Effort to Reform Finance Instead Turning into a Coup by Banksters

By Yves at naked capitalism:

I am not sure whether Potemkin reform is worse than no reform at all, except the latter makes it abundantly clear that America is in the hands of a corrupt plutocratic elite.

The latest, from the Huffington Post, is that the normal flurry of last minute amendments to gut legislation has gone one step further, in the case of H.R. 4173: Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009. As Huffington Post reports:

A group of Democrats friendly to Wall Street interests forced a delay in consideration of the landmark financial regulatory reform bill scheduled to hit the House floor on Wednesday, Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) told reporters in the Speaker’s lobby.

Frank accused the New Democrat Coalition of blocking the bill because its members are being prodded by big banks to abolish the Consumer Financial Protection Agency and to allow major financial institutions to avoid state laws tougher than federal regulations.

A Democratic leadership aide confirmed that centrist and conservative Democrats are threatening to vote no on the bill, leaving the caucus short of the needed votes

“The big banks in particular are trying to get more preemption,” said Frank. “It’s a state-consumer battle with the big banks. We want compromise. They want to offer an amendment that makes it easier to preempt state consumer laws.”

Gutting state authority over banking rules would deliver banks a victory, the polar reverse of the objective of this exercise, which is to rein the banksters in....MORE

I bolded the 'corrupt plutocratic elite', it will probably become a meme.