When congress voted for the bank bailouts, were they going to personally benefit from it? Cenk Uygur, host of The Young Turks, breaks it down. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
“Do the personal assets of congressional lawmakers affect the way they vote on federal legislation? New data says yes — at least when it comes to their votes to bail out Wall Street with hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars.
Amid the 2008 financial crisis, congressional lawmakers passed a bill providing $700 billion of direct support to major banks. In a new study, researchers from the London Business School and Tillburg University cross-referenced lawmakers’ vote for that controversial legislation with those lawmakers’ financial holdings. Their conclusion: members of the U.S. House of Representatives with a personal stake in bank stocks were far more likely to support the legislation than those who were not invested in those institutions.”
Read more here:
Hosts: Cenk Uygur
Cast: Cenk Uygur
***
The Largest Online News Show in the World. Hosted by Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian. LIVE STREAMING weekdays 6-8pm ET.
Young Turk (n), 1. Young progressive or insurgent member of an institution, movement, or political party. 2. Young person who rebels against authority or societal expectations. (American Heritage Dictionary)
Download audio and video of the full two hour show on-demand + the members-only post game show by becoming a member at Your membership supports the day to day operations and is vital for our continued success and growth.
Get The Young Turks Mobile App Today!
Download the iOS version here:
Download the Android version here: …(read more)
LEARN MORE ABOUT: Bank Failures
REVEALED: Best Investment During Inflation
HOW TO INVEST IN GOLD: Gold IRA Investing
HOW TO INVEST IN SILVER: Silver IRA Investing
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, many banks stumbled. The United States government stepped in to bail them out with taxpayer money. However, the question on many people’s minds is what happened to the politicians who oversaw the bailouts? Did they get rich from bank bailouts?
The simple answer is no. Public servants such as politicians are prohibited from voting or benefiting from legislation that they have a personal financial interest in. This means that they cannot profit directly from the bank bailouts.
Nevertheless, some people believe that there were indirect ways for politicians to benefit from the bank bailouts. For example, some argue that politicians in charge of overseeing the bailout were more likely to receive campaign contributions from banks that received bailout funds.
However, this claim remains largely unproven. While it is true that banks donated more money to politicians during and after the financial crisis, it is impossible to know if those donations were linked to the bailout.
Furthermore, politicians who oversaw the bailout were not immune from criticism. In fact, they were often accused of being too lenient on big banks and not doing enough to hold them accountable for their role in the financial crisis.
Additionally, some politicians faced consequences for their actions during the financial crisis. For example, former Congressman Barney Frank, who was a key architect of post-crisis financial regulation, faced pushback for allegedly advocating for policies that led to the crisis in the first place.
In conclusion, while some conspiracy theorists may argue that politicians got rich from bank bailouts, the truth is that there is no direct evidence to support this claim. While some politicians may have benefited indirectly from the bailout, individuals who oversaw the bailouts faced significant scrutiny and criticism for their actions. Ultimately, the top priority should be ensuring that financial crises like the one in 2008 do not happen again in the future.
https://youtu.be/bQ6SQK0b1Ys
Those motherfuckers
this is a dumb question ….OF COURSE !!! Cenk you don't seem to understand that these congressmen get most of their graft under the table …their relatives are used as well as money in fake corporations…there are all sorts of ways to hide wealth…if you think what they report is all they have you don't know much about the system..they are all about the money
cenk your bias is showing. as the financial crisis happened i would have had my broker tell me how much money i just lost.
Michael STFU. You ALWAYS give the benefit of the doubt. The world isn't rainbows and butterflies, sorry to burst your bubble.
What??????????? jimmy dore is sitting there, let him talk more Or i will unsubscribe, i just subscribed again after 8 months!?? Please share the mic better
if you are not rich enough to vote against that crappy legislation, then you are not rich
we can all relate with the feeling of handing over the money in a regular person way or a millionaire way. But generally most of us, as a regular person, where that 5 bucks is 5 bucks. That was a very important move in our country, i feel depressed about the fact that it was decided arbitrarily or not even, according directly to their self-interest
I suspected Congress was invested in those Banks and that's why they voted in favor of the bailout back in 2008 and it wasn't about saving America's economy it was about their own personal financial well-being
These people need shorter term limits.
tyt is wrong here. they keep taking blanket corruption and blaming one party….stop being a puppet….if you shrink the government, you would have avoided the crises and taken the opportunity to be corrupt away from the legislatures.
Michael Shure is a bit blinded by thinking of things in terms of politics. Politicians are people, and I can guarantee many of them have financial planners and know a thing or two about ROE in terms of their own portfolio.
Whaaaaaattt???!!!! Nooooooo, get out of here with that, there's no way … —-__________—-
There is one VERY simple way to fix ALL of USA's economic, political and corporate problems…. Make corporations truely liable for their actions. Under the 14th Amendment corporations are "people"… then make them liable criminally as people… If a corporation causes death or injury because its cheaper to pay fines than fix problems or faults in their products send them to court for manslaughter or murder… including shareholders. If a shareholder of a company makes money from such actions they to should be accountable for it's actions. If a shareholder realises they will get sent to court for shoddy, dangerous and/or illegal practices do you think they will stay shareholders? I don't think so. The corporations will soon cease to exist without the shareholders… Billionaire CEO's will go broke, Mom & Pop Business will flourish without corporate bullies, wages will go up, corporate pollution will stop. No Corporations to buy out politicians so the people wont get criminals running the country for a profit…
MAKE CORPORATIONS LIABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS
Guess we need a new law for Senators and Gov to put their assets in a blind trust!
Not everyone likes Michael, but the answer isn't making him barely audible. Up that man's mic!
And how much would it have cost for the government to just pay off everyone's mortgage. And wouldn't that have stimulated the economy?
Did Politicians Get Rich From Bank Bailouts? OF COURSE!!!!!!!!!
Kleptocracy + Idiocracy = Trump presidency
Water is wet, lol.
Let's see, it's really, save your own ass(capital). Of course we wouldn't check on what is globally ethically when our own ass (capital) is involved. Just another example of blindness of the capitalists on this panel. Capitalism is about covering your own ass (capital) and not doing what is ethically valuable to the highest number of people (the workers) (taxpayers). Screw the taxpayers, all I care about is my own ass (capital). Capitalism is not in our DNA. Humans will risk their life to run into a burning building to safe a life or sign up to die on behalf of the republic. Capitalism is self-interests only. We need much more cooperative corporations and not top down big money interests.
In other words…the sky is blue
How did Obama afford to buy mansions around the country and overseas on a salary of $400,000/yr pre-tax?
investors whom were "Short" the big bank stocks where not winners. Too big to jail and fail my ass. Rewarding Failure… F that
You mean the US government in corrupt? OH WOW, THANKS FOR THE NEWS, WE NEVER KNEW
Part of the problem with public funding will be to resist making rules to provide for current congressional candidates and keep other parties from being funded re: Independent, Green, Libertarian, etc.
We just need skynet running shit. Machines dont care about self interest.