FINANCE INDUSTRY LOBBYISTS GET TO WORK…. Rumor has it, the crisis on Wall Street is too important for parochial interests. Everyone has to recognize the seriousness of the situation and consider the greater good.
That is, just as soon as the financial industry’s lobbyists are done protecting the work they’ve already done. (via TPM)
House Republican staffers met with roughly 15 lobbyists Friday afternoon, whose message to lawmakers was clear: Don’t load the legislation up with provisions not directly related to the crisis, or regulatory measures the industry has long opposed.
“We’re opposed to adding provisions that will affect [or] undermine the deal substantively,” said Scott Talbott, senior vice president of government affairs at the Financial Services Roundtable, whose members include the nation’s largest banks, securities firms and insurers.
A deal killer for the group: a proposal that would grant bankruptcy judges new powers to lower the principal, interest rate or both on a mortgage as part of a bankruptcy proceeding.
Once the industry is assured that those in bankruptcy won’t get a break, then we can come together and put aside parochial interests.
How reassuring.
