I can understand why congress approaches developing financial regulations the way they do. It’s a huge, complicated task. Think for a moment about some big project that you’re facing at work. You don’t try to do it all yourself, you get help. You bring in a horde of temps to handle the small stuff and you contract out the bigger, more complicated tasks. Why should it be any different for congress?
The House is currently writing rules to govern derivative trading by mega-banks. As part of the Dodd-Frank law, it’s tasked with regulating a $700 trillion dollar market that exists largely in the shadows. So, just like any business would do, people in Congress are bringing in outside help.
If you could be a fly on the wall in the halls of Congress, chances are good you’d hear a conversation like this.
Democrat: “Hey Bob, I heard we’re writing derivatives rules. Man, that’s gonna be a big one.”
Republican: “Don’t worry about it. It’s taken care of, we brought in some help.”
Democrat: “Oh, that’s reassuring. Who?”
Republican: “A firm called Crook, Line, and Stinker.”
Democrat: “Who are they?”
Republican: “They’re a lobbying firm that works for Citigroup. I just heard that the bill is gonna be 85 lines long. Guess how many lines are cut-and-pasted from Citigroup’s boys?”
Democrat: “I dunno. Five?”
Republican: “Seventy. Are these guys good or what? Cuts our workload down considerably. High five!”
Democrat: “That’s awesome. So what do I need to do?”
Republican: “Just show up and vote for the bill when it’s done. And then wait for your check.”
Democrat: “Cool. Hey, who are you going with when we name that new Post Office? Bieber or Tebow?”
Don’t worry. Be happy. This is all going to work out just fine.
This has all the markings of politics.
Crook, Line and Stinker. Good one!
Yep. Sounds about right.