On Thursday, after meeting with the editorial review boards of three Connecticut newspapers, Congressman Jim Himes spoke with a group of local bloggers at a Norwalk restaurant. If you've ever sat in pub and talked politics with a group of friends, that's sort of what this conversation was like -- friendly but spirited, even tense at times, with funny moments too (hey, CTBob was there). Most important, though, was that this dialog actually took place.
A couple of headlines from the event:
Himes supports the Fair Elections Now Act: Jim plans to cosponsor the bill, possibly as early as today. (See CTBob's videotaped interview with Jim on Fair Elections and a "clean Congress.)
Himes supports financial industry reforms: Jim says he thinks we need a modern version of the Glass-Steagall Act, along with better regulations.
When it comes to financial regulations, however, the devil is in the details. And we got into a lot of mind-numbing stuff, which I won't bore you with. But financial reform was the topic that generated the most heat. What role should the Fed play? What can Congress do right now to hold banks, and bankers, accountable for looting the American economy of trillions of dollars, and to prevent further fraud down the road?
For instance, I raised the point that Attorney General Richard Blumenthal wants the Fed to open the TALF program to credit ratings agencies other than Moody's, Fitch, and S&P, the ones who helped get us into our current financial mess. Blumenthal wrote a letter to Fed Chairman Ben Bernake asking him to let other ratings agencies do the work. Congress doesn't have to ask Bernake. They can mandate such a thing. Will they?
Overall Jim's response was that the problems we're facing are monumental, and that Congress is working to address them. He mentioned Congress' efforts to change the uptick rule, cracking down on manipulative short-selling. He pointed to the work of Elizabeth Warren, head of the Congressional Oversight Panel, who has recommended getting rid of top executives at problem banks and liquidating those banks, and who has insisted that the Treasury Department be more transparent with what it's doing with taxpayer money.
Congress can put some force behind Warren's recommendations, or not. We'll see. As he left the meeting, Jim took Blumenthal's letter with him, along with a stack of documents with recommendations from financial experts like William Black and Simon Johnson, who agree with Warren's suggestions.
We also talked about the Iraq War (it's still going on but no one talks about it as much); transportation (don't expect high-speed trains anytime soon, Republicans are still trying to cut Amtrack funds!), taxes (Obama's plans to increase the top rate to 39% will help the middle class) and other issues. The good news is that, clearly, Jim Himes is listening.
I'm pretty sure that CTblogger will have more from the conversation, including video. Stay tuned. Also, check out CTBob's blog for more.
Scarce: Video purloined from CTBob, who asks about the "Fair Elections Now" bill, sponsored by John Larsen (CT-01).
ctblogger: Unfortunately, I was delayed in traffic but I was able to record this exchange between Congressman Himes and Gabe from CTLP.
In light of the AIG bonus fiasco, the focus of Gabe's question in the videoclip concerned Republicans challengers taking a somewhat left-of-center stance on populist issues...a stance which are traditionally reserved for Democrats.
All in all, I thought Himes really hit a home run with his response...
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