In the aftermath of the foreclosure fraud settlement, and as we look ahead to the working group on securities fraud co-chaired by Eric Schneiderman, one of the best people to look to for answers on how this whole thing could have gone – how it could still go – is William K. Black. The author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One, and a central figure in exposing fraud among both financial executives and members of Congress during the S&L scandal, Black has been relentless on exposing the lax nature of regulation and prosecution during the past decade and more. His latest scoffed at the new task force on securitization fraud.

All of our financial elites are Oh! So Innocent! Eric Holder and Barack Obama agree.

Before any bill/amendment gets to the floor, it has to go through the Rules Committee, currently chaired by Louise Slaughter. It is Rules that decides what will be voted on and what won’t, and it is one of the principle ways that House leadership controls the agenda. As in, “don’t worry about electing anti-choice Democrats, leadership will never allow anti-choice legislation onto the floor.”

What is truly puzzling is how Timothy Geithner feels emboldened to reject policy that would have to be set by the legislative branch and not him.

Rahm doesn’t think about Democratic turnout. His reputation for “winning a Democratic majority” rests on his ability as a self-promoter to take credit for victories that happened in spite of him. The truth is that his “act more like Republicans” strategy just hasn’t worked out, and we’re getting whiffs of the disaster it spells for Democrats who follow it.