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So we all piled into the hotel bar last night and turned on our PDAs and laptops and basically did what we do at home. This despite not seeing one another generally. And it was loud and chaotic and I’m working on a few hours sleep. So I don’t have a whole lot to say yet about the primary results.
I will say one thing: The conventional wisdom has hardened that Blanche Lincoln’s nomination victory means that her derivatives language, including the Section 716 language for spinning off prop trading desks from the mega-banks, has a better chance of surviving. But she didn’t write the bill, and she didn’t defend it while she was in the middle of a primary. So who’s to say she’ll defend it now? There are enough different parts of the derivatives title, and people are confused enough about what it does, for her to claim “victory” even if Section 716 goes away. She took credit for the entire Wall Street bill during the runoff election, and as long as something passes she’ll take credit for whatever that is.
Our role is to explain what exactly ends up in the bill, so she cannot get away with such lies. But I don’t know how successful that enterprise will be.
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I’ll buy everyone at FDL a copy of Sheldin Wolin’s Democracy Inc if Lincoln’s derivatives lingo ends up in the final bill.
cnbc pundits say (drum roll): no.
Sorry, but Lincoln has already gotten away with lies of enormous proportions – like her victory speech proclaiming her vote isn’t for sale. Anyone who believes that is either too stupid to find their way home or hasn’t been paying attention.
I spent two years in NW Arkansas some decades ago and discovered there were a lot of ignorant knuckledraggers living there, as in a sign outside Siloam Springs proclaiming “N****r don’t let the sun set on you.” Guess nothing has changed.
I’d put the odds somewhere between no and hell no.
The other side of the pretend to fix this is represented by Mr. Frank who has no intention of doing anything useful with respect to regulating derivatives. Nor is Obama doing any more than the standard posturing on the issue. There’s a lot of money to be made insuring your neighbor’s house against being burned down and money buys trinkets like lawmaker’s votes.
Only .005 % will care, and only part of them will understand it.
Jon Walker has a fresh cross-post already in progress: CA Voters Nix Baby Step on Public Financing, Pass Game-Changing Primary System
Much will depend on whether or not certain entities realize she’s a no-hoper (being down 20 points and all, and with her best friends in the primary now about to desert her and go back to the Republican tent, taking their checkbooks with them), or if they’re so intent on going down with her sinking ship that they defend her even though she has a (largely unearned) “D” in front of her name.
Now that Lincoln has won the primary, we need to help keep the derivatives provisions in the Wall Street reform bill powerful. These derivatives provisions are the strongest significant piece of the bill. Don’t let Wall Street lobbyists take this out! Take some time to help change the future of Wall Street by checking out this Public Citizen website to tell your members of congress to continue the fight http://bit.ly/bfZMQJ.