K Street Remains the Fourth Branch of Government

Just goes to show how lobbying reform hasn't gone anywhere near far
enough:

href="http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/10/guest-post-bank-lobbyists-not-only-trying-to-kill-new-regulations-they-are-trying-to-weaken-existing-regulations.html">Bank
Lobbyists Are Not Only Trying to Kill NEW Legislation, They Are Trying
to Weaken EXISTING Regulations

By George Washington of href="http://www.washingtonsblog.com/">Washington's Blog.

Everyone knows that the lobbyists for the financial giants are trying
to kill any tough new regulations.



But they are also trying to weaken existing regulations.



Specifically, Robert Borosage notes:



    The [derivatives] bill that the House will consider
on Wednesday creates a clearinghouse, not a publicly managed exchange.
It also allows banks to decide that a deal is so unique that it needn't
be posted on the clearinghouse. The best experts in the field -- like
Michael Greenberger of the University of Maryland -- warn that the
legislation might end up WEAKENING current law. That is no small
achievement, because, as we saw in the collapse of AIG, current law is
toothless...

This version appeared on Naked
Capitalism.  The full post has all the sausage-y details,
including a mention of the Democratic congressperson who is leading the
charge to weaken financial oversight, who happens to have gotten more
than two million dollars from the finance, insurance, and real estate
(FIRE) businesses and coalitions. 

Barry Ritholtz (The Big Picture) has more, just in case you're feeling
the need for
another kick in the head: href="http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/why-financial-reform-died-banks-run-congress/">Why
Financial Reform Died: "Banks Run Congress.  A groovy
interactive graphic, showing the same thing in greater detail, is at href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124396078596677535.html#articleTabs%3Dinteractive">WSJ.



Open Secrets tallies the FIRE lobbying expenditures and href="http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2009/02/tarp-recipients-paid-out-114-m.html">calculates
the return on the investment: 258,449 percent.



And to illustrate a perverse oddity: href="http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/10092009/watch.html">Simon
Johnson (Baseline Scenario) shows how the US Chamber of Commerce is
lobbying against the interest of its own membership: href="http://baselinescenario.com/2009/10/15/the-chamber-of-commerce-has-it-backwards/#more-5233">The
Chamber of Commerce Has It Backwards.