Bob Beers
Canada Free Press
5/17/2010
Most people are unaware that a little-remembered bit of legislation known as the Banking Act of 1933 was a law that established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in the United States and introduced banking reforms, some of which were designed to control speculation. It is most commonly known as the Glass–Steagall Act, after its legislative sponsors, Carter Glass and Henry B. Steagall.
The act prevented banks from becoming too powerful and also prevented them from banding together into the vast monopolies that preceded the Wall Street collapse of 1929. This control that Glass-Steagall placed onto the financial markets kept the US economy from collapsing utterly during the years of the Carter Incompetency and, even though weakened by Jimmy Carter in 1980, allowed it to recover almost overnight when Reagan’s policies undid the Carter damages. Unfortunately for us and for the world, Barrack Hussein Obama and his ACORN conspiracy came along.
Some provisions of the Act, such as Regulation Q, which allowed the Federal Reserve to regulate interest rates in savings accounts, were repealed by the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980. This allowed the slow rebuilding of alliances and the creation of false interests with little relation to real world economics. Provisions that prohibit a bank holding company from owning other financial companies were repealed on November 12, 1999, by the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act. That act opened the door to the abuses and foolishness that eventually led to last year’s economic collapse.
In mid-December of 2009, Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona and Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington State jointly proposed re-enacting the Glass-Steagall Act. A similar move was also put forth in Congress. Understandably Banks such as Bank of America, Chase and others are adamantly opposed, even though such regulation would stabilize a shaky economy. When the privilege of absolute freedom is abused to the point of crime, measures have to be taken.
What is surprising is that Senator Cantwell is getting incredible pressure from the White House to recant her stand and oppose the re-enactment of Glass-Steagall. That colors everything a different shade of puce, for if the White House is against something that means, even though it is a form of regulation, it must somehow be detrimental to the socialist agenda. This bears investigation.
The article continues at Canada Free Press.
Bob L. Beers was a member of the Nevada Assembly representing District 21 in Clark County, Nevada.
