Phil Gramm, McCain's economic adviser pushed through a bill that deregulated swaps - insurance policies covering the losses on securities in the event of a default.
"These unregulated swaps have been at the heart of the subprime meltdown. I happen to think Gramm did not know what he was doing. I don't think a member in Congress had read the 262-page bill or had thought of the cataclysm it would cause."
--Michael Greenberger, former Director of CTFC division of trading & markets
But how did Gramm get this into legislation? He did it deceptively. He bundled it into a must-pass omnibus spending bill and slipped it in at the last possible minute during the Bush v. Gore standoff at the very end of the Clinton Administration.
Gramm was also heavily connected to Enron. Enron was a generous contributor to Gramm. Gramm's bill exempted energy trading from regulatory oversight, allowing Enron to run rampant, wreck the California electricity market, and cost consumers billions before it collapsed. And this is the kicker... 8 years earlier, his wife, Wendy Gramm, as CFTC chairwoman, pushed through a rule excluding Enron's energy futures contracts from government oversight. Wendy later joined Eron's board, and in the following years her Enron salary and stock income brought between $915,000 and $1.8 million into the Gramm household.
Yea, lets talk history.
Let's talk about "Foreclosure Phil" Gramm, Carly "Golden Parachute" Fiorina, and Rick "Freddie Mac" Warren - ALL McCain campaign advisers, the people who will be guiding the McCain economic policy ... because the old man says he doesn't know much about it.
Relevant history.
2 comments:
Great debate, and thankfully the subject of Bill Ayres did not come up...McCain must be leaving the specifics of character assassination to RNC idol Mad Dog Palin. Probably a good decision, that, as there isn't much else that she's proven the ability to do...(...think,..., etc.).
democommie:
Well said...?
Well read...!
Thanks.
Saving space for Repubs, then, I'll Liberally speak, just not speak so... liberally!
Way to Go, Barack! He once again mastered walking those eggshells tonight, and that should serve as very good news for those of us that actually care about our nation, as well as the fellow citizens whom we hope will vote in their best interests -- this time around.
William:
I saw a piece about McCain's time as a POW (supposedly from the Moscow Post) saying he spent much of that time in Russia. It has the whiff of bs to me, but I'm just passing it along.
democommie
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