Markets Sell off Today, Still Wall Street Wins

The Senate just passed a stupid bill and called it financial reform. [via CBS Marketwatch]

The mammoth legislative package — which passed 59 to 39, with three Republicans voting for the bill — requires “too-big-to-fail” banks to install new capital restrictions and divest their derivatives units, sets up a government board to assign credit raters for banks’ structured finance securities, and instructs the government to conduct an unprecedented, one-time audit of the Fed’s emergency response programs.

I rarely find myself agreeing with “say-no-to-everything-democrats-propose” Republicans. But, in this case, they have a strong point.  Glass-Steagal act should be brought back. If a bank holds our deposits, they SHOULD NOT BE dealing with exotic financial products, trading stocks, derivatives and other speculative junk. Period. This bill doesn’t do any of this. This is a LOUSY bill and Wall Street banks can celebrate the passage of this bill.