DC has spent the last several decades harmonically converging its Big Government – with Big Business.
DC’s policies – and the nation – have devolved accordingly.
As Big Gov and Big Biz settled ever more comfortably into bed together, Big Gov’s laws and regulations became more and more nakedly helpful for Big Biz – at the expense of everyone else.
DC has long pretended this isn’t the case. But as the policies got worse – and the results followed suit – pretending became an increasingly bizarre proposition.
To the point where DC just extruded something they called “The Inflation Reduction Act.” Which contained $891 billion’s worth of DC printing money – to then be delivered to their very many cronies.
A law that prints and then spends nearly one trillion dollars – should not be called anything like “The Inflation Reduction Act.”
We’ve almost reached that magical moment: DC has zero sense of irony – and now has near zero desire to hide it.
This evolution away from any pretense is well embodied in the realm of the Big Banks.
Remember this messaging?
Ending ‘Too Big To Fail (TBTF)’:
“President Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Act – the most sweeping reform of financial regulation since the New Deal….
“Ending ‘Too Big to Fail’ through enhanced supervision, higher capital levels, and market reforms.”
Dodd-Frank – was MUCH more government. As is always the case: Big Gov makes it harder to do business – on a sliding scale. The smaller you are – the more difficult Big Gov makes it for you.
Big Biz can afford Big Gov. Small businesses drown in it.
Who can more easily bear the MANY more regulations – and higher capital requirements? Big Banks – or small ones? Duh.
How Dodd-Frank Kills Small Banks and Chokes the U.S. Economy
DC MEANT “Too Big to Fail” – in the exact opposite way they SOLD “Too Big to Fail.”
Killing Off Community Banks: Intended Consequence of Dodd-Frank?
Of COURSE it was.
Dodd-Frank didn’t end TBTF – it ensconced and enshrined it.
A decade-plus later – Big Gov and its proponents care less and less about hiding their Big Bank-favoring intent.
‘Too Big to Fail’ – to ‘We Only Need 3 or 4 Banks’ – in 13 Years:
“Please forgive the dearth of details in the following – I was in the shower when it occurred:
“Last week, CNBC had a Big Investor guest. Nigh all of CNBC’s guests are Big Investors – or execs of the Big Businesses in which they invest.
“This person – or his interlocutor – said something along the lines of ‘We probably don’t need regional banks anymore. We could probably do well with just 3 or 4 Big Banks.’”
It turns out it was in fact show host – and longtime Big Bank sycophant – Andrew Ross Sorkin:
“CNBC ‘Squaw Box’ morning show host Andrew Ross Sorkin is always entertaining and informative – neither ever intentionally.
“Sorkin has a long and storied history of being one of the nigh-innumerable Big Media cheerleaders for the Big Government-Big Business fascist cabal that is murdering our nation.
Sorkin in 2009 wrote about the 2008 global financial disaster….
“‘Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System – and Themselves.’
“In which he serves as a suck-up quisling to the Big Government-Big Bank coterie that – with their monumental self-dealing housing crisis – for years destroyed our world.”
Meanwhile, DC STILL has a Too Big to Fail problem. Because DC never intended to actually fix its Too Big to Fail problem.
And their “solution” – is more heaping helpings of the exact same idiocy.
The Unfinished Business from the 2008 Financial Meltdown:
“It’s been 15 years since the 2008 financial crisis, and Washington is still fighting about the best way to prevent another banking meltdown.
“Lawmakers fretted on Capitol Hill today about a new proposal from bank regulators that’s designed to wrap up unfinished business from the crisis — most notably by requiring big financial institutions to hold more loss-absorbing capital in case of another blow up.
“To be clear, regulators have already done a lot to beef up bank defenses in the last decade and a half. Whether they’ve done enough is a different question.”
How dumb has this become? It’s too stupid even for a few Democrats:
“But these types of regulations are also really complex, so it’s not just about how much capital banks are required to have. It’s also: are there useful bank activities that will be curtailed as a result of this rule? This has been the steady drumbeat of Republican allies of the banking industry, but they’re also winning over some Democrats.”
And here’s where Big Gov advocate publication Pathetico – oops, I mean Politico – accidentally swerves into the truth:
“(Banks are) deeply interconnected with the government. For the biggest, most interconnected mega-banks, there is a dedicated team of examiners that advise on the strategic direction of the bank to ensure both that it is ‘safe and sound’ – that is, commercially viable – and that it isn’t endangering the financial safety of the U.S.”
Leftist-to-English Translation:
The “mega-banks” get “dedicated team(s) of (Big Gov) examiners” – so they can together warp Big Gov policy to exceed the Big Banks’ every desire.
Imagine tracing your hand on a piece of paper. Now imagine your hand is the entirety of your Big Bank business operations – no matter how obnoxious it may be – and the area outside the tracing is what Big Gov deems illegal.
Presto: You’ve just made EVERYTHING you are doing legal.
That is what the Big Banks get from their Big Gov “team(s) of examiners.”
Of course, small banks receive no such crony courtesy.
Because: As with all things DC – banks are in a cronyism arms race. Those who best bribe Big Gov – get the most favorable policy returns on investment.
And who can better and more generously bribe Big Gov? Big Banks – or their small competitors?
Duh.
Big Banks can afford Big Gov. Small banks drown in it.