Fiscal Cliff

the problem is that this compounds the crisis in confidence in the system and those who run it which is the cause of this global economic crisis which is going on 5 years old...

You want a regulatory presence to a level that pre-guesses how the banking and mortgage industry is going to attempt to squeeze money out of the masses?

Not me. I'm much more in line with the "buyer beware" side of the spectrum.

The number one thing holding back our nation's recovery has been an insufficient examination of banks and their lending policies - both in terms of reasonable restrictions and the fundamental purpose of these institutions in the first place. We should start off by re-instating Glass-Steagal immediately and get housing lenders out of the stock speculation market.

Cycloptichorn

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert defended the so-called "Hastert Rule" Thursday by arguing that without it, the House speaker is no longer in power. Commenting on House Speaker John Boehner's decision to introduce the fiscal cliff deal without support from a majority of Republicans -- thus breaking the rule -- Hastert said on Fox News Radio that Boehner was on a dangerous path toward giving up his powers.

"Maybe you can do it once, maybe you can do it twice, but when start making deals, when you have to get Democrats to pass the legislation, you are not in power anymore," Hastert said. "When you start passing stuff that your members are not in line with, all of a sudden your ability to lead is in jeopardy because somebody else is making decisions. The president is making decisions, [House Minority Leader Nancy] Pelosi is making decisions, or they are making the decisions in the Senate. All tax bills and all spending bills under the Constitution start in the house. When you give up that responsibility you really give up your responsibility to govern, and that is the problem.”

January 3, 2013
Boehner Re-Elected Speaker Despite Dissent
By JONATHAN WEISMAN

WASHINGTON — Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio was re-elected speaker of the House on Thursday despite some unrest among Republicans about his handling of the fiscal negotiations with the White House and his decision to call off a vote on hurricane relief.

As the 113th Congress convened just after noon, Mr. Boehner weathered some protest votes from the rank and file to defeat Representative Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader, by a vote of 220 to 192. Other candidates drew a total of 14 votes.

“Public service was never meant to be an easy living,” an emotional Mr. Boehner said after he took the gavel from Ms. Pelosi, referring to the tough decisions facing Congress. “Extraordinary challenges demand extraordinary leadership.”

But in a long, pomp-filled roll call vote, nine Republicans voted against Mr. Boehner, and a handful of members refused to vote, signaling that divisions among House Republicans would continue from the 112th Congress into the 113th.

Some Republican conservatives registered their disapproval with the speaker by voting for others like Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the No. 2 House Republican, as well as Allen West, the fiery conservative from Florida who lost his seat in the November election.

“I think it was a vote of no confidence,” said Representative Tim Huelskamp, Republican of Kansas, who voted for Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, a conservative Republican. “In this town the intimidation was intense. There were a lot of members who wanted to vote no.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/04/us/politics/new-congress-begins-with-wishes-of-comity-but-battles-ahead.html?hp

Re: JPB (Post 5216666)
Apparently Hastert sees the House as an American version of Britain's Commons where it's the business of one party to write all the laws, rather than seeing it as it was designed -- a deliberative body, bringing together views from across America and the political spectrum.