As the news media today sings of Obama, Reid, and Pelosi defeating Wall Street, here are some facts and thoughts to keep in mind:
While the credit union lobby is still denouncing the bill, Wall Street’s lobby is not raising a fuss. The hedge fund lobby, which has greased the skids with lots of cash to Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats, is basically applauding the bill. The bill leaves all the important details up to regulators, and as Tom Coburn puts it today, “Harvey Pitt, a former chairman of the SEC, aptly calls the bill “The Lawyers’ and Lobbyists’ Full Employment Act.” The coming regulatory scramble will undoubtedly pit smaller firms against larger firms and will favor the big firms.” Case in point: Jones Day, a firm representing Citi, Goldman, GE, and JP Morgan, just hired the chief counsel at the SEC’s enforcement division.
As Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein said, Goldman “will be among the biggest beneficiaries of reform.”