Four Republican members of the commission tasked with investigating the cause of the financial crisis have decided to circumvent the bipartisan project and release their own report, with some key differences. The group, led by former congressman Bill Thomas, will conclude that rather than putting any onus on Wall Street for its role in the growth of subprime mortgages and credit default swaps, it was totally the government’s fault for pushing homeownership and then not being prepared when the bubble burst. In order to make sure the blame doesn’t make its way over to the financial sector, the group had previously voted to ban the phrases Wall Street, shadow banking, interconnection, and deregulation from the commission’s official report, which they claim is too partisan. So they want to exclusively blame the government, but they don’t want to mention the government’s decision to deregulate the banks? Even though they could blame repealing the Glass-Steagall Act, which let commercial banks set up investment arms, on Bill Clinton? Although these terms weren’t mentioned specifically, we suspect they are also banned: fat cats, accountability, making sure this doesn’t happen again, and logic.
Financial Crisis Panel In Turmoil As Republicans Defect; Plan To Blame Government For Crisis [HuffPo]
