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Representing New York State means representing Wall Street, to some extent. Okay, some days it seems like Senators from Connecticut have as many Wall Street folks voting in their district, but New York City has spent most of the nation's history as the dominant financial center.
An article on page A1 of today's New York Times asks some hard questions about what representing Wall Street means, and specifically what it's meant for Chuck Schumer. The entire article is worth reading, but if you want to cut to the chase, the table lists Schumer's stands on prominent Wall Street-related legislation.
I'm not surprised to see that I oppose pretty much everything Schumer's done in this field, but given that I have little trust for Wall Street's sense of a fair playing field, that's not too surprising. (Except maybe surprising that I oppose the ban on short-selling, which is a complicated story.)
I should also point out that Schumer isn't completely aligned with banks. He does, for instance, support fixing the 2005 bankruptcy bill with something less disastrous for consumers.
The question for me, though, isn't whether Schumer should represent Wall Street. He should, actually - it's a critical component of this state's economy. The question is whether Schumer trapped himself in the same kind of "it can only go up, so long as we deregulate it" mentality that his donors shared - and whether, in fact, he helped his donors march straight off a cliff.
It's fun to berate Chris Cox, the hapless Republican running the SEC these days, for his stances against regulation. At the same time, though, it turns out that Schumer's berated Cox and battled with him repeatedly - because Schumer wanted less regulation than even Cox thought was wise:
"They've implemented their codes of conduct," Mr. Schumer told Mr. Cox at a Senate hearing. "They're making good-faith efforts."
In some ways, Schumer's focus on keeping New York the #1 financial center reminds me of our Empire Zone program - both are laudable, but both lead to tangles that make everyone involved look bad, and the path forward even less clear.
I hope I'll feel a lot better when the Senate starts up again and we see some action on these matters, instead of quotes like:
He has not assigned responsibility to himself or fellow Democrats, saying he had no way of knowing of the misdeeds going on on Wall Street. "I wish I was omniscient," he said. "I'm not."
And (former) Senator Pothole?
"Don't take someone to task simply because a group has supported him politically and now he supports legislation that helps them," Mr. D'Amato said. "The question is, is the legislation good or bad? With Chuck, it is clear he tries to do what is best for the state and city as a whole."
I'm sure Al tried to do what is best too...
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