"When this potentially historic agreement is finalized," Clinton said in a
statement, "it will strengthen the economy and help consumers, communities and
businesses across America."
Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers said in an interview, "At the end of
the 20th century, we will at last be replacing an archaic set of restrictions
with a legislative foundation for a 21st-century financial system." The measure,
he added, "would provide significant benefits to the national economy."
Please note that Mr. Lawrence H. Summers is mentioned above and what he
said. Please note also that Representative James A. Leach of Iowa who is
mentioned in this article is also the James Leach who is the head of the
Republicans for Obama that gave a speech at the Democratic Convention this year
and he is also named as co-author on the Gramm Bill.
Next from the article we have Christopher Dodd and Charles E. Schumer
mentioned as to the forced compromise between Gramm and the White House. Notice
who was pushing for inclusion of lending to minorities not Mr. Gramm.
The breakthrough in Friday's legislation came in a backroom meeting at the
Capitol soon after midnight, when a group of moderate Senate Democrats -- led by
Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Charles E. Schumer of New York -- forced a
compromise between Gramm and the White House over the legislation's effect on
the Community Reinvestment Act, a 1977 anti-discrimination law intended to
encourage lending to minorities and others historically denied access to
credit.
Dodd, whose state is home to the nation's largest insurance companies, and
Schumer, with strong ties to Wall Street, have long sought legislation to repeal
the Glass-Steagall Act. Both men said in interviews Friday that they moved to
strike a compromise after it became apparent that the legislation might be
killed, as it was last year by Gramm, over the debate about the Community
Reinvestment Act.
Once again we have Mr. Laurence Summers name coming
up.
The White House had insisted that the President would veto any legislation
that would scale back minority-lending requirements. Four days of intense
negotiations between Summers, Gene Sperling, the President's top economic policy
adviser, and Gramm, while moving the two sides closer, failed to resolve the
differences.
Such was the state of play Thursday evening when Gramm decided to force the
issue by having the House-Senate conference committee vote on his proposed
compromise, which the White House had already rejected for failing to block
banks with bad lending records from expanding to new businesses.
When Gramm's measure was defeated by one vote, it quickly became clear that
there would be no law unless Gramm could get some Democrats to break from the
White House.
But Administration officials had spent all day making sure that the Democrats
remained solidly against the measure until their concerns about the Community
Reinvestment Act could be worked out.
After receiving calls from executives of some of the nation's leading
financial companies, Dodd and Schumer began trying to work out a compromise. An
agreement was quickly reached on the issue of banks and expanded powers -- no
institution would be allowed to move into any new lines of business without a
satisfactory lending record.
Please read the whole article.
Gramm had maintained that he did not want anything in the bill
that would expand the application of the Community Reinvestment Act because it
was, he said, unnecessarily burdensome to banks. He had sought a provision that
would exempt thousands of smaller banks from the law. He also wanted a provision
that would expose what he has described as the "extortion" committed by
community groups against banks by requiring the groups to disclose any special
financial deals the groups extract from the banks
Next I have as a reference a Press Room release from
November 12, 1999.
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/ls241.htm
Please
note that it contains the words of Sec. Summers at the signing of the Gramm
bill.
SEC. SUMMERS: Let me
welcome you all here today for the signing of this historic legislation. With
this bill, the American financial system takes a major step forward towards the
21st century, one that will benefit American consumers, business, and the
national economy for many years to come. This is the culmination of years of
effort by many, many people, reflects the work of presidents, Treasury
officials, members of Congress, those in the private sector, from both parties,
and dedicated professionals, both inside and outside the government. With their
help, I believe we have all found the right framework for America's future
financial system.
I want especially to thank
the members of Congress who played so crucial a role in passing this
legislation, thank the key regulators and the agencies they represent --
Chairman Greenspan and the Federal Reserve, Chairman Levitt and the SEC,
Comptroller Hawke and the OCC, Ms. Seidman (sp) and the OTS -- for all that they
have contributed to bringing us to this point. And I want to thank especially my
predecessor, Bob Rubin, who cared deeply that we get this bill right, and
finally, my many
I know much has been said about Phil Gramm being the sole architect of
this bill but it would be worth reporting at this date
that the Obama campaign has as it's top economic advisors and is planning
to use as it's economic advisors some of the
same people who created the mess we now have. Bob Rubin who is mentioned
in the above paragraph is at this time also
one of Obama's advisors.
Should you not report on this so the American public knows before
election day that the very people who helped to bring down
this house of cards on all of us will be in charge of our country should
Obama be elected. It looks to me as if an Obama
presidents would be putting the foxes in charge of the hen
house.