Politician introduces logical ‘Too Big to Fail, Too Big to Exist’ Act
Every once in a while, a politician does something logical and good for the country, and it’s amusing to watch Americans collectively furrow their brows as they gaze confused at an altruistic act. They stare at this do-gooder like he’s an alien, and when compared to the unproductive cash cows crowding the Congress, this Champion Of The People sort of is alien.
Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the “Too Big to Fail, Too Big to Exist Act” last week. In just two pages, he outlined a simple way to prevent a repeat of last year’s massive taxpayer-funded bailouts.
That’s two pages. That’s it. Anyone can read them over here (PDF). As Rachel Maddow pointed out, that’s two pages — in really big font! The language is simple to understand — clear even! — and provides a solution to a major flaw in the US economy.
This pure as snow bill stands in stark contrast to the House’s nearly 2,000-page health care reform bill, which was tainted from the start by corporate interests and Congressional donations from drug and insurance industries.
Sanders’s bill would give Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner 90 days to “submit to Congress a list of all commercial banks, investment banks, hedge funds and insurance companies that the Secretary believes are too big to fail.” Geithner would have one year to “break up entries listed on the Too Big To Fail List, so that their failure would no longer cause a catastrophic effect on the United States or global economy without a taxpayer bailout.”
That’s it. Of course, there are plenty of hurdles standing in the way of this bill creating lasting change. This is only one step in the right direction, but there also needs to be major regulations established in the Wild West system that permitted the reckless loans and over-leveraging by banking firms in the first place.
And naturally, Big Business will claim the bill impedes on their right to destroy the economy, and the lives of millions of Americans, but that’s a fight I would like to see banks, hedge funds, and insurance companies publicly wage with Sanders. Especially during these tumultuous economic times, there may be enough momentum behind Sanders for this bill to pass. Imagine that: a politician in Washington gets something good done. Wouldn’t that be amazing?
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This wonderful idea is probably Too Great to Succeed…
Two problems that will send this great idea to the Congressional Boot Hill. One Sanders is a socialist. Two, if you think the bill is short Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s list wouldn’t fit on a postage stamp.
And I thought that bills like this only existed in Frank Capra movies.
I’m amazed that it took so long for something like this to show up, but I’m more amazed that I hadn’t thought of something like it!
We’ll see how this goes…
Nicely done, Congressman Sanders. Now, can you exercise influence to move the bill beyond symbolism? I used to serve my nation by reporting the truth, pre-Internet–as well as I could discern the truth–from Washington, D.C., for newspaper readers. It appears the words I wrote back then did little to improve the performance of Congress as a whole or individual members of Congress. Here is a truth that will perhaps never come true: So many members of Congress are unwilling to vote for the public good because of their personal greed that only one development will change the institution’s behavior. That development? Voters in each of the 435 House districts, and across each state regarding senators, must somehow band together and eject greedy incumbents from the Capitol Building. That goes for Democrats and Republicans. Greed can be measured, starting with acceptance by politicians of campaign contributions from donors who care nothing the public good. Learning the identities of such donors is easily accomplished by voters who care. Right now in a typical election, almost every incumbent wins, no matter how greedily he/she has acted day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. Members of Congress are unlikely to act for the public good as long as they are almost certain to win re-election, even as they screw the majority of their constituents.