A daily compilation edited by Brent H. Baker, CyberAlert items are drawn from daily BiasAlert posts and distributed by the Media Research Center's News Analysis Division, the leader since 1987 in documenting, exposing and neutralizing liberal media bias.
Tracking Liberal Media Bias Since 1996
Wednesday April 28, 2010 @ 09:56 AM EDT1. ABC and NBC Champion 'Growing National Backlash' Against 'Laughing Stock' Arizona
Extending the kind of respect they never provided the Tea Party activists, ABC and NBC on Tuesday night promoted what NBC anchor Brian Williams embraced as "the growing national backlash against the state of Arizona over its tough new immigration law that says police can stop people just on the suspicion they might be there illegally." ABC's Barbara Pinto touted how "the call for an economic boycott here has caught fire on the Internet" while NBC's Andrea Mitchell trumpeted how "anger over the law has gone viral," as both pointed to how the American Immigration Lawyers Association had canceled a conference – of a mere 400 attendees - scheduled for the state. NBC's Mitchell played clips from two left-wing comedians, as she asserted: "It's now gone beyond protest to threats of a boycott, as Arizona becomes a laughing stock to some." Viewers then heard a joke from Saturday Night Live about "fascism" followed by The Daily Show's Jon Stewart: "It's not unprecedented, having to carry around your papers. It's the same thing free black people had to do in 1863." After showcasing a Facebook page ("Arizona, the Grand Canyon State, welcomes you unless you're a Mexican or look like one"), Mitchell cited "a slap in the face" from Mexico which, ironically, warned its citizens about traveling to Arizona.
2. NYT Former Reporter Greenhouse Fires on Arizona's 'Police State,' Makes Nazi Comparison
Former New York Times Supreme Court reporter Linda Greenhouse retains her fairness and balance: "I'm glad I've already seen the Grand Canyon. Because I'm not going back to Arizona as long as it remains a police state, which is what the appalling anti-immigrant bill that Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law last week has turned it into."
3. CBS's Smith: Hispanics See Arizona Law as 'Purely Discriminatory'
Near the end of an interview with Arizona Senator John McCain on Tuesday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith turned to the subject of illegal immigration and the new Arizona law to combat it: "a very tough immigration reform bill which basically makes it illegal for you to be in the state without some sort of documentation. Is this law the answer to the immigration crisis?" Smith followed up by wondering: "And for the millions of Hispanic Americans who live in Arizona, what do you say to them who feel like this bill is purely discriminatory?"
4. CBS's Smith to McCain: 'How Are You Going to Dismantle' Financial Institutions?
Hitting from the left in an interview with Republican Senator John McCain on Tuesday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith worried about the ability of financial reform legislation to expand government control over Wall Street: "How are you going to dis – how does any of this dismantle these giant financial institutions?" At the top of the show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez put the GOP on the defensive: "Democrats continue to push for Wall Street reform. But are Republicans on board?"
ABC and NBC Champion 'Growing National Backlash' Against 'Laughing Stock' Arizona
Extending the kind of respect they never provided the Tea Party activists, ABC and NBC on Tuesday night promoted what NBC anchor Brian Williams embraced as "the growing national backlash against the state of Arizona over its tough new immigration law that says police can stop people just on the suspicion they might be there illegally."
ABC's Barbara Pinto touted how "the call for an economic boycott here has caught fire on the Internet" while NBC's Andrea Mitchell trumpeted how "anger over the law has gone viral," as both pointed to how the American Immigration Lawyers Association had canceled a conference – of a mere 400 attendees -- scheduled for the state.
NBC's Mitchell played clips from two left-wing comedians, as she asserted: "It's now gone beyond protest to threats of a boycott, as Arizona becomes a laughing stock to some." Viewers then heard a joke from Saturday Night Live about "fascism" followed by The Daily Show's Jon Stewart: "It's not unprecedented, having to carry around your papers. It's the same thing free black people had to do in 1863." After showcasing a Facebook page ("Arizona, the Grand Canyon State, welcomes you unless you're a Mexican or look like one"), Mitchell cited "a slap in the face" from Mexico which, ironically, warned its citizens about traveling to Arizona.
Mitchell gave a soundbite to Senator John McCain, but countered him with a clip from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, before she added: "Today the Attorney General called the law 'unfortunate.'" On ABC's World News, Pinto reported "the anger over this law spread to cities like Chicago, and L.A." as "the call for an economic boycott here has caught fire on the Internet and even from an Arizona State Representative warning conventioneers to stay away."
Pinto forwarded a comparison to Arizona's failure to enact a MLK holiday and highlighted Meghan McCain's denunciation:
Only at the very end of her piece did Pinto bother to mention: "Still, most Arizona residents – 70 percent – support this new law."This has happened before. Arizona's decision two decades ago not to honor the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday cost the state 170 conventions and a Superbowl – a grand total of $360 million – and Arizona was forced to reverse its stance. The new law has even split families. Senator John McCain has taken a hardline stance in favor of the law, but his daughter Meghan blogged her disagreement, saying, "I believe it gives the state police a license to discriminate."
The MRC's Brad Wilmouth corrected the closed-captioning against the video to provide these transcripts of the Tuesday, April 27 stories:
ABC's World News:
DIANE SAWYER: And we move on now to the raging argument about illegal immigration in this country and the move afoot tonight to boycott the state of Arizona because of the new law on stopping anyone suspected of being an illegal immigrant. Grand Canyon tours, business conventions, even the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team are being targeted. And Barbara Pinto is in Phoenix for reaction.NBC Nightly News:BARBARA PINTO: For the first time since he opened his restaurant nine years ago, Dylan Bethke is worried.
DYLAN BETHKE: You'd take about a quarter of our business away if we lost some big conventions.
PINTO: The restaurant operates in the shadow of the Phoenix Convention Center, and in the bull's eye of the growing fury over Arizona's tough new immigration law. Today, the anger over this law spread to cities like Chicago, and L.A. Governor Jan Brewer signed the bill into law on Friday.
GOVERNOR JAN BREWER (R-AZ): I do not know what an illegal immigrant looks like.
PINTO: And police will have to try to figure that out. The new law forces them to stop and arrest anyone who appears to be illegal. The call for an economic boycott here has caught fire on the Internet and even from an Arizona State Representative warning conventioners to stay away.
STATE REP. RAUL GRIJALVA (D-AZ): The governor basically codified into state law racial profiling, violation of civil rights.
PINTO: The first to cancel their plans, 400 members of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, who will lose their $92,000 deposit.
CRYSTAL WILLIAMS, AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWYERS ASSOCIATION: We just cannot in good conscience be in a state and be supporting the economy of a state that will do something like this to its people.
PINTO: This has happened before. Arizona's decision two decades ago not to honor the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday cost the state 170 conventions and a Superbowl – a grand total of $360 million – and Arizona was forced to reverse its stance. The new law has even split families. Senator John McCain has taken a hardline stance in favor of the law, but his daughter Meghan blogged her disagreement, saying, "I believe it gives the state police a license to discriminate." Still, most Arizona residents – 70 percent – support this new law. Their fears about crime seem to outweigh any worries about the economy. Barbara Pinto, ABC News, Phoenix.
SAWYER: And we'd like to know what you think about the boycott, so weigh in on the debate at our Web site, ABCNews.com.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Now to the growing national backlash against the state of Arizona over its tough new immigration law that says police can stop people just on the suspicion they might be there illegally. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports on the movement to punish Arizona now by hurting the state's economy.— Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here to follow him on Twitter.
ANDREA MITCHELL: It's now gone beyond protest to threats of a boycott, as Arizona becomes a laughing stock to some.
SETH MYERS ON SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, CLIP #1: Can we all agree that there's nothing more Nazi than saying, "Show me your papers"? There's never been a World War II movie that didn't include the line, "Show me your papers." It's their catch phrase.
MYERS CLIP #2: So heads up, Arizona. That's fascism. I know, I know, it's a dry fascism, but it's still fascism.
JON STEWART, THE DAILY SHOW: That's tough. It's not unprecedented, having to carry around your papers. It's the same thing free black people had to do in 1863.
MITCHELL: Anger over the law has gone viral. On Facebook today, pages like this one: "Arizona, the Grand Canyon State, welcomes you unless you're a Mexican or look like one." Calls for an economic boycott. Already a conference of immigration lawyers at a swanky Scottsdale hotel canceled.
BEN BETHEL, PHOENIX HOTEL OWNER: I really feel that this is one of the biggest anti-business things that the state could have done.
MITCHELL: From across the border, a slap in the face. Mexico's government issued an official travel warning that their citizens "could be bothered and questioned without much cause at any time in Arizona." Mexico's President said the Arizona law could hurt relations with the U.S. Still, the law is wildly popular with many Arizonans, especially Republicans in tough races.
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ): The people in southern Arizona have had their rights violated by the unending and constant flow of drug smugglers and human traffickers across their property.
MITCHELL: Homeland Security Secretary and former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano:
JANET NAPOLITANO, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: It will detract from some of the efforts that are already under way to really focus on the most serious offenders, the most serious criminals, the ones that not only have crossed the border illegally, but are committing other crimes.
MITCHELL: Today the Attorney General called the law "unfortunate." And tonight, Justice Department lawyers are still deciding whether to challenge it in court. Andrea Mitchell, NBC News, Washington.
NYT Former Reporter Greenhouse Fires on Arizona's 'Police State,' Makes Nazi Comparison
Linda Greenhouse, the New York Times former Supreme Court reporter, now writes a twice-monthly column for nytimes.com. But the paper's editors must have found her latest rant on Arizona's tough new immigration law particularly powerful, because it made it into Tuesday's print edition: "Breathing While Undocumented."
Greenhouse, who caused controversy while still a Times reporter when she made her hard-left views on abortion and Guantanamo Bay public at a Harvard commencement address in the summer of 2006, really let it out on Tuesday, with visions of police states and a seemingly inevitable comparison to Nazism.
I'm glad I've already seen the Grand Canyon.
Because I'm not going back to Arizona as long as it remains a police state, which is what the appalling anti-immigrant bill that Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law last week has turned it into.
What would Arizona's revered libertarian icon, Barry Goldwater, say about a law that requires the police to demand proof of legal residency from any person with whom they have made "any lawful contact" and about whom they have "reasonable suspicion" that "the person is an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States?" Wasn't the system of internal passports one of the most distasteful features of life in the Soviet Union and apartheid-era South Africa?
Greenhouse summarized the recent history of "anti-immigrant spasms" and recommended the federal government get involved in Arizona:
Indeed, federal pre-emption would appear to be the most promising route for attacking the Arizona law. Supreme Court precedents make clear that immigration is a federal matter and that the Constitution does not authorize the states to conduct their own foreign policies.
My confidence about the law's fate in the court's hands is not boundless, however. In 1982, hours after the court decided the Texas case, a young assistant to Attorney General William French Smith analyzed the decision and complained in a memo: "This is a case in which our supposed litigation program to encourage judicial restraint did not get off the ground, and should have." That memo's author was John G. Roberts Jr.
After introducing the "police state" idea at the beginning, Greenhouse fires that weapon in the third act of her column, bringing up the Nazis:
So what to do in the meantime? Here's a modest proposal. Everyone remembers the wartime Danish king who drove through Copenhagen wearing a Star of David in support of his Jewish subjects. It's an apocryphal story, actually, but an inspiring one. Let the good people of Arizona -- and anyone passing through -- walk the streets of Tucson and Phoenix wearing buttons that say: I Could Be Illegal.You can follow Times Watch on Twitter.
CBS's Smith: Hispanics See Arizona Law as 'Purely Discriminatory'
Near the end of an interview with Arizona Senator John McCain on Tuesday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith turned to the subject of illegal immigration and the new Arizona law to combat it: "a very tough immigration reform bill which basically makes it illegal for you to be in the state without some sort of documentation. Is this law the answer to the immigration crisis?"
McCain noted the number of illegal immigrants entering Arizona and the level of drug trafficking taking place: "Across the Tucson sector of Arizona last year, there was 241,000 apprehensions of illegal immigrants....1.3 million pounds of marijuana intercepted on the Tucson border just last year." Smith followed up by wondering: "And for the millions of Hispanic Americans who live in Arizona, what do you say to them who feel like this bill is purely discriminatory?"
In a news brief on the topic at the top of the 8AM ET hour, fill-in news reader Betty Nguyen described how: "The Obama administration and activists are considering legal challenges to Arizona's new immigration enforcement law, which has reignited a national debate." A series of signs from an immigration protest in San Francisco appeared on screen: "Latinos Today, Who's Next? Shame on Arizona;" "Boycott Arizona;" "Brown Is Not A Crime."As footage of the protest rolled, Nguyen explained: "The law makes it a crime to be an illegal immigrant." On Monday, an MSNBC headline made the same odd statement.
On Monday's CBS Evening News, correspondent John Blackstone argued: "many feel the sting of racism in the new law."
The Saturday Early Show also covered the passage of the Arizona immigration law, as co-host Chris Wragge declared at the show's opening: "Border War. Arizona's governor signs the nation's toughest law against illegal immigration. Will the new legislation help secure the nation's borders or expand racial profiling?"
Moments later, White House correspondent Bill Plante reported: "The bill makes it a crime to be in Arizona illegally....Brewer said that she would not tolerate racial profiling, but that's what federal officials fear. President Obama called the Arizona law 'misguided' and urged lawmakers to get going on immigration reform. 'Failure to act,' he said, 'opens the door to irresponsibility.'" A headline on screen read: "Arizona Crackdown; New Law Makes Illegal Immigration A Crime" Apparently neither MSNBC nor CBS seem capable of seeing the irony in that declaration.
Following Plante's report, Wragge moderated a debate on the issue between Republican strategist Bay Buchanan and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. Wragge wondered: "Does Arizona's new immigration law go too far?" He then asked Buchanan: "Do you find it in any way unconstitutional?"
Turning to Cardona, Wragge continued his negative tone: "Why is this bad for the people of Arizona, in your eyes?" That gave Cardona the opportunity to rant: "It is not only horrendous policy, it is even worse politics. This is an insidious law that will actually make, not just all undocumented immigrants, but all legal and U.S. citizen Latinos, many of which, whose families have been in Arizona even before Arizona was part of the United States. It makes them under suspicion."
Following up, Wragge did challenge Cardona to present an alternative solution to the immigration problem: "$3 billion a year to educate, medicate, and incarcerate illegals in the state of Arizona. You're not in favor of this law, so what could have been done differently?" Cardona called for a "comprehensive" federal approach and again attacked the Arizona law: "The only thing this law will do is to make it open season for any immigrant, anybody who does not look Anglo, and it will make actually racial profiling legal in Arizona. It's insidious and it's wrongheaded."
Here is a full transcript of Wragge's discussion with Buchanan and Cardona:
—Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here.CHRIS WRAGGE: So, does Arizona's new immigration law go too far? Let's get two points of view this morning. Bay Buchanan is a Republican strategist, who supports the measure. Maria Cardona is a Democratic strategist, opposed to it. Both are in our Washington bureau this morning. Ladies, good morning to the both of you. BAY BUCHANAN: Good morning to you.
MARIA CARDONA: Good morning.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: The Great Immigration Debate; Does Arizona's New Law Go Too Far?]
WRAGGE: Bay, I'm going to start with you. I know you fully support this bill, but do you-
BUCHANAN: Absolutely.
WRAGGE: -do you find it in any way unconstitutional?
BUCHANAN: Oh not – not whatsoever. You know what they're giving is the tools to the law enforcement officers of Arizona. The same tools that we now have given to the border agents. They have the ability to ask people about their legal status. And the key was what Russell Pearce, the Senator who's behind this bill, did. See he went to the police officers and the law enforcement officers, the prosecutors in Arizona and said, 'what can we do? What do you need to finally take care of this issue here in the state?' And they said, 'we need greater tools, we need these abilities,' and that's what they did, is they have now put it into law, given the law enforcement officers of Arizona the ability to secure the welfare and the safety of the people of Arizona.
WRAGGE: Lots of responsibility for local law enforcement in Arizona. Maria, why is this bad for the people of Arizona, in your eyes?
CARDONA: It is not only horrendous policy, it is even worse politics. This is an insidious law that will actually make, not just all undocumented immigrants, but all legal and U.S. citizen Latinos, many of which, whose families have been in Arizona even before Arizona was part of the United States. It makes them under suspicion. They become people of interest under this law. They could be speaking Spanish on a corner. Who knows what 'reasonable suspicion' means. The Governor herself could not answer the question yesterday about what an illegal immigrant looks like. So, law enforcement officers, a lot of – a lot of law enforcement officers in Arizona don't want this law. They understand that they need community policing and in order to be effective law enforcement officers, they need the trust of the Hispanic community, which will absolutely evaporate under this law.
BUCHANAN: But-
WRAGGE: Yeah, go ahead, Bay.
BUCHANAN: But you know, Chris, the law, as it stands before this was written, has not done the job. Arizona is a target for human and drug smuggling. It's the number one place, the number one state in the country where that's coming through, that's the target of the drug cartels to take them right through that state. And, as a result, Phoenix is the kidnapping capital of the country and it's one of the top kidnapping capitals of the world now.
CARDONA: But, the-
BUCHANAN: The crime in Arizona is outrageous. People are being murdered, the crime is high. The schools are overloaded. This – laws have not worked and so now they're given the tools. They're taking the handcuffs off the police officers and they're going to be putting them on those who are violating the laws of this country.
WRAGGE: Alright. Maria, let me ask you this. $3 billion a year along the lines of what Bay is saying here, $3 billion a year to educate, medicate, and incarcerate illegals in the state of Arizona. You're not in favor of this law, so what could have been done differently?
CARDONA: Look, what we need, clearly, is comprehensive immigration reform. I absolutely understand the frustration of the folks in Arizona, of all of our leaders in the border states who – who look at this problem and have – and have had this problem for many, many, many years. It is an issue that we need to deal with at a federal level, which is why the President said yesterday that we need to deal with this by passing comprehensive immigration reform.
The law in Arizona is not the way to go. I agree with Bay that there is a huge problem with undocumented immigrants who are actually drug traffickers and – and all of the crime is clearly an issue. This law does nothing to address this. The only thing this law will do is to make it open season for any immigrant, anybody who does not look Anglo, and it will make actually racial profiling legal in Arizona.
WRAGGE: Bay, last word to you, Bay-
CARDONA: It's insidious and it's wrongheaded.
WRAGGE: Bay, last word to you. How do you apply this law without racially discriminating against people or profiling?
BUCHANAN: You know, our border agents do it every day. So, this is nothing new. And, so-
CARDONA: They are trained.
BUCHANAN: -what they're saying is – they are trained – and that is what the governor of Arizona said, she's going to train her police officers. The key here is this is what the people of Arizona want. They've had it with federal government. They have refused to do the job, and the answer is not amnesty for the 15 to 20 million illegals here. That's what Obama wants. That's what the Democrats want. It is not – that just increases the number of people coming into the country illegal. The people of Arizona on the front lines that are paying the price, they've had it. This will clean up the problem in Arizona. That's what it'll do.
WRAGGE: Ladies, I got to leave it there.
CARDONA: It'll do nothing to do that.
WRAGGE: Got to leave it there. Thank you both very much. We could probably spend the next two hours on this topic.
BUCHANAN: We could.
WRAGGE: It is a hot topic. Alright. Republican strategist Bay Buchanan, Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. Thank you both, ladies, we do appreciate you getting up early with us this morning.
BUCHANAN: Sure, thank you.
CARDONA: Thank you very much.
CBS's Smith to McCain: 'How Are You Going to Dismantle' Financial Institutions?
Hitting from the left in an interview with Republican Senator John McCain on Tuesday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith worried about the ability of financial reform legislation to expand government control over Wall Street: "How are you going to dis – how does any of this dismantle these giant financial institutions?"
On April 22, ABC Good Morning America co-host George Stephanopoulos asked Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner a similar question: "Why shouldn't those big banks be broken up?"
At the top of Tuesday's Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez put the GOP on the defensive: "Democrats continue to push for Wall Street reform. But are Republicans on board?" Smith later introduced the segment by portraying Democrats as fighting for reform: "Democrats refuse to give up on reforming Wall Street. Yesterday Republicans put the brakes on, but another vote could happen today."
In a report that followed, correspondent Nancy Cordes declared: "Senate Republicans voted last night against moving forward with debate on the massive financial reform bill. That drew angry recriminations from Democrats." A clip was played of Democratic Virginia Senator Mark Warner slamming Republican opposition: "I never got the memo that said our job wasn't actually to get stuff done."
Smith asked McCain about the bill's effectiveness in preventing another financial crisis: "will Americans be immune from the same kind of cataclysm that almost took the country off the economic edge two years ago?" McCain responded by pointing out problems with the legislation: "The bill, as it's constituted, I certainly couldn't give that guarantee....Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not included in any way in this legislation. They were the major catalyst behind this meltdown."
Smith went on to fret: "these giant financial institutions make most of their money now, not by mergers and acquisitions, not by investment banking, but by trading. They don't want to get out of the trading business. How are you going to dis – how does any of this dismantle these giant financial institutions?"
Here is a full transcript of the segment:
7:00AM TEASE—Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center. You can follow him on Twitter here.
MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: Goldman Sachs executives get grilled on Capitol Hill today as Democrats continue to push for Wall Street reform. But are Republicans on board? We'll talk exclusively with Senator John McCain.
7:01AM SEGMENT
HARRY SMITH: First, Democrats refuse to give up on reforming Wall Street. Yesterday Republicans put the brakes on, but another vote could happen today. And in the hot seat this morning, the embattled head of Goldman Sachs. CBS News congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes has more from Capitol Hill. Nancy, good morning.
NANCY CORDES: Good morning, Harry. This is the first time that the CEO of Goldman Sachs will testify here on Capitol Hill since his company was accused of fraud. Now, the Senators have been conducting their own investigation here. They say the company was making huge bets against the mortgage market, hastening its decline. According to his prepared testimony, Lloyd Blankfein, the embattled CEO of investment banking giant Goldman Sachs, will tell senators today, quote, 'we certainly did not bet against our clients.'
CARL LEVIN: I don't think they've been forthcoming with the public.
CORDES: The Securities and Exchange Commission has accused Goldman of knowingly deceiving clients, not telling them that one of its mortgage related investments called 'Abacus' was designed to fail. Internal company e-mails just released by congressional investigators suggest Goldman was having trouble finding an outside manager to vouch for Abacus, with one trader writing that one manager, quote, 'declined given their negative views on most of the credits. Senator Carl Levin of Michigan will lead the questioning today. What is it that your investigation has uncovered that has troubled you the most?
LEVIN: I think what troubles me, probably the most, is the conflicts of interest which are fundamentally inherent.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: The motion is not agreed to.
CORDES: Meanwhile, Senate Republicans voted last night against moving forward with debate on the massive financial reform bill. That drew angry recriminations from Democrats.
MARK WARNER: I never got the memo that said our job wasn't actually to get stuff done.
CORDES: Republicans say they want to get stuff done, too. They just have problems with the bill, the two sides are still at the bargaining table. They say those talks are going well and the Democrats could schedule another vote in the next few days. Harry.
SMITH: Nancy Cordes on Capitol Hill this morning. Thank you very much. Joining us exclusively from Washington is Arizona senator and former Republican presidential nominee John McCain. Senator, good morning.
JOHN MCCAIN: Good morning, Harry.
SMITH: Finance reform bill. Dead, alive, comatose, how would you describe it?
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Financial Reform; McCain, GOP Take on Obama Plan]
MCCAIN: I'd say alive. I think that there's been significant progress made. I think there's more progress that needs to be made. There's a lot of complexities here, a lot of members frankly don't understand all aspects of the bill. But I think there is a common desire to achieve a goal here.
SMITH: In the end, will Americans – if this gets passed – in the end, will Americans be immune from the same kind of cataclysm that almost took the country off the economic edge two years ago?
MCCAIN: The bill, as it's constituted, I certainly couldn't give that guarantee. For example, Fannie and Freddie are not – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not included in any way in this legislation. They were the major catalyst behind this meltdown.
SMITH: The big mortgage lenders, yeah.
MCCAIN: Exactly. I'm very worried about the fact that these – if financial institutions that are big have gotten bigger. So there's a lot of concern here. But I think there is a good faith effort being made to reach an agreement.
SMITH: One of the things that was talked about was this whole notion of 'too big to fail,' these giant financial institutions make most of their money now, not by mergers and acquisitions, not by investment banking, but by trading. They don't want to get out of the trading business. How are you going to dis – how does any of this dismantle these giant financial institutions?
MCCAIN: Well, I think that there are regulations over so-called derivatives and there's other measures. But what bothers me is that why not – don't we just, as I, Senator Cantwell and I recommended, just go back to the point where banks that do the traditional banking things, making loans to people so they can buy their homes and all of that, just make them separate from these financial institutions. As we'll find out today in the hearing with Mr. Blankfein, that they do a lot of other things. In fact, there is compelling evidence, as was just reported, that the kind of activity that Goldman was in hastened the – and deepened the crisis.
SMITH: Yeah. Do you feel like – or from what you understand of it anyway – that Goldman Sachs was literally betting against itself?
MCCAIN: I don't think they were betting against themselves. I think they were trying to hedge their bets the same way if you go to it Las Vegas, the sports book, and the sports book balances the bets. But it had the effect of worsening and deepening the housing crisis, in my view.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Fwd: MRC Alert: ABC and NBC Champion ‘Growing National Backlash' Against 'Laughing Stock' Arizona
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