Courtesy of Pam Martens.
President Obama Nominates Mary Jo White for Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission
When Wall Street wants to sell junk bonds to the public – those corporate bonds trading below an investment grade rating – a BBB rating by Standard and Poor’s or Baa by Moody’s – it simply puts lipstick on a pig by renaming the bond fund a “High Yield” fund.
Since February, Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has been providing the same service to the U.S. Senate with his slobbering introductions of the nominees to head the U.S. Treasury and Securities and Exchange Commission without noting any of the high risks to installing these deeply conflicted individuals.
Schumer’s most recent spectacle came this past Tuesday when he grinned and fawned through his introduction of Mary Jo White at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee. Schumer felt it was relevant for the U.S. public to know that the future watchdog to oversee one of the most serially corrupt industries in America “indulged a fondness for motorcycle riding” and “was a fierce competitor in the Women’s Basketball League in New York.” If that isn’t enough to inspire you, Schumer also wanted you to know that White likes a cold can of Bud from time to time and chairs the Board of the American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals – ergo, a beer drinking animal lover with motorcycle-riding and basketball skills should end all questions regarding her fitness to hold Wall Street accountable.
Schumer neglected to mention, as did the rest of the Senators in the room, that between White and her husband, also a partner at a Wall Street law firm, they represent every too-big-to-fail firm on Wall Street. (Under ethics laws for members of the Executive branch, the conflicts of interest of White’s spouse become her conflicts of interest. And he will remain in his job.)
White appeared without makeup at the hearing – possibly because so many others are willing to cosmetically enhance her. Corporate media did their part by running with headlines like the Washington Post’s “SEC Nominee Mary Jo White to Take Hard Line on Wall Street.” It is now universally accepted wisdom among corporate media that the American people can be easily sold lipstick on a pig if enough headline writers agree on the message.
…
