The fix is in. Democrats are planning to remove Blanche Lincoln’s provision on derivatives after her primary on Tuesday, killing a crucial aspect of financial reform. Robert Reich calls this provision the "biggest battle of bank reform" and for good reason.
Before the crisis, Warren Buffett described derivatives as "financial weapons of mass destruction" that pose a "mega-catastrophic risk" not just for the firms involved but for the entire economy.
The fight is about whether to allow firms trading derivatives to continue to have their assets insured by the Fed. Under Lincoln’s proposal banks would have to spin off their derivatives business. The traditional commercial banking business could then be insured by taxpayers while the more risky and complicated derivatives business would fend for itself.
There are two sides to this battle. On one side are Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, Republican FDIC Chief Sheila Bair, former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, and of course the banks and most Republicans. On the other side are Joseph Stiglitz, former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, NYU economist Nouriel Roubini, and Americans for Financial Reform, which includes the AFL-CIO and the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).
What I find truly amazing about all this is how it exposes the bankers lobbying Congress for being shameless pigs feeding from the trough of government subsidies. Here’s Section 716, the Lincoln provision:
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/47935