The “JOBS” bill today
Simon Johnson points us to more information on the JOBS bill (see link) and a Senate vote today:
As it currently stands, the “JOBS” bill now before the Senate would gut investor protection in the United States. The title of the bill is a complete misnomer – anything that weakens investor protection makes it more risky to invest in companies and increases the cost of capital to honest entrepreneurs. (For more background on the bill and links, see this piece.)
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Specifically, Senator Reed’s amendment would close or limit a major loophole that will allow large companies to avoid registering with the SEC (and therefore escape much regulation). The Reed Amendment would clarify how to define “shareholders” for the purpose of determining if a business is so widely owned that it must register with the SEC. Under the Amendment, the count should be based on beneficial owners of the shares, i.e., real people. The goal is to prevent evasion of the SEC registration threshold through “nominal” owners holding the shares for large numbers of beneficial owners. Big companies like H.R. 3606 – they will be regulated less and if the cost of capital rises for start-ups, that actually helps them. The Chamber of Commerce, the American Bankers’ Association, and the Independent Community Bankers of America have all weighed in heavily against the Reed Amendment – the idea of escaping SEC scrutiny greatly appeals to them.
The Chamber of Commerce, the American Bankers’ Association, and the Independent Community Bankers of America have all weighed in heavily against the Reed Amendment – the idea of escaping SEC scrutiny greatly appeals to them.
Of COURSE it does – as I posted to Simon’s post – these are the thieves and master manipulators; congress their paid thuggery to do their bidding. We are merely grist for their profit mill – they won’t be satisfied until they have total control over our very existence. They control the jobs, they control the food supply, they control what we are allowed to hear and read to a larger extent than many of us realize. We are quickly becoming the Old Soviet Union – I wonder when the pogroms will begin?
As if registering with the SEC means a thing. The SEC is a sham so why keep pretending? There is no regulation anymore beyond a bunch of pro forma form filling. If something blows up then regulators take to the field and pick a few wounded victims to shoot. Always a Sergeant of below.
The Jobs Act is more deregulation, to take your shirt, as well as continue to kill jobs. And for the same reason that yesterday’s Stock Act actually legalizes burgeoning DC corruption of selling insider tips. Why are laws like these passed? It’s all because almost no one in Congress dares to do anything that threatens their self preservation, their donors, wealthy investors, lobbyists, consultant contacts, indeed their chances of a lucrative future after dis-serving the people of America. When the Senate cannot find even 60 of the 97 who voted to track DC insider trading, to do anything but concur with the gutted House version, it was a great example of our broken democracy. Democracy depends on the Senate appinting conference committee members to do reconciliation of the differences between a House and a Senate bill, requiring compromise, debate, amendments. But the House of Representatives gutted tracking DC insider trading, behind closed doors, with no debate nor amendments allowed. Then, the Senate, under pressure from their paymasters, reversed themselves. Not only did the Senate abandon a bill that 97 senators had voted for, but they could not find 60 senators to DARE to do their job, of a reconciliation committee. Passing the corruption friendly House version was a perfect example of how democracy has been overtaken by forced up-or-down votes (this time a GOP threat to fillibuster reconcilation appointees). When any wealthy interest might be threatened by good government, we see only back room deals that serve powerful interests at the expense of the American people, and at the expense of democracy itself. No surprise that the deletion of transparency is the one thing Senator Snowe says could stop the corruption in DC, and something she doesn’t expect to see soon.
On a lighter note, you can all sing along:
Ding, dong, democracy’s dead; behind closed doors, corruption spreads. Ding, dong, a good Act’s guts were shred. Hi, ho’s and freedom’s foes, spread bribes high, and spread them low; Ding, dong insider trading’s GO! It’s gone where the pluto’s go, oh ho, oh ho ho ho, below (our congress works for them, so you sing it:) Ding, dong, democracy is dead!