# New chair of House Banking Committee: Gov't exists to "serve the banks" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 14, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127 "2010-12-14T16:19:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/1 "2010-12-14T16:19:37Z")
[Not making this up.](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/incoming-gop-chairman-congress-exists-serve-banks/) > [@](#): > > Alabama Republican Spencer Bachus, the incoming chairman of the House banking committee, suggested Congress and federal regulators should play a subservient role with banks. > > “In Washington, the view is that the banks are to be regulated, and my view is that Washington and the regulators are there to serve the banks,” Bachus told The Birmingham News in an interview. > > The Republican leadership last week designated Bachus the next chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, which is tasked with overseeing banks, financial markets, housing and consumer credit. Tell me, Congressman, do you **really** think that’s what all the GOP voters this year **really** thought they were voting for? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/2 "2010-12-14T16:23:27Z")
Of course, he was talking about the main-street banks – not those damned Wall Street banks that got the bailout. But I do wonder how he thinks that the banks’ customers fit into the scheme of bank regulation. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/3 "2010-12-14T16:55:43Z")
Just a standard Republican letting you know who he works for. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/4 "2010-12-14T17:28:48Z")
“It’s a COOKBOOK!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/5 "2010-12-14T17:33:09Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > “It’s a COOKBOOK!!!” Wait, there’s dust on the cover… ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/6 "2010-12-14T17:34:19Z")
The goverment serves the people - including the peoples’ businesses and companies. What’s wrong with that? Businesses and companies don’t serve the government. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/7 "2010-12-14T17:41:27Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > Businesses and companies don’t serve the government. No, they don’t. On the other hand, the regulators don’t exist to serve the banks. You can’t be subservient to an industry and regulate it. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/8 "2010-12-14T17:44:58Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > The goverment serves the people - including the peoples’ businesses and companies. What’s wrong with that? > > Businesses and companies don’t serve the government. Accurate, but if an organisation has some say in terms of regulation and control, then it’s not always a good idea for it to start off with a position of utter subservience. The government serves the people, as you say, but it serves _all_ people. If you focus on serving one group alone generally that means shafting everyone else to do so. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/9 "2010-12-14T17:47:34Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > You can’t be subservient to an industry and regulate it. Aren’t you forgetting the exemplary conduct of the Minerals Management Service ? Without their aid, Deepwater Horizon/Macondo Prospect would have been an impossibility! ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/10 "2010-12-14T17:48:07Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > The goverment serves the people - including the peoples’ businesses and companies. What’s wrong with that? > > Businesses and companies don’t serve the government. There are some businesses that serve the government, but setting that aside – Is bank regulation really just about serving the banks? Isn’t the basic aim of bank regulation making the banking system work better for the banks’ customers? (And those customers do include non-banking companies and businesses, as well as individuals.) It is worrying if a Congressman does not automatically assume that he’s really trying to help the banks’ customers, not the banks, even if helping the banks may often help their customers. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/11 "2010-12-14T17:54:25Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > No, they don’t. On the other hand, the regulators don’t exist to serve the banks. You can’t be subservient to an industry and regulate it. I would replace the word “don’t” with “shouldn’t”. This is exactly why the Fed exists today, and it’s been their role since the Reagan administration. Bailouts is what they do, and Wall Street knows it, which is why they have zero compunction about carrying out the most outrageously rapacious financial schemes to place us all in jeopardy. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/12 "2010-12-14T18:13:20Z")
It’s the new economic cycle. 1. Republicans take over government. 2. Republicans deregulate financial institutions. 3. Financial institutions start taking foolish risks. 4. Foolish risks pay off for awhile. 5. Republicans take all the credit for prosperity. 6. Democrats warn about dangers of foolish risks. 7. Republicans laugh at Democrats and say that this time is different and prosperity will never end. 8. Foolish risks turn sour and cause economic collapse. 9. Republicans protect their friends from consequences of collapse. 10. Republicans briefly held responsible for their actions. Democrats take over government. 11. Democrats address the consequences of economic collapse. 12. As soon as the worst is over, Republicans start complaining about the costs of recovery. Blame that on the Democrats. 13. Republicans receive lost of campaign money from financial institutions in return for promises of deregulation. 14. Return to step 1. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/13 "2010-12-14T18:25:16Z")
You left out (somewhere around 7) “Some Democrats give up, forget all they know about bubbles”. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/14 "2010-12-14T18:42:37Z")
[http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/bofa-pay-137-million-settle-claims-defrauded-schools-hospitals/](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/bofa-pay-137-million-settle-claims-defrauded-schools-hospitals/) Banks are fine corporate citizens who would never harm Americans. Just google banking fines and pages and pages come up. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/15 "2010-12-14T21:13:39Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > [http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/bofa-pay-137-million-settle-claims-defrauded-schools-hospitals/](http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/bofa-pay-137-million-settle-claims-defrauded-schools-hospitals/) Banks are fine corporate citizens who would never harm Americans. > Just google banking fines and pages and pages come up. Even worse, the fines are a tiny percentage of profits. It’s a ridiculous system as it now operates. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/16 "2010-12-14T22:38:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > It’s the new economic cycle. > > 1. Republicans take over government. > 2. Republicans deregulate financial institutions. > 3. Financial institutions start taking foolish risks. > 4. Foolish risks pay off for awhile. > 5. Republicans take all the credit for prosperity. > 6. Democrats warn about dangers of foolish risks. > 7. Republicans laugh at Democrats and say that this time is different and prosperity will never end. > 8. Foolish risks turn sour and cause economic collapse. > 9. Republicans protect their friends from consequences of collapse. > 10. Republicans briefly held responsible for their actions. Democrats take over government. > 11. Democrats address the consequences of economic collapse. > 12. As soon as the worst is over, Republicans start complaining about the costs of recovery. Blame that on the Democrats. > 13. Republicans receive lost of campaign money from financial institutions in return for promises of deregulation. > 14. Return to step 1. We are so fucked. With every passing day I’m more and more glad that I’m married to an EU citizen so I can move to Europe if it becomes necessary. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/17 "2010-12-14T22:39:50Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You left out (somewhere around 7) “Some Democrats give up, forget all they know about bubbles”. Just so the numbering doesn’t get thrown out of whack, make it “7a” and add “lest they be accused of class warfare.” ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/18 "2010-12-14T23:13:41Z")
Huh. This was exactly the complaint about the [FAA’s oversight of airlines](http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0340389320080403). When some poor maintenance practices were found out, the consensus view was that the governmental agency in charge of regulating airlines had developed, “an overly collaborative relationship”. Not OK with metal hurtling through the air, but apparently fine when it’s money. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/19 "2010-12-15T12:37:06Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > Huh. This was exactly the complaint about the [FAA’s oversight of airlines](http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0340389320080403). > > When some poor maintenance practices were found out, the consensus view was that the governmental agency in charge of regulating airlines had developed, “an overly collaborative relationship”. Not OK with metal hurtling through the air, but apparently fine when it’s money. Speaking of the FAA … a buddy in the airline industry was complaining to me just a couple of days ago. Apparently their idea of enforcing standards is to ask the carrier how he is going to do things and then simply enforce the carriers own procedures. His complaint was that there may be no correct way to do something in the first place… they just need to have something to enforce. Certainly following established procedures is important but it would be nice if the agencies with the power also had some expertise. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127/20 "2010-12-15T13:42:22Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > it would be nice if the agencies with the power also had some expertise. But then you’d have to pay the experts. We already have a scandal over Obama overpaying too many Federal bureaucrats who aren’t doing a lick of good in their ‘government jobs’\*, and should all be made to go out and obtain actual _gainful employment_ in the private sector. \*Yeah, ‘government jobs’. It’s an [oxymoran](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://weekendpundit.org/moran.jpg&imgrefurl=http://weekendpundit.org/democracy-in-action/&usg=__Q3AzU-tkxWPwckJT25JSLF7nkZs=&h=430&w=337&sz=18&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=qLHxmQNiFXtOMM:&tbnh=117&tbnw=92&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmoran%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DX%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26biw%3D1158%26bih%3D664%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=438&ei=ecUITYm8PMWBlAf40bTcDw&oei=ecUITYm8PMWBlAf40bTcDw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0&tx=36&ty=40). Deal with it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-chair-of-house-banking-committee-govt-exists-to-serve-the-banks/564127.md?page=2)