Op-Ed: Himes loyal to the risk-happy banks

by Bob MacGuffie

March 21, 2023

It is worth remembering that Jim Himes was a banker at Goldman Sachs for seven years prior to entering congress. Banks and securities firms remain dear to his heart, as ‘Commercial Banks’ and ‘Securities & Investments’ comprise two of the top three industry categories contributing to his campaign in the last election cycle, and have been at or near the top contributors since he entered congress in 2009. 

Some of his top contributors are individuals and PACs representing Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Citibank, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Wells Fargo among other marquee banking names. 

Always hedging, and ever-cautious with his words, in this CNN interview on Friday, Mr. Himes sweats this one out, conceding the culpability and irresponsibility of risk managers inside Silicon Valley Bank, while implicitly recognizing the bank had to be government back-stopped.

Mr. Himes’ statements and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen’s testimony that the big banks’ deposits will have to be protected millions above the statutory $250,000 limit, are putting untenable pressures on the community and regional banks because they would be left out of the government’s protection. This all goes back to the ‘too-big-to-fail’ policy emerging from the 2008 crisis. Jim Himes totally supported that big-government intervention approach then, which has given birth to the ‘moral-hazard’ environment permeating the banking world ever since. 

Indeed, several years ago I tested Himes, asking if he’d protect the depositors from the bank leadership turning on their depositors, by requiring ‘bail-ins’ to save the bank in the event government did not come to their rescue.  

A ‘bail-in’ would permit banks to transfer some portion of customer-deposits to the bank’s capital account, thus capriciously reducing the customers’ deposit accounts by some percentage, say 10 or 15 percent or more. In return, the depositor would be an instant equity owner, subject to all the risks of stock ownership. In a town hall video I challenged Jim Himes to pledge that he would not vote for bail-in enabling legislation. He simply refused and said “I don’t do pledges” – including apparently, pledging to protect his constituents from potential draconian bank activity.

We need to watch Mr. Himes very closely – for his prior statements and actions indicate his fidelity to his constituents in his District is in serious question.

In liberty,

Bob MacGuffie

Candidate for Congress

BobMacforCongress.com