McCain Not Talking Straight About Regulation

I tried to see if this issue has been officially brought up yet and didn't see anything.

John McCain has come out in response to this crisis blaming deregulation as the main culprit and now touts the need to regulate these companies.

Has he just forgotten his entire career as Senator and his actions that helped this deregulation take place? Has he forgotten that he has lobbyists working on his campaign that helped to fight regulation legislation? Are people who support John McCain completely aware of this.

I hope no one says this is a non issue because he's not solely responsible for the deregulation. But he's the only one running for President and his stance on these policies helped bring this about. You think he'll suddenly change his mind once he's in office?

Let's give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he will. That he's seen the light on the need for regulation. But isn't that also against one of his strongest points in his campaign and his promise to end big government. That we don't need government prying into our lives and telling people how to run their companies?

It's really a catch-22 for him. Either way, he's not being truthful.

McCain recasts longtime deregulation stand

Source

A decade ago, Sen. John McCain embraced legislation to broadly deregulate the banking and insurance industries, helping to sweep aside a thicket of rules established over decades in favor of a less restricted financial marketplace that proponents said would result in greater economic growth.

Now, as the Bush administration scrambles to prevent the collapse of the American International Group, the nation's largest insurance company, and to stabilize a tumultuous Wall Street, the Republican presidential nominee is scrambling to recast himself as a champion of regulation to end "reckless conduct, corruption and unbridled greed" on Wall Street.

In 2002, McCain introduced a bill to deregulate the broadband internet market, warning that "the potential for government interference with market forces is not limited to federal regulation." Three years earlier, McCain had joined with other Republicans to push through landmark legislation sponsored by then-senator Phil Gramm, a Texas Republican who is now an economic adviser to his campaign. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act aimed to make the country's financial institutions competitive by removing the Depression-era walls between banking, investment and insurance companies.

That bill allowed AIG to participate in the gold rush of a rapidly expanding global banking and investment market. But the legislation also helped pave the way for companies such as AIG and Lehman Brothers to become behemoths laden with bad loans and investments.

McCain now condemns the executives at those companies for pursuing the ambitions that the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act made possible, saying that "in an endless quest for easy money, they dreamed up investment schemes that they themselves don't even understand."

[edit on 18-9-2008 by nunya13]

McCain's economic adviser is a lobbyist for deregulation and helped write the bill that is a major reason for the deregulation that led to our current situation.

McCain economic policy shaped by lobbyist

Source

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain’s national campaign general co-chair was being paid by a Swiss bank to lobby Congress about the U.S. mortgage crisis at the same time he was advising McCain about his economic policy, federal records show. [See sidebar.]

“Countdown with Keith Olbermann” reported Tuesday night that lobbying disclosure forms, filed by the giant Swiss bank UBS, list McCain’s campaign co-chair, former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, as a lobbyist dealing specifically with legislation regarding the mortgage crisis as recently as Dec. 31, 2007.

Gramm joined the bank in 2002 and had registered as a lobbyist by 2004. UBS filed paperwork deregistering Gramm on April 18 of this year. Gramm continues to serve as a UBS vice chairman.

When Gramm chaired the Senate Banking Committee, he wrote and passed deregulatory legislation in more than one industry, establishing himself as a pre-eminent foe of government regulation. McCain’s March 26 speech recommended further deregulation of the banking industry as his response to the mortgage crisis. McCain and Gramm have been friends for more than a decade. McCain chaired Gramm’s 1996 presidential run and Gramm says the two men speak every day. McCain reportedly has hinted Gramm might serve as his Treasury secretary. Last summer, Gramm was widely credited with saving McCain’s presidential campaign.

Sometimes I think these people who deal with so much money (and stocks, properties and investments) are so entirely separated from the average person that they really don't have a clue what they're talking about when it comes to trying to appeal to us, the worker bees.

McCain has definitely flipped on this issue, when it became politically advantageous to do so. He seems to be straddling a fence of free market and regulation. You can't have it both ways. And if these predatory lenders won't regulate themselves, SOMEBODY has to do it. Or we end up here.

Many times, McCain seems to have forgotten what he said 4 years ago and sometimes even a day ago. He's trying to please everyone. He just ends up looking insincere.

Nice posts, nunya.

reply to post by nunya13


Deregulation is one of the culprits on the now economical mess. Yes the Republicans embraced with open arms.

Allowing the greed of corporate America to take over the economy, Now McCain have a change of hart.

One of the reason for the housing bubble crash was indeed deregulation.

Ill-advised financial deregulation led to financial concentration and not to more efficient markets. Independent local banks, which focused on financing local businesses, and Saving and Loan Associations, which knew the local housing market, have been replaced with large institutions that package unanalyzed risks and sell them worldwide.

Regulation over-reached. The pendulum swung. Deregulation became an ideology and a facilitator of greed.

Deregulating electric power gave us Enron.

www.abovetopsecret.com...'

Now look what is happening to the same financing institutions that gave us the mortgage bubble crash.

Is making our nation vulnerable all for greed.

McCain now see what greed is doing in Washington to his kind and to the American people.

Would this be a good time to start talking about the Keating Five?

Actually, it would be a WONDERFUL time to start talking about the Keating Five.

You know, the reason I posted this thread wasn't because John McCain has flipped on an issue. What really bothers me right now is that NO ONE, not one single reporter, that I know of as of yet, has looked at John McCain and said, "Aren't you partly responsible for what has happened to our economy?"

So it's not that he was for deregulation and now he's against it, this man has been at least somewhat proactive in helping to set up the circumstances that led to this fall out.

It is only when we mention that that we must bring up the Keating Five.

I mean, I've always heard about the savings and loan crisis of the 80's. I didn't pretend to understand. I was only little kid. But when I learned about the Keating Five and seeing John McCain's association with the scandal, (well, not even association because he WAS one of the five!), my blood boils.

I can't help but think to myself that this man has not ONCE but TWICE helped to bring about major economic crisis in our country in the past 20 years and people think he will reform our economy?

I don't take issue with this at all. At the time, deregulation seemed like the right thing to do. Obviously, the lack of regulation led some to greed and misconduct. Having seen that deregulation is not working, McCain calls for more regulation to be put back in place.

He is not a psychic, and can't make the right decisions every time. No one can. However, at least he can see that changes need to be made and is willing to do what it takes to help the American people.

McCain isn't worried about being right or wrong, he's worried about doing what's right.

Also, let's not forget that Obama isn't clean of all this financial mess either. Any idea who the largest receiver of contributions from Fanny/Freddie is?

reply to post by nunya13


If Democrats change their mind it's flip-flopping.
If Republicans change their mind, it's re-evaluating.

Sen. McCain was a maverick in 2000. Now, he is touting the same old party line. I wonder if he wishes he would of picked Bloomberg or Mitt Romney as his running mate now that the old economy has crept in.

Not exactly.

Wasn't re-evaluating Obamas line a few months back?

Yep. That's what he called it.

reply to post by nyk537


They all flip-flop, no matter who if it is a Democrat or a Republican. They learned from the Clintons' to go with the polls.
The only one who did not was Dr Paul. That is why he refused to speak at the RNC. The party stalwarts wanted him to tow the line, and Dr Paul stated he was not going to endorse Sen McCain.

reply to post by nyk537



Literally overnight he suddenly became a supporter of regulation.

The only way you can judge if a person will hold true to their word is based on their past behavior. McCain has supported deregulation for over 20 years of his career. We're supposed to just assume that he will follow through with his promise?

Just 6 months ago he said we need to FURTHER deregulate the industry even as Bear Sterns was failing.

Source

Following the Bear Stearns collapse in March, McCain was very Gramm-like in calling for the further deregulation of Wall Street.

"Our financial market approach should include encouraging increased capital in financial institutions by removing regulatory, accounting and tax impediments to raising capital," said McCain in March of this year.

In an interview he said "I'm always for less regulation" and "I am fundamentally a deregulator"

Source

WSJ: “In 1995, when the Republicans won control of both houses of Congress, you proposed a regulatory moratorium, but couldn't get it passed. Would you declare such a moratorium if you were president?”

McCain: “I'm always for less regulation. But I am aware of the view that there is a need for government oversight. I think we found this in the subprime lending crisis — that there are people that game the system and if not outright broke the law, they certainly engaged in unethical conduct which made this problem worse. So I do believe that there is role for oversight.

“As far as a need for additional regulations are concerned, I think that depends on the legislative agenda and what the Congress does to some degree, but I am fundamentally a deregulator. I'd like to see a lot of the unnecessary government regulations eliminated, not just a moratorium. I've thought more on the area of deregulation rather than a moratorium.”

What has he done in the last 10 years in regards to deregulation legislation?

Source

In 2002, McCain introduced a bill to deregulate the broadband internet market, warning that "the potential for government interference with market forces is not limited to federal regulation." Three years earlier, McCain had joined with other Republicans to push through landmark legislation sponsored by then-senator Phil Gramm, a Texas Republican who is now an economic adviser to his campaign. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act aimed to make the country's financial institutions competitive by removing the Depression-era walls between banking, investment and insurance companies.

That bill allowed AIG to participate in the gold rush of a rapidly expanding global banking and investment market. But the legislation also helped pave the way for companies such as AIG and Lehman Brothers to become behemoths laden with bad loans and investments.

To his credit in the same year, 2002:


Source

In 2002, for example, he pushed for tougher corporate-accounting standards after the scandals at Enron and other corporations. "I have long opposed unnecessary regulation of business activity, mindful that the heavy hand of government can discourage innovation. But in the current climate, only a restoration of the system of checks and balances that once protected the American investor, and that has seriously deteriorated over the past 10 years, can restore the confidence that makes financial markets work," McCain said.

Also to his credit:

Source

I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation. If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.

Apparently, Obama did nothing about this. I wouldn't doubt because Freddie Mac was paying him off.

So I'll admit that maybe the situation wasn't as bad as I thought **picking pride up off the floor**.

But the fact remains that he thinks of himself as a "deregulator" and now he is protraying himself to America as an advocate for reform. And no one has called him on this.

Sure we can point out the times he DID support regulation but in comaprison to his support for deregulation? Well, there is none. He has supported deregulation FAR MORE in the past and ONLY when he's seen when deregulation can do and then he slaps himself on the forehead and says "didn't see that coming! Guess I was wrong about that one" and then he's right back on the deregulation train. This is bothersome.

Originally posted by nunya13
reply to post by nyk537

 

Literally overnight he suddenly became a supporter of regulation.

The only way you can judge if a person will hold true to their word is based on their past behavior.

You seem to be pretty hell bent on beating up McCain because of deregulation/regulation on the flip-floppery, but you've yet to acknowledge that Obama is just as guilty of the same, though not with the same issue. Case in point - his recent support of the FISA bill (obama.senate.gov...).

[edit on 20-9-2008 by sos37]

I know John McCain was not charged with any wrong doing in the Keating Five investigation but the fact that he sat with the other individuals at the table shows he had involvement. The investigation showed he used what was called "poor judgement". Basically because he showed a united front against the bank regulators in San Fransisco. I equate it to a group of thugs. The S&L debacle cost the tax payers 124.6 billion dollars and the entire cost was 160.1 billion dollars.

He and his buddy Phil Gramm and their buddies helped pass legislation that deregulated portions of the financial community. Phil Gramm wrote it! This is the same guy that said were are in a "mental recession".

I was watching cable news this morning and they said that John McCain has a proposal about deregulating the health care system. I thought I was hearing things so I changed the channel and waited to see if they would report the same thing and they did. I looked around the 'internets' and this is what I found.

McCain on banking and health

Here’s what McCain has to say about the wonders of market-based health reform:

Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.

Better Care At Lower Cost for Every American

A spoksmen from the RNC said this morning that McCain still believes that portions of Social Security should be privatized and be traded on the open market in more secure funds. Imagine if they were able to privatize SSI years ago? After this week I'm glad they didn't!

Originally posted by Massgirl
I was watching cable news this morning and they said that John McCain has a proposal about deregulating the health care system.

I know. He doesn't want the government to regulate anything that will make money for the corporations, even if it means protecting the people's investments (including the pharmaceutical corporations and the AMA). But he's ok with government regulating who can and can't get married and who can choose whether or not to reproduce in a second. There's no money to be made there.

And yeah, if we had privatized our SS as he supports, we'd be in worse shape than we are now.