...THE LARK'S ON THE WING..

...the snail's on the thorn, the Yankees have won it, all's right with the world...Well, not exactly. It seems that Chris Dodd (hereinafter refereed to as, "Chris the Crook"), is about to go beyond the mind-boggling power grab attempt of his House colleague, Barney Frank in dealing with the financial industry. Chris the Crook is reported to be putting the final touches on his plan that will essentially place the entire financial system of the United States under the command of a newly-created, executive branch appointed, board of over-seers while at the same time destroying the Federal Reserve System as we know it. A brand new regulatory agency will be created to oversee all aspects of financial regulation while the Fed would be restricted to it's traditional (?) monetary role.

The chance of all this occurring is, I suspect, nil, but given all that we have been through as a nation and industry over the past year make this self-centered, obviously politically motivated action appear even more despicable. Clearly in political trouble and facing a loss in next year's election, Dodd has chosen to present himself in the most crass populist manner caring not a whit for his position of responsibility and his duty to correct some of the very real oversights of regulatory responsibility that have become all too apparent.

Chris the Crook isn't a fool; indeed, he is not only intelligent but knowledgeable in the field. As a result, I suspect he will be able to gather about him considerable support in his efforts which makes them all the more dangerous not only from the standpoint of the ridiculousness of their logic but also from the standpoint of delaying the final product through constant political in-fighting and grandstanding to the least rational and, by definition, the least informed players of influence. Not to be forgotten is the effect something like this has on the willingness of the international community to take anything we do seriously as it will be seen as purely a internal American political game and not as a serious attempt to gain international agreement or reform. They will of course be correct. Not even God in His heaven could make sense of this. More next week as more is revealed.