Fight over Financial Regulation Heats Up

I'm about to do a longer post for the DetNews on this story, which I'm sure readers here are already following. But if you're looking for pushback in your arguments with conservatives and Republicans who are of course against it, since the Democrats are for it and the GOPers have an eye on those lovely Wall St donations, Krugman has the goods today.

So proposed reform legislation gives regulators “resolution authority,” which basically means giving them the ability to deal with the likes of Lehman in much the same way that the F.D.I.C. deals with conventional banks. Who could object to that?

Well, Mr. McConnell is trying. His talking points come straight out of a memo Frank Luntz, the Republican political consultant, circulated in January on how to oppose financial reform. “Frankly,” wrote Mr. Luntz, “the single best way to kill any legislation is to link it to the Big Bank Bailout.” And Mr. McConnell is following those stage directions.

As the good Doctor says, you can be sure, "Wall Street isn’t lobbying to prevent future bank bailouts. If anything, it’s trying to ensure that there will be more bailouts." Which should be obvious but the tea pot tantrumists in your life can never see the truth through the haze of outrage that surrounds them.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]