeat. It is up to us to remind Americans that our government is there to serve and protect us.
Later in the day, after posting that comment, I added to my post the following: -
The government announced it just closed Signature Bank, a bank that generally does business with law firms and hold large sums in escrow for banking clients. The federal government is using a "special assessment on banks" to protect "any losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund to support uninsured depositors."
Again, this is significant news. But for the quick actions of the Biden Administration, we could have be facing a banking calamity that would have been a direct result of Trump's and the Republican Congress' relaxation of banking oversight.
Big or small, as much as it takes. good government is good and bad government is bad. Churchill quipped that democracy was the worst form of government except for the others. It is democracy (if you track what they do) that modern Republicans regard as the enemy, not government per se.
Thank you for the links. Also the Winston Churchill quip
And in 1995, that idiot Clinton signed the law that weakened Glass-Steagall and led to all the financial shenanigans of 2008, and the kind of bid'nezz that went on this weekend.
TC, I was working with an environmental group in 1995 that opposed then-Senator Rod Grams (R-MN) proposed legislation to allow more motor use in the Boundary Waters Wilderness. We worked with then-Representative Bruce Vento, (D-MN) to propose counter legislation that protected against more motors.
Vento was a member of the banking committee at the time, and angling to be the next chair. He adamantly opposed the loosening of regulations that were proposed and predicted “the Great Recession.” We talked at great length one weekend about the risks Clinton was taking - mostly in the context of how such regulations protected the environment AND the economy. Bruce went on an epic rant with the only Republican in the room who questioned how such regulations were putting small businesses at risk of failure. Bruce, who had been a biology teacher before being elected, told this guy, the retired CEO of a tech company in MN, that small business failure was nothing compared to ecosystem failure-and proceeded to lecture the man on the bank failures that led to the Depression; that then led to strong regulations, that led to economic recovery. And how a strong economy helps protect the environment through regulations, along with the fact that there are limits to “growth” in a closed biological system. Wish I’d recorded him. I’d put it on endless repeat on social media.
Not that today’s Republicans would listen but at least it would overcome the need to actually read anything.
I love stories like this. Thank you
.. And of course, only few recall such things TC, and broadcast media fails us all miserably in that they don't, won't, serve the greater good by using the platforms to broaden public knowledge of little such historic recall related to today and yesterdays context - and most critically when their agency is so desperately urgent.
But they are supposed to report “all” the news for their corporate sponsors, who interrupt with commercials just when the subject begins to be explored. Back to Cronkite days, say I. A tale to keep Cronkite in our heads: my daughter and another four-year old were having a discussion about their future careers. I don’t remember what my daughter thought, but her friend announced: “I am going to grow up to be Walter Cronkite.”
Yes, Clinton did repeal the Glass-Steagall act.
I do note that both houses, when that legislation was sent to him, were Republican if I recall correctly.
But, Yes, Clinton was an idiot in every possible way a human can be an idiot.
Isn’t it amazing what charm can concoct?
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2015/aug/19/bill-clinton/bill-clinton-glass-steagall-had-nothing-do-financi/
That's a well-thought elucidation by Politifact on the subject that you're not getting enough praise for finding. One of the biggest takeaways is the implied indictment of every Republican president since Reagan in the deregulation push that led to much of the crisis we've seen in the 2000's.
It also points out how "right" Bill Clinton was politically, which partly explains his fairly broad appeal at the time. Ironically, this "Republican in a Democrat's skin" element of Bill Clinton may have led to his impeachment for having sex at the office -- Repubs couldn't attack him on policy because he'd adopted so many of theirs, so they had to attack him personally, instead
Thanks for this link. How easily people succumb to CDS (Clinton Derangement Syndrome). Clinton was the last President who balanced the budget.
Clinton was the least Democrat to ever hold the office. This Democrat is glad to say I saw his bullshit the first round and didn't vote for him twice and the only reason I voted for his wife was Trump.
…and what about Obama?
'Obama endorsed the Wall Street bailout and appointed a team of Clinton-era economic advisers (led by Geithner, who became Obama’s treasury secretary, and Lawrence Summers, who became director of the national economic council). These were the same people who, working under Rubin in the 1990s, had prepared the way for the financial crisis by deregulating Wall Street. Geithner, as chair of the New York Fed, had been responsible for overseeing Wall Street in the years leading up to the crisis.'
____Robert Reich