It is good to see that our elected officials are once again using their impeccable timing to save us poor working class folks from being ravaged by the wealthy. There is only one small problem the ravaging has already taken place. These same idiots who supported less or no regulation of business and the markets particularly think that now there maybe a problem with letting corporations and lobbyist write their own legislation and regulations? I’m shocked. Ok folks let’s have a quick recap, the reason we have Medicare, Social Security, and child labor laws is because if given a chance the greedy bastards that are the captains of industry will run this ship aground every time for short term profits.
Mr. Paulson said the government was going to demand greater “transparency” from banks and Wall Street firms, stronger risk management and capital management and a better trading system for complex financial derivatives, such as collateralized debt obligations, that managed to transform risky subprime mortgages into securities with Triple-A ratings.
Senator Charles E. Schumer, the New York Democrat who is a member of the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and Finance committees, was both positive and critical about the proposals, saying in a statement: “The administration is finally moving towards where Congress was last year. The good news is, they’re beginning to put their toe in the water when it comes to government involvement to help the economy.
The bad news is, they’re going to have to do a lot more than that to address the problem. We need government action not only to solve the current crisis, but also to prevent a future one.” NY Times
So now that all the robberies have taken place the Keystone Cops in the Bush administration want to come in and close the barn door. But like as been stated many times by wiser folks than me, the cow is already out of the barn. The pillaging has been done and not only have they allowed it to happen, they are now in the process of rewarding the same people who drove our economy to the brink. This is similar to the CEO’s of the nations banks and mortgage firms getting raises for orchestrating the biggest economic meltdown according to ex-Fed Chairman Greenspan since WWII. So what is it going to take to wake up the American public to the lies being perpetrated by the wealthy and their political minions.
I once read that capitalism is expecting the greediest among us to do the right thing. Well guess what folks, they are not going to do the right thing. What makes it so bad is that the Bushies can orchestrate a “bail-out” for Wall Street overnight, but do you think they have any help in store for Main Street? Not a chance. So reward the very economic excesses that caused this debacle by bailing out the architects of it and leave those victimized by it to fend for themselves. Is this a great country or what? And rather than us taking to the streets to protest the inequality of these economic policies we sit cowering in our homes hoping that the next wave of lay-offs and foreclosures don’t have our name on them. In the mean time the people who not only have created this mess, but also have the most assets to weather this storm are treated to government intervention while this same government is pissing down our legs and saying not to worry we are on top of this.
I feel better already. The same clowns who removed the regulations and regulators now say they have a handle on this thing. I know according to Senator McCain how we end up stepping into crap is not important, but I beg to differ. If I don’t understand how I keep stepping into crap, guess what I `d better invest in a pair of hip-waders because I am going to find myself in heaps of it. The problem is simply this, we have been fed a bunch of BS by the robber-barons of today that more regulation will lead to more costs and lay-offs. Newsflash – How many lay-offs do you think are in the works now that the economy has been trashed by these clowns? The problem is not regulation. The problem is greed. It is the Government’s job to protect those who are weaker from those who are stronger. How many “Gilded Ages” do we have to go through to understand this?
False history gets made all day, any day,
the truth of the new is never on the news – Adrienne Rich
It’s been marginally entertaining watching the “conservatives” squirm while trying to make a contorted argument that some regulation of banks might actually be a good idea.
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The chiefs of the country’s six major banking ‘associations followed up Brandon’s foot in the White House door with a long letter to the President-elect in December advocating nine substantive reforms. The bankers told President-elect Clinton that the problem could not be solved without new legislation to undo the accumulated damage done by Congress since 1989. The Financial Institutions Reform and Regulatory Enforcement Act of 1989, the crime bill of 1990, and the FDIC Improvement Act of 1991 had, among them, imposed a formal and inflexible lending process on banks that has had dire effects on their ability to make loans to small business.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."I am not an economist (and can barely follow bonddad’s or Jerome’s discussions on these issues), but the sense I’m getting from all this mess is that the Bush Administration has no real interest (excuse the pun) or motivation to actually do anything that changes the overall system or actually proposes real solutions to the looming economic crisis — they’re just trying to delay the worst of the collapse until next year, so it happens on the next president’s watch.
Maybe it’s intentional. Or maybe they just don’t care, or don’t understand why their economic policies of no oversight, no regulation, anything goes if it makes a profit and passes the debt on to someone else’s spreadsheet simply doesn’t WORK (well, except for those who got the quick profit and tossed the hot potato down the chain before it fell apart…). Which, come to think of it, also describes their foreign policy. And their health care policy. Their natural disaster and national security policy. And so on….
Right now, it’s just trying to kick it down the road…. you watch, it wouldn’t surprise me if the federal budget gets kicked on down the road too…
Just do enough to get by, get the last profits out and keep the market floating on taxpayer dollars if necessary… until it becomes Someone Else’s Problem. Anyone Else’s Problem — the fact they could theoretically be passing this on to a Republican successor doesn’t seem to matter either.
If the disaster doesn’t happen until after January 20, 2009, then it’s not their fault, right?
Riiiiight.
After years of Republican rule in Ohio, the number of folks on food stamps here has doubled since 2001.
Another half a million Ohioans are eligible for food stamps and haven’t joined the program yet for various reasons.
All I can say is this: Do everything you can to keep your job. Make yourself as indispensable as possible to your boss and your company. If you can keep your job, you have a chance.