Linda Ketner, Liberal Democrat, on the Economy and Deregulation: Part II

One of Linda Ketner’s recent ads during the campaign is to rail against the Republicans for deregulation. In her ad she states that eight years ago the Republicans passed into law legislation that overturned laws from the 1930’s which were designed to protect Americans from Wall Street … or something pretty close to that.

I don’t know what she’s referring to that was passed eight years ago … but in 1999 President Clinton signed into law the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act which overturned the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933.

According to an article on MoneyNews.com, MoneyNews – Clinton: Deregulation Not to Blame for Crisis, the Glass-Steagall Act, among other things, separated commercial and investment banking.  Former President Bill Clinton stated in an interview with Business Week that the legislation he signed didn’t completely deregulate the banking industry. In fact he said in answer to a question about this,

“No, because it wasn’t a complete deregulation at all. We still have
heavy regulations and insurance on bank deposits, requirements on banks
for capital and for disclosure.”

Former President Clinton went on to add,

“I thought at the time that it might lead to more stable investments
and a reduced pressure on Wall Street to produce quarterly profits that
were always bigger than the previous quarter,”

and,

“I have really thought about this a lot. I don’t see that signing that
bill had anything to do with the current crisis. Indeed, one of the
things that has helped stabilize the current situation as much as it
has is the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, which was much
smoother than it would have been if I hadn’t signed that bill.”

Maybe Ms. Ketner needs to check her dates … or she was talking about something else, but … this sounds suspiciously like what she was referring to. She was talking about deregulation and the current financial crisis, wasn’t she? Well, so was former President Clinton on Oct. 1, 2008.

I suppose Ms. Ketner is more of an expert on the economy than President Clinton. After all, she has been advocating low interest loans in South Carolina since 1991 of the type that got Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into trouble in the first place.

I also thought it was noteworthy that such great Democratic minds as Senators Chuck Schumer, Chris Dodd,  Dick Durbin, Tom Daschle, John Edwards, John Kerry and Joe Biden all also voted for this bill. That quite a list of current Democratic economic and financial experts as well as presidential and vice-presidential hopefuls. And don’t forget about former Democratic President Bill Clinton.

But then, Ms. Ketner knows more about the economy than any of them. After all, she grew up in a town of 500, taught high school and college, runs a business and is a member of a struggling middle class family …right? I wonder if she taught History … or Economics … a lot of dates to remember, facts to get straight ( or make politically correct ) and theory to understand.

Linda Ketner is the Democratic candidate for the South Carolina First Congressional District.

Ms. Ketner, you need to take this issue up with Bill Clinton, because he says what you’re saying “just ain’t so”.

Ms. Ketner needs to come up for air and check her facts.