Get
ready for the next fight as the President and the Democratic controlled
Congress attempt to try and fix the mess that nearly brought down
the entire economic system that has placed millions of people out
of their houses, jobs, savings and etc. Republicans
met with banking association representatives recently about the
Financial Services Bills working their way through the House and
Senate and came away dedicated to defeating them any way they could.
The
pain caused by the economic crisis finds most Americans favoring
the need for financial services reform, but Republicans have turned
on their message machine to fight it. For example, a
$50 billion fund was put in the Senate version to have banks pay
for their own bailout if they fail, rather than the U.S. Treasury. You
would think that is a good thing for those who faulted the government
for bailing out the banks, but the Republicans have said that it
insures future failures and bailouts because the money is there. They
have also called the effort of the government to regulate banks
that are �too big to fail� extending �more government intervention
into the private sector.� The lack of regulation by Republicans
created the crisis in the first place, but they don�t seem to care
if it happens again.
It
is interesting that the Tea Party folks who are supposed to be the
ultimate fiscal conservatives are so mad at the government bank
bailouts but they haven�t turned on the Republicans. This
is partly because the latest CBS
News, New York Times poll says that they are Republicans and that they hold the
Congress responsible for the crisis rather than George Bush. Call
it what it is, a convenient dodge.
The
same poll found that about 20% of Republicans belong to the Tea
Party and that nearly all dislike President Obama, many thinking
that he is a Socialist, not born in this Country, and that he is
building a big government, getting away from their idea of what
America has been � and they want it back. They also feel
that too much attention has been given to problems facing blacks
and that Obama�s policies have favored blacks over whites. However,
they must have been under a rock somewhere and couldn�t hear the
complaint of blacks who say that, in fact, he has not paid much
attention them and their needs. So, one wonders where
these beliefs are coming from since, facts are not important.
These
beliefs seems to be coming from a group that is largely over 45
years old, steeped in the values that privileged traditional white
dominant race-relations in the past, carrying the large weight of
a Southern resentment toward Blacks. This was hinted
at by Governor Haley Barbour who was interviewed about Virginia
Governor Robert McDonnell�s proclamation of Confederate History
Month that left out slavery. Barbour�s view was that
this wasn�t very important. This signals that these
beliefs are coming from key leaders of the Republican party, helping
to embolden and legitimize the race-haters.
The
fact is that just like the Health Care fight, the attitudes of the
Right have little to do with the fine points of legislation they
oppose, rather what they oppose is a government run by a black man. So,
the fight takes place in coded massages like �smaller government.� Well,
The Wall Street Journal considers the extension of unemployment
insurance to be �welfare� and Tea Partiers think it means the
same thing as the old Aid to Families with Dependent Children they
think still exists. The ignorance of this crowd
makes it dangerous.
So,
the fight over financial services will liven up but don�t forget
that there is a Consumer Protection Agency in the new Bills that
would protect Americans from unfair and deceptive practices from
financial products. It would create a consumer hot-line
and monitor rates that banks could charge on mortgage loans and
credit cards, ending secret fees charged by financial institutions
and etc. This is a reason to keep one�s eye on
the ball and not be sucked into the trap laid by the arguments that
will go on over other aspects of financial regulation.
Just
like the Health Care fight, Republicans want Democrats to scrap
the existing legislation and �start over� in order to achieve a
�bi-partisan bill.� But they
have no intention of the sort; they want to kill financial regulations,
deprive the administration of another win and nationalize the fall
campaign. Already, we are hearing that they will
create a new �Contract on America� similar to that Newt Gingrich
and company used in the Republican revolution of 1994. This
time, however, if enough people really understand that they could
care less about resolving their problems, it may not work.
BlackCommentator.com Editorial Board member, Dr. Ron Walters,PhD is a
Political Analyst, Author and Professor Emeritus of the University
of Maryland, College Park. His latest book is: The Price of Racial Reconciliation (The Politics of Race and Ethnicity) (University
of Michigan Press). Click here to
contact Dr. Walters. |