Another bipartisan wonder for the big money boys
Hey look–the Senate found its long-lost “bipartisanship” today! Too bad it’s on behalf of one bad bill, and one defanged bill. Dave Dayen:
It’s unusual when the Senate passes one bill in a single day, but today they’ve passed two. And both are an indication of the seriousness of legislating in the modern age.
First, we have the JOBS Act, a bill that promises an impossible solution to an unrelated problem, which is a mask for its true agenda, to weaken investor protection rules to the benefit of Wall Street firms and corporations. If there’s an actual policy rationale for this deregulation I’ve yet to see it. That didn’t stop 73 Senators from voting to pass it today, after 300-plus members of the House voted for it previously…
The way this has generally worked in this Congress is that the Senate, for some reason, accepts the House version. This is a change from the last Congress, where the Senate’s filibuster rules were seen as a reason for the House to have to take whatever the Senate would give them. Now the roles have been reversed. For example, the Senate also took up the STOCK Act today. They had previously passed a version and so did the House, but the House version eliminated two key provisions. One responded to a Supreme Court ruling and would allow prosecutions on “honest services fraud” to resume. The other would force “political intelligence” analysts, people paid to hang around Congress and find out information on upcoming legislation to report back to hedge funds, to register like other lobbyists. So the House and Senate versions were different. But instead of a conference committee, the Senate, reflecting a pattern, decided to just pass the House bill. And because the STOCK Act, the main thrust of which bans insider trading by members of Congress and their staffs, is broadly popular, that passed 96-3.
So what’s the common thread here? The JOBS Act, which does absolutely nothing but deregulate Wall Street, passes with one minor regulatory inclusion. The STOCK Act passes, but without two key provisions that have impact on… Wall Street. When Dick Durbin said that the banks “own the place,” you didn’t think that somehow stopped applying, did you?
The fruits of glorious bipartisanship, ladies and gentlemen.
Note to observers in the press: if a bill of consequence passes with broad bipartisan support, it’s usually bad or toothless legislation. Bipartisan bills are almost always worse than party-line bills.
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