During the summer of 2003, four federal agency leaders responsible for oversight of the banking industry met with special insterest groups from that industry reinforce the Bush Adminsitration's commitment to reducing regulation and oversight. To, y'know, get government out of the way of business and let the playas play.
Within a few short years, the global economy collapsed and the US (and world) faced an historic recession that was second only to the Great Depression.
And of course, Republicans are back today, making the same argument - let's deregulate and get government out of the way of business and let playas play.
Some of the folks at the 2003 meeting were so exicted about the prospect of deregulationg their industry, they decided to pose for a photo to exemplify the sentiment of the moment which, today, looks more like a ribbon cutting to an economic collapse.
In this photo: John Reich (then Vice Chairman of the FDIC and later at the OTS) and James Gilleran (the Office of Thrift Supervision - he's the one with the chainsaw), James McLaughlin (of trade group American Bankers Association), Harry Doherty (of trade group America's Community Bankers), and Ken Guenther (of trade group the Independent Community Bankers of America).
In the summer of 2003, leaders of the four federal agencies that oversee the banking industry gathered to highlight the Bush administration's commitment to reducing regulation. They posed for photographers behind a stack of papers wrapped in red tape. The others held garden shears. Gilleran ... hefted a chain saw.
 |
This photo from 2003 shows two regulators: John Reich (then Vice Chairman of the FDIC and later at the OTS) and James Gilleran of the Office of Thrift Supervision (with the chainsaw) and representatives of three banker trade associations: James McLaughlin of the American Bankers Association, Harry Doherty of America's Community Bankers, and Ken Guenther of the Independent Community Bankers of America. |
Comments