The key paragraph, imho, in one of Ryan Grim’s latest at HuffPost is the following:

Astonishingly, at a time when the public is crying out for greater regulation to limit excessive risk-taking by financial institutions, the banks are trying to get Congress to agree that the next time there’s a big downturn, they should have the ability to alter their accounting standards — essentially, fudge the numbers — so that the public and investors won’t be able to tell how insolvent they really are. By ignoring their declining asset values, they can avoid the standard requirement of raising more capital.

Honestly, I could never have made that up. it’s just too absurd, even for my mind to invent.