McCain Steps Up To The Plate
Finally!!! John McCain has returned once again as the guy many Americans, including many in the media, fell in love with in 2000. McCain, a Republican, has joined forces with Maria Cantwell, a Democrat, to propose legislation to restore some sense of sanity to the banking system. Their idea isn't new; rather it is about 76 years old. By proposing such legislation, McCain is making the admission that at least part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal was effective. What is this proposal, you ask? (Ah, you DID ask, didn't you?) It is a proposal to reinstate the "Glass-Steagall Act of 1933." This law kept commercial banks in their traditional banking role. It prohibited banks from using depositors' money in casino-like ventures and investments. That role was left to investment banks. The law worked, too! It worked so well for decades that some "free market" conservative (libertarian?) politicians couldn't stand it! As wealthy investors (better known to me as, "the sit on their ass class") gained political strength since the early Reagan years, one of their best front men, Phil Gramm, a conservative Texas Democrat turned Republican, took a lead position in dismantling this regulatory law.
You remember Phil, don't you? About six months before the final plunge of the economy in 2008, old Phil declared that there was nothing wrong with the American economy except that "Americans are a bunch of whiners!" I tell ya, I was so hurt, I couldn't stop sobbing all day. With his statement all over the news, just days later old Phil stepped down as the chief economic advisor to the presidential campaign of.......John McCain!
Now, old Phil was not alone in his efforts to return the country to pre-Depression lack of regulation, no siree! Most, if not ALL, congressional Republicans voted for the measure, but they were joined by a number of Democrats, and enjoyed the support of the Clinton economic team, including one Larry Summers. Let's see...where have I heard that name lately? Oh! He's the Obama Administration's economic advisor!
At least McCain has seen the damage wrought by the lack of regulation and is now attempting to rectify matters. So, government DOES have a role! What is particularly troubling is that this rectification has not been sought by the current administration! I've been telling you folks, too many Wall Streeters in the Obama Administration!
Don't assume that the McCain-Cantwell proposal will pass both houses of Congress and be signed into law by the President, as that would make too much sense and be much too easy. The long arms of the bankers and the "sit on their ass class" will undoubtedly do just about anything to stop such common sense legislation, and they will rely heavily upon their many Republican allies to go to the mat for them; so, this is far from a done deal. Throw in some campaign contributions by the above mentioned to key congressional Democrats and this legislation may never make it onto the floor of either house. I've been preaching here for several years that WE have to step up and put the heat on the politicians of BOTH parties, in order to get our country back from the wealthy interests. With OUR help, maybe McCain and Cantwell can get this legislation passed. If that happens, I guess we can forgive McCain for giving old Phil such a high-level position in his presidential campaign. Now, as for forgiving him for selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate, NO WAY, Jose!
WORD HISTORY:
Tarnish-I can't trace this word back to some Indo European base, but I could swear I've seen such somewhere in the past. English got this word in the late 1500s from a form of French "ternir," which meant "dull, dim, lack brightness." This form had developed from French "terne," which meant "dark, dull, lacking brightness." French got the word from Frankish, a Germanic language/dialect. Old Germanic had "darnijaz," which had the notion of "conceal, hide, darken." This gave Old English "dyrnan," which meant "to conceal, to darken." (From what I found, another form in Old English, "dierne," meant "obscure.") In that same time period of long ago (600-800 A.D.), Old High German had "tarnjan," with the same basic meaning, and Old Saxon, the Germanic dialect that remained in northern Germany after part of the Saxons left for Britain, had "derni." It "seems" that the word form died out in English,* except for a distant relative form, "dark," and that English acquired our modern form "tarnish" from French. Modern German still uses the basic form as "tarnen," which means "to camouflage, disguise." In English, the verb form came first, followed by the noun about a hundred years later.
* I say "seems," because one never knows about these things, as many common people could not read nor write in those times, but old words long abandoned by the educated folks remained in use by these people, often in relatively isolated rural areas.
You remember Phil, don't you? About six months before the final plunge of the economy in 2008, old Phil declared that there was nothing wrong with the American economy except that "Americans are a bunch of whiners!" I tell ya, I was so hurt, I couldn't stop sobbing all day. With his statement all over the news, just days later old Phil stepped down as the chief economic advisor to the presidential campaign of.......John McCain!
Now, old Phil was not alone in his efforts to return the country to pre-Depression lack of regulation, no siree! Most, if not ALL, congressional Republicans voted for the measure, but they were joined by a number of Democrats, and enjoyed the support of the Clinton economic team, including one Larry Summers. Let's see...where have I heard that name lately? Oh! He's the Obama Administration's economic advisor!
At least McCain has seen the damage wrought by the lack of regulation and is now attempting to rectify matters. So, government DOES have a role! What is particularly troubling is that this rectification has not been sought by the current administration! I've been telling you folks, too many Wall Streeters in the Obama Administration!
Don't assume that the McCain-Cantwell proposal will pass both houses of Congress and be signed into law by the President, as that would make too much sense and be much too easy. The long arms of the bankers and the "sit on their ass class" will undoubtedly do just about anything to stop such common sense legislation, and they will rely heavily upon their many Republican allies to go to the mat for them; so, this is far from a done deal. Throw in some campaign contributions by the above mentioned to key congressional Democrats and this legislation may never make it onto the floor of either house. I've been preaching here for several years that WE have to step up and put the heat on the politicians of BOTH parties, in order to get our country back from the wealthy interests. With OUR help, maybe McCain and Cantwell can get this legislation passed. If that happens, I guess we can forgive McCain for giving old Phil such a high-level position in his presidential campaign. Now, as for forgiving him for selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate, NO WAY, Jose!
WORD HISTORY:
Tarnish-I can't trace this word back to some Indo European base, but I could swear I've seen such somewhere in the past. English got this word in the late 1500s from a form of French "ternir," which meant "dull, dim, lack brightness." This form had developed from French "terne," which meant "dark, dull, lacking brightness." French got the word from Frankish, a Germanic language/dialect. Old Germanic had "darnijaz," which had the notion of "conceal, hide, darken." This gave Old English "dyrnan," which meant "to conceal, to darken." (From what I found, another form in Old English, "dierne," meant "obscure.") In that same time period of long ago (600-800 A.D.), Old High German had "tarnjan," with the same basic meaning, and Old Saxon, the Germanic dialect that remained in northern Germany after part of the Saxons left for Britain, had "derni." It "seems" that the word form died out in English,* except for a distant relative form, "dark," and that English acquired our modern form "tarnish" from French. Modern German still uses the basic form as "tarnen," which means "to camouflage, disguise." In English, the verb form came first, followed by the noun about a hundred years later.
* I say "seems," because one never knows about these things, as many common people could not read nor write in those times, but old words long abandoned by the educated folks remained in use by these people, often in relatively isolated rural areas.
Labels: banking regulation, Democrats, English, etymology, French, Germanic languages, Glass-Steagall Act, John McCain, Obama Administration, Republicans, Wall Street
posted by Randy at 10:50 AM
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