Tonight on Bill Moyers' Journal: Big Finance and Big Politics

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http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/index-flash.html


January 8, 2010

America's big banks are back on top. Just a year after their financial gambles brought the American economy to the brink of collapse, requiring a massive federal bailout, they're back in the black and paying themselves healthy bonuses. With so many Americans facing economic hardship, the banks' good fortunes have led to resentment and even some rage among those outside the financial industry. Yet, according to Washington watchers — and sheer dollars spent — the banking industry lobby remains among the most powerful in the nation's capital.

The latest issue of MOTHER JONES magazine looks into this discrepancy, calling it the "accountability deficit." The magazine commissioned a series of articles investigating why no one has been brought to account for crashing the economy.

Two contributors to the issue, David Corn and Kevin Drum, join Bill Moyers on the JOURNAL to explain how the banking lobby continues to hold so much power in the nation's capital.

While the great wealth of Wall Street allows it to lavish campaign contributions on Congress, it is not money alone that gives the financial industry so much power. The influence of Wall Street has managed to change the national conversation. MOTHER JONES political blogger Kevin Drum explained the phenomenon using a term used by economist Simon Johnson:

It goes beyond regulatory capture, where, say the banks control the S.E.C. That's one thing. "Intellectual capture" means that essentially the financial industry has convinced us — you know, in the '50s what was good for General Motors was good for America — now it's what's good for Wall Street is good for America. And they've somehow convinced us that we shouldn't ask about what's right or what works or what's good for America. We should ask what's productive, what's efficient, what helps grow the economy.

It is this "intellectual capture" that prevents a reform movement from taking hold. David Corn, Washington bureau chief for MOTHER JONES, explains:

While (people are) angry at Wall Street, particularly on the corporate compensation front — which is very easy to get angry about — they also are fearful of taking Wall Street on, because they've been taught that if the Dow falls, if you take on the big banks, it's going to be bad for all of us. So, it really is this "Stockholm Syndrome," where we're forced to identify with people who are holding us hostage without our interest in mind.

The money, though, plays an important role. Corn notes that the fundraising system itself is a barrier to reform, "I mean, our whole system where the guys in charge of regulating or writing the laws would take cash from the people who want favors, you know, it's kind of, you know, bizarre to begin with."

And though members of Congress deny their donors don't influence their decisions, Drum is doubtful. Citing Senator Chuck Schumer's fundraising, Drum argues, " raised a couple hundred million dollars, a lot of it from the financial industry. And that went to all Democrats. Not just Schumer. It went to all Democrats who were running for the Senate. Well, there's no way you can take that money and not at least be leaning in their direction, one way or another."


Kevin Drum

Kevin Drum is a political blogger for MOTHER JONES magazine. Prior to that he was a contributing writer for the WASHINGTON MONTHLY and authored their blog, "Political Animal." During the 1990s he was vice president of marketing for a software company in Irvine, California

David Corn

David Corn is the Washington bureau chief for MOTHER JONES magazine. Prior to that he was the Washington editor of THE NATION magazine for 20 years. He writes on a host of subjects, including politics, the White House, Congress, and the national security establishment. He has broken stories on George W. Bush, John McCain, Sarah Palin, George H.W. Bush, Newt Gingrich, Colin Powell, Rush Limbaugh, Enron, the Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA leak case, corruption in Iraq, the National Rifle Association, Senator David Vitter, the Pentagon, and assorted Washington players and institutions. He also has blogged for HUFFINGTONPOST.COM, CQPOLITICS.COM, and the "Comment Is Free" site of THE GUARDIAN. For years he wrote the on-line column, "Capital Games" for THENATION.COM.

Corn has written for THE WASHINGTON POST, THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, THE WASHINGTON TIMES, THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, THE BOSTON GLOBE, NEWSDAY, HARPER'S, THE NEW REPUBLIC, MOTHER JONES, THE WASHINGTON MONTHLY, THE LA WEEKLY, THE VILLAGE VOICE, THE INDEPENDENT, ELLE, SLATE, SALON, TOMPAINE.COM, ALTERNET.ORG, and other publications and websites.

He is the co-author (with Michael Isikoff) of HUBRIS: THE INSIDE STORY OF SPIN, SCANDAL, AND THE SELLING OF THE IRAQ WAR (Crown, 2006), a NEW YORK TIMES bestseller. His book THE LIES OF GEORGE W. BUSH: MASTERING THE POLITICS OF DECEPTION (Crown, 2003) was also a NEW YORK TIMES bestseller. His first novel DEEP BACKGROUND, a political thriller, was published by St. Martin's Press in 1999. He is the author of the biography BLOND GHOST: TED SHACKLEY AND THE CIA'S CRUSADES (Simon & Schuster, 1994).

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1. I've seen Moyers in person speaking about campaign finance reform

and he said it's the #1 problem with US governance today. Until we fix it, we'll keep "electing" only corporate-sponsored candidates. He also said this would be a long fight, not unlike the abolition of slavery, in that it will take a lot of hard work, persistence, and willingness to take on entrenched power, but that it would be worth it, even if we don't see it in our lifetime. We've got to understand this as a top priority, for the sake of future generations.