Jim Himes pranked.
Jim Himes got pranked by a Represent.us activist. Jim Himes (D-CT) was embarrassed when he was videoed talking to a fake lobbyist thanking him for cosponsoring H.R. 992, Swaps Regulatory Improvement Act. This is the type of action that is required on a massive scale to disinfect the corruption out of Washington.
Wall Street continues their attempt to soften the Dodd-Frank legislation that placed more controls on it after they tanked the world’s economy. The New York Times reported in May that,
Bank lobbyists are not leaving it to lawmakers to draft legislation that softens financial regulations. Instead, the lobbyists are helping to write it themselves.
One bill that sailed through the House Financial Services Committee this month — over the objections of the Treasury Department — was essentially Citigroup’s, according to e-mails reviewed by The New York Times. The bill would exempt broad swathes of trades from new regulation.
In a sign of Wall Street’s resurgent influence in Washington, Citigroup’s recommendations were reflected in more than 70 lines of the House committee’s 85-line bill. Two crucial paragraphs, prepared by Citigroup in conjunction with other Wall Street banks, were copied nearly word for word. (Lawmakers changed two words to make them plural.)
The Obama administration is opposed to the weakening of the legislation.
It is commendable that Represent.us is targeting politicians to root money out of politics. It is at best suspect however that they would target a Democratic co-sponsor as opposed to the Republican sponsor of the bill. This is especially worrisome since middle class centric bills have not been allowed a vote in this Congress while this bill has.
In a HuffPost Live interview Josh Silver, director of Represent.us, says he targeted Jim Hines because he is a former Wall Street Goldman Sachs executive. He said that guys like Jim Himes do not generally suffer political backlash. He implies that this is the case because Democrats are not generally associated as the party of Wall Street.
Represent.us must ensure that going forward it concentrates on those with the power to effect legislation. While they needed to point out that many Democrats and Republicans are on the take, singling out a Democrat that is inconsequential within the legislative process in this Congress hurts their credibility. In fact, making the ills seem equal make the problem worse.
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