Just How Useless Is Congress?

       Raise your hand if you can clearly explain what derivatives are. No? Well how about credit default swaps? No? Well maybe that's why one of the "Too Big To Fail" banks is writing legislation to eliminate the Dodd-Frank law that was passed because of the financial crisis of 2008-09. That weak law required a few of those bets to be separated from taxpayer protection. But that idea didn't sit well with the TBTF gang. Because it would mean they would not make as much profit.
       But the whole idea of Dodd-Frank was to get taxpayers off the hook for banks' risky bets and transactions. You know, the kind that forced us to spend billions to prop up those banks because they were too big to fail. Their failure would hurt America. So ya see, you don't really have to fully understand these risky bets the banks were taking part in. All you really have to know is that if you have to pay the debt if they screw up, it's a bad deal for you.
       Well, if that's the case, why is Congress allowing a Citigroup employee to write the legislation? Good question. If Congress allows it, then shouldn't these too big to fail banks be broken up into smaller banks that aren't too big to fail if they make a too risky bet? Even better question. But as it now looks, the Dodd-Frank law will become the Dodd-Frank useless piece of paper. And we'll be right back where we were in 2008. And if somebody in one of these TBTF banks decides to make a really wild wager and loses, we'll all wind up with a big increase in our national debt.
       So the question is; do you really want these folks writing our laws so they can do pretty much anything they please? Here's another question; why is it that Congress would allow these folks to do its work? If the industries we are supposed to regulate, write their own rules, then what do we need Congress for anyway?