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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / You Can’t Handle (or afford) the Truth

You Can’t Handle (or afford) the Truth

by John Cole|  May 5, 200911:57 am| 46 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics

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Here is a good catch by Eric Zimmerman at the Hill:

Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), the top ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, thinks the government should keep the results of bank “stress tests” under wraps.

The tests are intended to reveal which banks need more capital. Preliminary results, leaked to the Wall Street Journal, indicate that 10 of the top 19 banks will need more capital. Full results will be made public on Thursday.

“What’s interesting, and perhaps disturbing to a lot of people, that they publicized all these stress tests for the 19 top banks,” Shelby said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. “And now there’s a lot of expectations, either up or down, coming out of this.”

What is he thinking?

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Reader Interactions

46Comments

  1. 1.

    4tehlulz

    May 5, 2009 at 11:59 am

    It’s the UAW’s fault.

  2. 2.

    Zifnab

    May 5, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    What is he thinking?

    Well, someone had to give a voice to the most obvious “bad idea” and he is the ranking Republican on the committee.

  3. 3.

    jrg

    May 5, 2009 at 12:05 pm

    If investors and taxpayers are not permitted to know about the health of these financial institutions, how can Wall Street price them correctly? Or is that the point?

    Politically connected people get the word on the health of these institutions while the rest of us are left in the dark. Insider trading, anyone?

  4. 4.

    Mike G

    May 5, 2009 at 12:06 pm

    What is he thinking?
    That he’s a tool serving and defending the banks and powerful corporations against accountability.

    I can understand why they love him, but not why the bucktoothed redneck trash of Alabama are so easily conned over and over again with a rhetoric-diet of Jeebus and Hate.

  5. 5.

    Ash

    May 5, 2009 at 12:06 pm

    What is he thinking?

    Trick question!

  6. 6.

    Zifnab

    May 5, 2009 at 12:11 pm

    Shelby opposes more government bailout funds for banks, but expects the Obama administration to intervene anyway. The only question, he said, is how the administration will deal with struggling banks.

    Shorter Richard Shelby:
    “I don’t want you to know how the banks are doing. I think bailouts are a bad idea. Yes, I’ll short Bank of America for a hundred thousand shares, thank you.”

  7. 7.

    SpotWeld

    May 5, 2009 at 12:13 pm

    Hypothetical: The stress tests are published.
    Even with all the expected apple-polishing and insane puffing of the grades some banks will be graded a worse than the others.

    Those banks will suffer and the other banks, the ones who did “well”, will tout thier good grades.

    The market will shift accordingly… I hate to quote conventional wisdom here, but isn’t the banking sector due for some thinning of the herd?

    And then the goverment will have a nice little stick to prod a few of the more reluctant bank with.. a revision of thier “stress test” grades to get them back in line with healthy business practices.

    It’s all rather slimly and ripe for abuse… but how is any of this a surprise.. why keep the results hidden?

  8. 8.

    Brick Oven Bill

    May 5, 2009 at 12:17 pm

    Seeking Alpha is a very good independent blog.

    The link provided is to a article titled ‘The Worst Case Scenario’, in the case that someone wishes to consider one potential truth.

  9. 9.

    WayneLively

    May 5, 2009 at 12:18 pm

    What was he thinking?

    Good one.

  10. 10.

    someguy

    May 5, 2009 at 12:19 pm

    And then the goverment will have a nice little stick to prod a few of the more reluctant bank with.. a revision of thier “stress test” grades to get them back in line with healthy business practices.

    That is, if the market doesn’t punish them by fleeing to the more solvent banks. Betcha we see 5 of the 10 go tits up in the next three months, unless they get nationalized. Hope you don’t have money invested in those banks – better dig out that 401(k) and look at the prospectus to see which of your funds have money in them. Might want to move it out before Thursday.

  11. 11.

    Hunter Gathers

    May 5, 2009 at 12:20 pm

    Shelby is doing whatever he can to cause financial armaggedon. It’s the only way him and Sen.”Bank Run” Burr (Moran-NC) will get back into power. I’m sure Joe The Scar agreed with him 100 percent. I would call Shelby a stupid redneck, but that would be an insult to stupid rednecks.

  12. 12.

    dr. bloor

    May 5, 2009 at 12:22 pm

    Information is a Republican’s worst enemy.

  13. 13.

    JayDenver

    May 5, 2009 at 12:23 pm

    Shelby is referring to a relatively obscure academic/scientific method: grading on the double blind curve. Big banks always pass the test. The public’s right to know fails the test.

    Good luck next semester.

  14. 14.

    El Cid

    May 5, 2009 at 12:26 pm

    In Richard Shelby’s Alabama, the government authorities don’t make the big companies uncomfortable, it’s considered rude; in fact, they go out of their way to welcome in even foreign corporations with tax subsidies and genuflection.

  15. 15.

    Zifnab

    May 5, 2009 at 12:26 pm

    @Hunter Gathers: Meh. Banking apocalypse could, theoretically, help future GOP candidates. Or it could help some unforeseen third party or another bipartisan round of cries for nationalization. But it doesn’t help Shelby, an incumbent, much at all.

    Toeing the party line does, however, fund Shelby’s political campaigns. And it promises him he won’t get run out of the party like Specter.

  16. 16.

    SpotWeld

    May 5, 2009 at 12:28 pm

    Someguy… any “good medicine” that could have occured from nationalizing a bank would have had to happen already.

    All this “nationalization” muttering is just the usual mutterings of wing-nuts usually accompanied by “soci@lism” or “communism” or some sort.

    The accounts would be bought out by the gov. and them probably redistributed to the “good” banks, probably in trade for taking some of the toxic assests off the books for those banks.

  17. 17.

    Dennis-SGMM

    May 5, 2009 at 12:31 pm

    Shelby; “My right shoe is too tight but, Denmark has coasts on both the North Sea and the Baltic.”
    Wasn’t it supposedly part of the genius of the capitalistic, free-market system that well-run businesses would thrive while poorly-run ones would fall by the wayside? Why does Senator Shelby hate capitalism?

  18. 18.

    Hunter Gathers

    May 5, 2009 at 12:31 pm

    The Great Palin V. Romney Bloodbath Of 2012 has already started.

    Grab yer popcorn and pull up a seat.

    Via Sully

  19. 19.

    random asshole

    May 5, 2009 at 12:36 pm

    What is he thinking?

    “Don’t publicize the results until I see them and adjust my portfolio accordingly.”

    That sounds about right.

  20. 20.

    Evinfuilt

    May 5, 2009 at 12:42 pm

    What is he thinking?

    Clap harder damn it, clap harder!!

  21. 21.

    KG

    May 5, 2009 at 12:43 pm

    he’s thinking, “shit, the oligarchy is about to collapse unless we keep the ignorant masses in the dark.”

  22. 22.

    Dennis-SGMM

    May 5, 2009 at 12:44 pm

    Because “Shut up!” is what he’s thinking.

  23. 23.

    Sam Simple

    May 5, 2009 at 12:49 pm

    “Republican” and “thinking” do not belong in the same sentence.

  24. 24.

    Indie Tarheel

    May 5, 2009 at 12:49 pm

    “What is he thinking?”

    Nope.

    Fixed!

  25. 25.

    Barry Soetoro

    May 5, 2009 at 12:51 pm

    What is he thinking?

    He’s an asshole. Thinking’s not involved here.

  26. 26.

    sparky

    May 5, 2009 at 12:53 pm

    is this a serious question?

    per Open Secrets, Shelby’s top three contributors: Citibank, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, JPMorganChase.

    too bad the banks aren’t as good at investing as they are at rent-seeking. shelby is a great bargain–pathetically cheap and stays bought, too.

  27. 27.

    Punchy

    May 5, 2009 at 1:02 pm

    Of course, if Obama had chosen to keep it quiet, Shelby would be the FIRST fucker up on Cap Hill screaming about the lack of transparency and how Joe Q. Pubic demands to know truth, etc.

    Fuckers. All of em.

  28. 28.

    asiangrrlMN

    May 5, 2009 at 1:07 pm

    This is interesting in the Cokie Roberts kind of way. Not. Look, if the banks are gonna keep screwing me over, I should at least get to see how they’re doing it.

  29. 29.

    Dennis-SGMM

    May 5, 2009 at 1:08 pm

    @Punchy:
    Why, you make it sound as though the Republicans are going to criticize Obama no matter what he does.

  30. 30.

    Punchy

    May 5, 2009 at 1:12 pm

    @Hunter Gathers: Love Yackety Sax.

  31. 31.

    Comrade Dread

    May 5, 2009 at 1:12 pm

    What is he thinking?

    Comments like these are always better understood if you swap out the title “Rep.” or “Senator” for “Lord” or “Lady” and imagine them being said with an annoyed British accent.

    That the elites in Washington and New York are our betters and such important matters should be kept from our prying eyes, lest we become incensed at being raped and pillaged by this unholy collusion and make them feel bad with our harsh words and cries for justice.

    No criminal ever wants his deeds to be exposed to the light of day.

  32. 32.

    asiangrrlMN

    May 5, 2009 at 1:13 pm

    @Dennis-SGMM: Ooooh, you stumbled onto the Republicans stealthy, secret plan! You are very clever.

  33. 33.

    The Cat Who Would Be Tunch

    May 5, 2009 at 1:14 pm

    @sparky:

    per Open Secrets, Shelby’s top three contributors: Citibank, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, JPMorganChase.

    And wouldn’t you know it, of the huge financial firms that are being stress tested, Citibank is probably going to be one of the banks that will need further capital injections.

    Nothing to see here, really.

  34. 34.

    demimondian

    May 5, 2009 at 1:17 pm

    What? Is he thinking?

    Fixt for accuracy.

  35. 35.

    Dork

    May 5, 2009 at 1:23 pm

    OT:

    Someone at the Great Whore’in Satan is reporting that Dom DeLuise is dead.

    RIP, funny man.

  36. 36.

    Carol A

    May 5, 2009 at 1:33 pm

    Senator Shelby, like most hypocritical Republicans, fears transparency and truth. Imagine the GOPs embarrassment should the Obama administration be perceived as having dealt with the destruction of the financial industry. Oh, the horror we’d suffer should a release of information show signs that the Democrats have begun to repair the Bush banking industry debacle. All this in little more than 100 days! How could Rpublicans continue to hope for failure, claim that Obama is taking on too much, predict apolcolyptical gloom and doom, and rail against Obama’s “orgy of spending” if the damned banks show signs of life? That would ruin everything.

  37. 37.

    TenguPhule

    May 5, 2009 at 1:39 pm

    What’s interesting, and perhaps disturbing to a lot of people, that they publicized all these stress tests for the 19 top banks,”

    Looks like Someone got too used to State Secrets being applied to everything that might embarrass Republicans.

  38. 38.

    Pb

    May 5, 2009 at 1:39 pm

    Here’s how this works…

    1. The citizenry pays their taxes to fund the government.
    2. The government gives some of our tax dollars to the banks in the form of ‘bailout money’.
    3. The banks use some of this bailout money (laundered tax dollars) to purchase ‘lobbyists’, to lobby the government for more favorable laws.
    4. The lobbyists use some of our tax dollars to convince our elected representatives that, ultimately, the banks need the money more than we do; see also, step 2.

    Conclusion?

    We could have saved a lot of money, had we just bought our own lobbyists instead of wasting it all in ‘taxes’ that don’t give us any favorable legislative changes. Instead of that little check box to give $3 to the Presidential Campaign fund, we need a little check box that gives $3 to a lobbyist to lobby on our behalf — and we could save an average of $657, according to the back of my napkin here…

  39. 39.

    Zifnab

    May 5, 2009 at 1:53 pm

    @Pb: So you’re saying this all ends in a tax cut? I’m on board.

  40. 40.

    sparky

    May 5, 2009 at 2:07 pm

    @Zifnab: no, he’s saying much more clearly what i said in my usual oblique fashion: it’s much cheaper to buy Shelby as the banks have. we’d save a fortune. only problem is we might get into a bidding war but i think we’d still come out ahead. of course there might be an agent issue….

  41. 41.

    Thankovsky

    May 5, 2009 at 2:12 pm

    What is he thinking?

    He’s completely out-of-touch with the American people, and thinks that, because his constituency is so pathologically afraid of the “S”-word, everyone in America must be sufficiently pro-business to approve of this sort of thing. He also believes that the nation is racially-backwards enough to not mind the fact that he’s an out-and-out racist. He’s wrong on both counts. I find it immensely hilarious, and I’m absolutely torn on whether or not I want to see him kicked out of the Senate. He may well be the male senatorial version of Michelle Bachmann, forever reminding the country of why we can’t allow the Republicans back in power ever again.

  42. 42.

    raff

    May 5, 2009 at 2:16 pm

    “What’s interesting, and perhaps disturbing to a lot of people…

    Again with the “interesting” bullshit? Ya know what’s really interesting, is how republicans only find something “interesting” when it serves their own agenda. I found it “interesting” when Bush suspended habeus corpus. I thought it was “interesting” how Bush/Cheney/Rove shredded the constitution. I find it “interesting” how Bush transformed an historic surplus into an historic deficit. Somehow, conservatives found none of that (& more) “interesting” at the time. Go figure.

    Ah well, kudos to Shelby for, at least, saying “a lot of people” instead of most people” as most repub pols are wont to do, like they represent more than 20-30% of the electorate.

  43. 43.

    Thankovsky

    May 5, 2009 at 2:17 pm

    Completely off-topic, but I saw this on HuffPo and it absolutely made my day:

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/05/palin-backers-mock-romney_n_196884.html

    Let the real infighting begin!

  44. 44.

    Dennis-SGMM

    May 5, 2009 at 2:29 pm

    @Thankovsky:Palin is gonna’ shoot Romney? Subtle.

  45. 45.

    JL

    May 5, 2009 at 3:06 pm

    @The Cat Who Would Be Tunch: Good catch. Let’s not forget that Shelby knows something about leaking classified information to Fox News in 2002. Now Shelby wants to hide non classified information.

  46. 46.

    HyperIon

    May 5, 2009 at 7:37 pm

    I don’t see how NOT releasing the results can help the situation. People will find out.

    Supposedly Wells Fargo is in good shape, right? Except the leaked info contradicts that. Are YOU going to open an account there?

    When no one had a clue there were problems, keeping people in the dark had a purpose. But now, most folks just assume the banks are lying. At least I do. Is it just me?

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