Congress has given bankers billions. It has passed every bill they wanted. It has killed every bill they wanted killed. It allowed every regulation from Glass-Steagal to usury limits to die at their hands. They got their people into control of TARP in the Bush administration (where they still are), and the Treasury in the Obama administration. Everyone knows this economic crash is the direct result of the greed and incompetence of the nation's bankers. So, why do they have this power?
The standard answer is the money, and there is no doubt it's important. The banking industry pours money on politicians like it was water, in pretty much every race, and it has a major impact.
But that's just part of the story. Congress listens to bankers because they are important in the local community. They support the Scouts, the high school band, theater groups, Habitat for Humanity, and all kinds of groups that make a community what it can be. Banks free up their employees' time so they can participate in community activities themselves. My local bank calls on me to contribute to silent auctions and buy tickets to fund raisers. They put on events for the community, like speeches by the mayor and other officials.
And it isn't just the community banks that do this. The regional bankers here operate the same way. Their contributions are larger, and tend to go to larger community groups, like the symphony and the opera and the art museum, but they support all kinds of outreach groups and charitable organizations, at all levels. This is a much better place because of our banks.
That kind of good will opens a lot of doors. The big boys don't make these arguments. Instead, they send the local banks in to do the work. All they need is some kind of argument that has some resonance, and arguments are for sale too. The perfect example is the bankruptcy cramdown. Jon Tester is usually pretty good on consumer issues, but here's what he said about cramdown:
He went on: "I just think a deal's a deal. I have a lot of empathy for folks who tend to get led astray, but I just think it's going to create some problems - pretty obvious, actually. I don't have to list them. I'm generally opposed. I don't think it works well."
Note the lack of content. He doesn't have a clue about this. I'm guessing he got calls and visits from local banks, asking him to vote no. They told him it would hurt their business, and they sure didn't mislead anybody in their mortgage portfolio, and a deal's a deal. Maybe the Mountain West Bank called. In Bozeman, the bank supports the Big Brothers and Big sisters, the Chamber of Commerce, Head Start, the March of Dimes and several operations at the University of Montana, including the Quarterback Club and the Fundraiser Board of the Business school.
When you have that kind of good will, you don't need to be exactly right, just plausible. We can be right, and we can make phone calls and send e-mails, but that won't do the trick either. They're winning.
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