Obama JOBS Act (now signed) appears "specifically written to encourage fraud in stock markets"

Matt Taibbi totally fails to put too fine a point on it. Read:

Boy, do I feel like an idiot. I've been out there on radio and TV in the last few months saying that I thought there was a chance Barack Obama was listening to the popular anger against Wall Street that drove the Occupy movement, that decisions like putting a for-real law enforcement guy like New York AG Eric Schneiderman in charge of a mortgage fraud task force meant he was at least willing to pay lip service to public outrage against the banks.

Then the JOBS Act happened.

The "Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act" (in addition to being a viciously stupid and dishonest law, the Act has an annoying, redundant title) will very nearly legalize fraud in the stock market.

Actually, that's not putting things in strong enough language. In fact, one could say this law is not just a sweeping piece of deregulation that will have an increase in securities fraud as an accidental, ancillary consequence. No, this law actually appears to have been specifically written to encourage fraud in the stock markets.

As Taibbi notes, the law:

■ Exempts start-ups from "independent accounting requirements for up to five years after they first begin selling shares"

(Pause; reread; consider, that's five years without independent accounting for start-ups; now go on.)

■ Reverses rules that "prevent bank analysts from talking up a stock just to win business"

■ Will let start-up executives give "pre-prospectus" presentations — yep, you read that right — for which "they will not be held liable for misrepresentations"

And contains other atrocities. Please, do read. Then weep. Then tell your children never to give good money to the stock market.

Why is this happening? you ask. Guess:



And in case you don't recognize yourself, sir, this is addressed to you, our Signer-in-Chief. I don't see Boehner's hand around that pen.

Side note — Voice-in-the-wilderness here, but what fool disabled embedding for all YouTube versions of the original Liza Minelli–Joel Grey performance? That film was made in 1972; what are you protecting? (Just thought I'd ask.)

GP

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