PRESS RELEASE
Wall Street in Non-Stop Freak-Out Over Glass-Steagall in Party Platforms and Prospects
July 29, 2016 (EIRN)—Wall Street/City of London is in a desperate state of non-stop freak-out over the presence of Glass-Steagall in the two party platforms, and the prospect of its coming into being. At the Democrat gathering in Philadelphia, a convoy of black stretch-limousines pulled up at one point, to discharge a phalanx of pin-stripers, who moved in on the VIP section, and numbers of other targetted delegates. The financial media activation is wild.
The American Banker put out two articles, in sequence today, both from the vantage point of trying to play-down that any one really supports it. The headlines indicate the slant. The first was, "Dem Lawmakers Grapple with Calls to Bring Back Glass-Steagall." Several hours later came an hysterical follow-up piece, "How Glass Steagall Crashed the 2016 Conventions." The piece began, "The Glass Steagall Act of 1933 was an unexpected and prominent part of the Democratic and Republican conventions this year, as both parties added a call to reinstate the law as part of their party platforms. But that will be easier said than done, considering that lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have shown little interest in the idea..."
The Wall Street Journal ran an editorial today, "Glass-Steagall-Trump-Clinton Act," with the sub-head, "The GOP joins Sanders and Warren in pointless re-regulation." Beginning by asking, "what does it mean" that both parties call for reinstating the Glass Steagall Act of 1933, the editorial then gives the answer. "It means that as both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton pursue Bernie Sanders voters, they can be equally irrelevant to our current financial era." The Urinal asserts that the absence of Glass Steagall was not factor in the 2008 crisis, and it is not needed now.
Barney Frank, the former House member responsible for Dodd-Frank, was put on the spot on the topic, in a July 27 interview on WNYC in Manhattan, on the Brian Lehrer morning program. Frank tap-danced around the Glass-Steagall point, by holding forth on the idea of modifying mega-banks, case by case. He lied that, this kind of tinkering, is what the adjective "21st Century"-type Glass Steagall means in the Democratic Party platform! That is, the sleazeball meant that it does not stand for the Congressional bill by the very same name. He said, we’re talking about a "set of rules for irresponsible practices...," not the original Glass Steagall. Frank, a Clinton adviser, was booed at the convention the first day.
"Glass-Steagall May Survive The U.S. Presidential Race," is a July 28 article on the FTF—Financial Technologies Forum—website, by chief content editor, Eugene Grygo. His superficial review plays down the significance of Glass Steagall in the platforms, and backs the idea of "financial services reform" at some vague time in the future.
