Rand Paul, Ron Johnson And Sharron Angle Are Clowns But Toomey Is Just Plain Dangerous

If you had to point to one event that led most disastrously to the financial collapse the economy is still suffering from, it would have to be the repeal in 1999 of the Banking Act of 1933 (Glass Steagall), passed at the height of the Great Depression to rein in the kinds of speculation which caused said Depression. Notorious Wall Street corporate whore-- and soon after a major banking executive who made millions-- Phil Gramm (R-TX), introduced the toxic legislation and shepherded it through the Senate, where it passed 54-44, not a single Republican voting NO, 3 of whom are running for election again in November: Sam Brownback (R-KS), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and John McCain (R-AZ). All Senate Democrats up for reelection in November opposed it: Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Patty Murray (D-WA), Harry Reid (D-NV), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR)... even Blanche Lincoln (D-AR).

Radical right former derivatives trader Pat Toomey wasn't in the Senate then-- and hopefully never will be-- but he was in the House, where he made a speech in support of his roll-model, Phil Gramm. The speech (above) was in support of credit default swaps, the risky derivatives that contributed so mightily to the financial system meltdown.

In the speech, Toomey said of the legislation that eventually repealed the regulatory framework of Glass-Steagall: “I am particularly pleased that this bill includes an important provision regarding certain derivative transactions, especially credit and equity swaps. These somewhat obscure products are actually very important tools used by businesses, including financial service firms, to manage a variety of risks that they face. This bill reaffirms that swap contracts are legitimate bank products that can be executed and booked in banks and are adequately regulated by and will continue to be regulated by banking supervisors.”

The Philadelphia Inquirer jumped on the story yesterday and tried explaining it in a way average-Joe-and-Jane-voters will understand, running the video on their website, and pointing out that "Toomey has tried to distance himself from derivatives, which he once traded, but video of a 2000 House floor debate found by Democrats shows him advocating for more de-regulation of the exotic financial products."

Toomey urged the House to pass the Commodities Exchange Act because, he said, it would "eliminate most of the cloud of legal and regulatory uncertainty that has shadowed" derivatives since their invention. In fact, he went on to express his hope that the Senate would tweak the bill to "allow greater flexibility in the electronic trading" of over-the-counter derivatives.