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This article describes GOP bill proposals that would severely limit the Consumer Protection Agency that was created to protect consumers from abuses from banks like those that contributed to the financial crisis. The GOP understands that the Democratic Senate will not pass these laws so what is the purpose? According to this report, the purpose is to show bankers, and their lobbyists, that the GOP would take actions to defend bank profits which depend upon their ability to take advantage of consumers if it were to win the 2012 elections. They hope to extract campaign contributions from the bankers and to reduce the access of the Democrats to that source of contributions.
The actions of the GOP show how unconcerned it is about public reaction to their behavior. They believe that their base is misinformed by GOP friendly media and hat it can do whatever its wants without risk of public outcry. It also puts on full display how corrupt our political system has become. Government has the power to reward and punish business interests by passing laws which restrict or encourage rent seeking behavior. Politicians can extort campaign contributions from business by removing the threat of laws that restrict rent seeking or by passing laws which provide new opportunities for rent seeking. A political system that depends upon extortion in order to fund campaigns is not in the best interest of the country.
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