1/24/14, "Putting Geithner Under Oath and Otherwise Improving Federal Financial Credibility," John McGinnis, libertylawsite.org
"Michael Greve’s post on the troubling allegations about Secretary Geithner’s alleged threats against S & P underscore a very serious structural problem in modern democracy. Careful evaluation of the solvency of democracies is essential to protecting the property and prosperity of citizens. It is particularly important because these governments are structurally prone to overspend and run up debts. Adjusting the credit ratings of sovereigns is not simply commercial speech but the political speech of the highest order. The credibility of government finances goes to the heart of politics.
The difficulty is that those companies who can monitor these finances
are themselves involved in the financial services industry. Given that
this industry is massively regulated by government, they are subject to
potential retaliation, not only through litigation, but probably more
importantly through the regulatory discretion of the modern
administrative state. Thus, even without explicit threats, rating
agencies may pull their punches.
The danger is not a problem unique to the United States. The European Commission has recently forced rating agencies to jump through hoops if they want to rate the sovereign debt of European nations. These rules followed the massive outcry by government officials when rating agencies downgraded debt of many European nations—some toward junk status.
The problem is serious enough that it requires a legislative solution.
First, the House Government Affairs Committee should immediately hold a hearing about the allegations that S & P was threatened after downgrading the debt of the United States. Former Secretary Geithner should be put under oath and forced to tell us exactly what he said his phone call to S & P’s chief executive. At the very least, such a hearing will discourage similar conduct to that alleged about the former Secretary. Second, Congress should enact a special whistleblower statute that should reward government employees for reporting threats made against those who report on government’s finances.
The complexity of modern government means that it is easier for its leaders to hide the true state of the nation’s finances. The power of modern government also makes it easier for them to punish those who can deliver the message that the emperor has no clothes. We need to put into constrain such unjustified threats and punishments. By assuring a free flow of information such constraints would in turn make government finances more credible, because government would be acting under the scrutiny of watchdogs with teeth."
====================
This post is referenced in opening sentence above:
1/22/14, "Geithner’s Gangster Government?" Michael Greve, libertylawsite.org
"Comes news that in 2011, then-Secretary Timothy Geithner called Harold McGraw III, Chairman of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services’ parent company, to warn him that the firm would be held “accountable” for its downgrade of U.S. debt (prompted by the melee over the debt ceiling). “S&P’s conduct would be looked at very carefully,” Geithner told McGraw according to the filing. “Such behavior would not occur, he said, without a response from the government.” The “filing” is a sworn affidavit submitted by Mr. McGraw in the federal government’s $5 billion fraud case against S&P over alleged conflicts of interests and misrepresentations in the rating of mortgages and related instruments. S&P has consistently maintained that the lawsuit was filed in retaliation for its ratings decision. Mr. McGraw is either (1) a desperate perjurer; (2) suicidal; (3) both; or (4) telling the truth."...
===================
This is the article Mr. Greve cites:
1/21/2014, "Geithner Told McGraw U.S. Would Respond to Debt Downgrade(3)," Business Week,
"The Justice Department last year accused S&P of lying about
its ratings being free of conflicts of interest and may seek as
much as $5 billion in civil penalties for losses to federally
insured financial institutions that relied on the company’s
investment-grade ratings for mortgage-backed securities and
collateralized-debt obligations, or CDOs."... The danger is not a problem unique to the United States. The European Commission has recently forced rating agencies to jump through hoops if they want to rate the sovereign debt of European nations. These rules followed the massive outcry by government officials when rating agencies downgraded debt of many European nations—some toward junk status.
The problem is serious enough that it requires a legislative solution.
First, the House Government Affairs Committee should immediately hold a hearing about the allegations that S & P was threatened after downgrading the debt of the United States. Former Secretary Geithner should be put under oath and forced to tell us exactly what he said his phone call to S & P’s chief executive. At the very least, such a hearing will discourage similar conduct to that alleged about the former Secretary. Second, Congress should enact a special whistleblower statute that should reward government employees for reporting threats made against those who report on government’s finances.
The complexity of modern government means that it is easier for its leaders to hide the true state of the nation’s finances. The power of modern government also makes it easier for them to punish those who can deliver the message that the emperor has no clothes. We need to put into constrain such unjustified threats and punishments. By assuring a free flow of information such constraints would in turn make government finances more credible, because government would be acting under the scrutiny of watchdogs with teeth."
====================
This post is referenced in opening sentence above:
1/22/14, "Geithner’s Gangster Government?" Michael Greve, libertylawsite.org
"Comes news that in 2011, then-Secretary Timothy Geithner called Harold McGraw III, Chairman of Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services’ parent company, to warn him that the firm would be held “accountable” for its downgrade of U.S. debt (prompted by the melee over the debt ceiling). “S&P’s conduct would be looked at very carefully,” Geithner told McGraw according to the filing. “Such behavior would not occur, he said, without a response from the government.” The “filing” is a sworn affidavit submitted by Mr. McGraw in the federal government’s $5 billion fraud case against S&P over alleged conflicts of interests and misrepresentations in the rating of mortgages and related instruments. S&P has consistently maintained that the lawsuit was filed in retaliation for its ratings decision. Mr. McGraw is either (1) a desperate perjurer; (2) suicidal; (3) both; or (4) telling the truth."...
===================
This is the article Mr. Greve cites:
1/21/2014, "Geithner Told McGraw U.S. Would Respond to Debt Downgrade(3)," Business Week,
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Comment at libertylaw:
"Jeremy Klein, Jan 24, 2014 @ 12:23:48
This ‘should’ happen and that ‘should’ happen…I’ll tell you what ‘should’ happen: Every legislator and executive ‘should’ quit being in gross willful ignorance and/or denial of the obvious, plain-text meaning of the Constitution, and immediately set about working on the most expeditious way to dismantle the monstrosity that is our current Fed gov’t, eliminating vast swathes of regs/agencies/dept’s, freeing the economy from their deadly drag, returning the private sector to actually being a private sector, not a nearly wholly-owned subsidiary of the Fed gov’t. Wealth and freedom would spread. The poor and middle class would particularly benefit. The debt would disappear.
O, I know, you are making sober, rational, and realistic proposals to
try and limit the damage. So we can hit the wall at 90 mph instead of
120. This does not end well. But I can dream…"
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"John McGinnis
John O. McGinnis is the George C. Dix Professor in Constitutional Law at Northwestern University. His recent book, Accelerating Democracy was published by Princeton University Press in 2012. McGinnis is also the co-author with Mike Rappaport of Originalism and the Good Constitution published by Harvard University Press in 2013 . He is a graduate of Harvard College, Balliol College, Oxford, and Harvard Law School."...
=========================
"John McGinnis
John O. McGinnis is the George C. Dix Professor in Constitutional Law at Northwestern University. His recent book, Accelerating Democracy was published by Princeton University Press in 2012. McGinnis is also the co-author with Mike Rappaport of Originalism and the Good Constitution published by Harvard University Press in 2013 . He is a graduate of Harvard College, Balliol College, Oxford, and Harvard Law School."...
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Comment: I don't think Mr. McGinnis understands the US has been overthrown. He's living in a dream world. Even if the GOP still existed it would never do a thing to harm democrats or Obama.
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