Trump Business Model: “Back to the Future” Doc Brown & Marty McFly Both Prepped

Planning Board for New Movie (Actually a Rerun) and Sooner than Later

Original Post Follows This Major (and slightly belated) Update:

Trump appears to be breaking a 45-year old law that “…requires advisory committee meetings — where influential business leaders are expected to give advice or recommendations to a President or agency — to be open the public.”

How about a Rick Perry “oops” right about now, um, Mr. President? Or is this your style… Do things my way and screw the law. Tick tock, tick tock, Mr. President: We await your response… and I suspect it outta be a humdinger. SAD...!!! 

Standing with Mr. and Mrs. Main Street America, or his big business pals who want more and more favors and back to the future – bury Dodd-Frank regulations along the way, um? Yep… for sure. 

Cite this piece from the NY Times here in part – note: two key actions that impact all of us and favor his ultra-rich pals (with my emphasis):

(First – favor for rich pals):  Trump is moving to roll back the Obama administration’s legacy on financial regulation, announcing a series of steps to revisit the rules enacted after the 2008 near total financial meltdown crisis while taking policy advice from the Wall Street titans he had demonized during his campaign (how ironic is that turnaround?).

After a White House meeting with the executives, Mr. Trump signed a directive calling for his administration to identify potential changes to provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, crafted by the Obama administration and passed by Congress in response to the 2008 meltdown.

(Second – attack on main street Americans): A second directive he signed is expected to temporarily halt and eventually overhaul an Obama-era Labor Department rule that requires brokers to act in a client’s best interest, rather than seek the highest profits for themselves, when providing retirement advice.

(I note): That halt and reversal would wipe out the so-called fiduciary rule which in essence says clients must be first and foremost above profit.

(Further I note):  If you support taking away that fiduciary rule, then that means you also will fully trust your stock broker, banker, or whomever is handling your investments and money for them to always be honest. I would remind you, too to keep in mind this quote from Tomas Jefferson who wrote in 1816: “I sincerely believe that the banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies.”

With all that in mind, also remember this string of failures and collapses after that near total meltdown started in 2008 to see who you would trust again:

1.  Bear-Stearns, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, Lehman Bros, AIG, Merrill Lynch, Washington Mutual, and Wachovia all failed.

2.  The entire automobile industry nearly collapsed.

3.  Wall Street bank closures were massive.

4.  The housing bubble burst and foreclosures were later proven to have been caused by greed and CEO salaries, off-shore hideouts for billions, and massive job losses piled up and started to take their toll.

5.  Our national debt and deficit spending reached new levels.

6.  Foreign borrowing (mostly from China) increased.

7.  We continued in two major wars and basically on the national credit card.

So, who would you trust – Mr. Trump and Wall Street billionaires who put profit first above your welfare, and the changes they want, or damnit, leave things alone now?

(Now the Trump con – his trademark ploy and two-face hypocrisy): Taken together, the actions constitute a broad effort to loosen regulations on banks and other major financial companies, put into motion by a president who campaigned as a champion of working Americans and a critic of Wall Street elites.

Trump said his actions were intended to help both Wall Street and workers as his administration eases constraints on banks and enables them to lend to companies, which could then hire more workers.

He said in part: “We expect to be cutting a lot out of Dodd-Frank because frankly, I have so many people, friends of mine that had nice businesses, they can’t borrow money.”

(I note: That on the surface is a crock): He continued this speech in the State Dining Room during that meeting with business leaders.

“They just can’t get any money because the banks just won’t let them borrow it because of the rules and regulations in Dodd-Frank.”

(I note: If you believe that load of crap then you surely believe in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy).

Story continues here.

As they say, but more so in this case, “payback’s a bitch.” Now for Trump’s ultra-rich pals especially who have wanted this sort of action for years. And, now, well they get the gold mine (much richer) and we get what (um, how does that song go)? Oh, yeah, they get the mine and “we get the shaft.” 

Stay tuned.