This is how William Black, a former federal bank regulator, described the actions of Senator Robert Menendez (D, N.J.), in prodding the Federal Reserve to approve the takeover of a New Jersey bank. As the article from the Wall Street Journal noted:
While lawmakers routinely forward requests from constituents to government agencies, it is rare for them to make specific requests along the lines of this letter asking specific actions, bank attorneys and congressional aides said. One reason is to avoid any appearance of trying to influence the regulatory process for political ends.
What the Senator failed to mention in his letter was that the bank’s Chairman and Vice Chairman were large donors to his political campaign. While the outcome in this story was that the Fed didn’t act on behalf of the Senator and the bank ended up failing, the Senator’s remarks are worth noting:
In a written statement, Mr. Menendez said helping the community bank, which mostly served Hispanics, was the right thing to do. “If any New Jersey constituent—regardless if it is a family or a local community bank—comes to me seeking assistance with a legitimate federal matter, not only is it important to help, I was elected to help,” he said. “Telling them ‘no’ would be abdicating my responsibility.”
The matter worth disputing is if the success or failure of a private company, even if that company is a bank, is a “legitimate federal matter.” If you accept Madison as an authority on the Constitution and the specific responsibilities of the federal government, it is not.
And if you accept P.J. O’Rourke as an authority on political humor, then you’d likely chuckle at his observation that “When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, then the first things to be bought and sold are Legislators.”
