White House and Wall Street Freak Out as Glass-Steagall Issue Surfaces Everywhere

The White House is feeling the heat of the growing support for the Glass-Steagall bill in the Senate—and so is Wall Street, as shown in a series of articles and statements.

Late Friday, The Hill published an article titled, “White House distances itself from Glass-Steagall push,” quoting White House spokesman Josh Earnest praising Wall Street and the fraudulent piece of garbage called Dodd-Frank. When asked whether Obama supports the Glass-Steagall bill, Earnest replied that the administration is “still focused on implementing the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform law,” reported The Hill.

“’Wall Street reform has been incredibly effective at reforming our financial system in a way that looks out for the interests of the middle-class families and taxpayers,’ he said.”

The media is piling on stories about Glass-Steagall, showing both support and the Wall Street freakout.

The infamous PIMCO investment company ran a mini-manifesto on July 16 called, “Reinstating Glass-Steagall Is a Really, Really Bad Idea,” saying that Glass-Steagall “would not have prevented the last financial crisis. But reinstating it might make the next one even worse.” The first legislator the PIMCO attacks in the article is Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) for his statements and interviews explaining how Glass-Steagall would protect bank depositors and the U.S. economy. Next, PIMCO goes after Sen. Elizabeth Warren and other Glass-Steagall co-sponsors.

The liberal Huffington Post—taking off on former President Bill Clinton’s apology about mandatory sentencing, has an article today called, “Bill Clinton Is Sorry for a Lot of Things,” announcing, “As president, Bill Clinton was wrong about Wall Street deregulation…” and plays up that he “turned a blind eye to big banks when he repealed FDR’s Glass-Steagall Act” and the Commodity Futures Modernization Act; it also highlights his 2010 apology for that “mistake.”

“In 2010, Clinton said his decision to exempt derivatives from regulation was shortsighted and … he should not have listened to his economic advisers who urged him to do it.”

“’I was wrong to take [their advice],’” Huff Post quotes Clinton saying.

In the Boston Herald, July 17, financial specialist Rick Shaffer says that even though he totally agrees that “a large part of the reason for the Great Depression was the fact that commercial banks were in essence allowed to gamble with their depositor’s money,” the chances are “slim” that Glass-Steagall will be revived because of the massive power of the mega-banks’ lobbying. Reinstating Glass-Steagall has only “a snowball’s chance,” but that could change when “consumers realize they are the most powerful” force in the country, Shaffer says.