The latest betrayal of liberals and the public by Obama - Glass-Steagall

Craig234

Lifer
May 1, 2006
38,548
350
126
A funny thing happened on the way to a liberal Presidency.

Read this:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/01/06-4

Of my pet issues for Obama to overturn from Bush, I think he's done one - repealig Bush's horrible gutting of the Freeedom of Information Act, which should be but wasn't a bi-partisanissue.

Another was the no-negotiation drug price clause in Medicare Part D. Instead Obama added the same clause to the Halthcare bill.

Now, another was repealing the repeal of Glass Steagal. What the hell has taken Democrats so long, that's a day one thing, liberals ask.

One of the very clear reasons why John McCain was the wrong guy was his surrounding himself with the very worst person as economic advisor, the crooked Phil Gramm, architect of the meltdown.

He's the co-author of the amendment that repealed Glass-Steagal in the first place. It's the opposite of what he should have done.

Not so fast. Now, McCain is expressing *support* for putting back Glass Steagel. And reportedly Obama is against it. Unbelievable.

By the way, Obama listened to maybe the #2 worst economic guy, Lawrence Sumners, it turned out.

Progressives were shut out under Clinton, under Bush, and now under Obama.

Few know Obama's motives, and not that many more care at this point.

I'm allied with McCain against Obama on this issue. I hope the forum isn't broken by this post.

If McCain and I are on the same side on this issue, it's too bad it's hard for there to be a coalition formed for a progressive candidate who will take on big business corruption of politics for the public interest.

I don't agree with the Democrat=Republican cynics at all, but on Obama's economics, they have more and more of a point.

Obama is making Bush look like less of a Wall Street Crony, as Bush yelled at Paulson during the meltdown that Paulson had to let him know what the hell he was doing.

(Apparently, Wall Street felt the Treasury was 'theirs' and the President wasn't really much in charge.)

A right-wing Republican candidate and a Democratic candidate each win and put Goldman Sachs in charge.

Where's the backlash headed? To progressives, the most useful place? To tea party? To Libertarians? We'll see.
 
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Robor

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
16,979
0
76
I voted for Obama but I do not understand why he chose who he did for his economic team. Those who broke it can fix it? :\
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
I voted for Obama but I do not understand why he chose who he did for his economic team. Those who broke it can fix it? :\
It's easy, see the pic in my sig.

I can't. CANNOT believe that fully 18 months after the sh*t has hit the fan there is virtually nothing done by the government to fix things other than throwing unholy amounts of cash at it. It's absolutely criminal in its stupidity/corruption.

Craig is right, it should have been a day one issue, more important by far than health care reform. There should have been a great purging of the heads of these companies, new laws, and proper enforcement of existing ones. Instead Obama filled his cabinet with Citigroup execs and suddenly has lost an appetite for reform.

eskimospy yesterday posted a link of perceived corruption of countries back in 2006. I recall that of the western nations the US was just above belgium but below many others. And with what's gone on recently it would be hard to argue it deserves a higher spot.
 

Robor

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
16,979
0
76
It's easy, see the pic in my sig.

I can't. CANNOT believe that fully 18 months after the sh*t has hit the fan there is virtually nothing done by the government to fix things other than throwing unholy amounts of cash at it. It's absolutely criminal in its stupidity/corruption.

Craig is right, it should have been a day one issue, more important by far than health care reform. There should have been a great purging of the heads of these companies, new laws, and proper enforcement of existing ones. Instead Obama filled his cabinet with Citigroup execs and suddenly has lost an appetite for reform.

eskimospy yesterday posted a link of perceived corruption of countries back in 2006. I recall that of the western nations the US was just above belgium but below many others. And with what's gone on recently it would be hard to argue it deserves a higher spot.

Your pic is good but Matt Taibbi's article is better. :\
 

Hayabusa Rider

Admin Emeritus & Elite Member
Jan 26, 2000
50,879
4,268
126
Perhaps, just maybe, someone will get this.

Political parties exist for one reason, and that's to keep themselves in power.

Everything, EVERYTHING, is done with that as a primary goal. Health care or finance, it's all a means to that end.

Partisans will beat up on the other party, and only when things like this happen do they even notice it, and I guarantee that by the end of the day it will go back to attacking the other party. Note that I didn't say Lib or Con or Rep or Dem. That doesn't matter.

What matters is that you will not hold your own to the same standards you hold the opposition. Waxman has been trotted out as a good representative, is in the pocket of Hollywood. Health care? An original bill was put out, but what specific homework was done to make it the best for the people and not the party? Nothing. It was about posturing to beat the Reps, and people swallowed it, because the evil republicans opposed it. Well of course they did. They are merely a different subspecies of shark.

There could have been strings put on TARP money. Nope. Investigations of Iraq. Nope. The excuse was "he has too many things to do". He'll always have too many things and every day leaves the trail of any wrongdoing colder.

Learn from this.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,685
136
I suspect that the banking situation is much worse than we've been led to believe- that it's still too precarious to survive the compartmentalization and separation into discreet component parts that a return to New Deal banking would require.

And it's not like the Obama admin has any real choice other than to follow through in the direction set by their predecessor. The choice between collapse, bailout or nationalization had been made before they ever took office.

The perps got to pick the remedy. The chumps who bought their song and dance over the preceding 30 years, the american people, got the shaft. The lootocracy has prevailed, thanks to those who voted their mouthpieces, guys like RR, into office.

Don't shoot me- I'm just the messenger. Much the same can be said for the Obama admin, as well. It took 30 years to create this mess, and we can't expect people who've been in office less than a year to fix it magically overnight, if ever.

The situation demands some personal sacrifice, some willingness to dial down our personal expectations so as to have a cohesive society. The haves need to allow a little more for the have-nots so as to avoid poisoning the whole thing.

Too easy? Probably true, given the worship of greed and selfishness we've mistaken for virtue.
 

ayabe

Diamond Member
Aug 10, 2005
7,449
0
0
The problem is that his entire team are old Clinton people, and they were fucking wrong about things like NAFTA, Glass-Steagal and just about everything else. The New Economy was/is a complete assrape of the middle class - they will not admit they were wrong and continue to be wrong about what needs to be done to correct the problems they themselves created.
 

rudder

Lifer
Nov 9, 2000
19,441
86
91

oh yeh....

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalp...st-i-didnt-campaign-on-the-public-option.html

and one more...

Obama quoted as saying no to mandated health insurance which was a popular campaign topic...

“Now, under any mandate, you are going to have problems with people who don’t end up having health coverage. I think we can anticipate that there would also be people potentially who are not covered and are actually hurt if they have a mandate imposed on them.”
 

FaaR

Golden Member
Dec 28, 2007
1,056
412
136
A funny thing happened on the way to a liberal Presidency.
You americans are funny. You use "liberal" as an insult, yet the root word that it originates from is "liberty". So thus what you really hate is freedom.

Then again, that's nothing new when it comes to conservatives. The right has always stood in the way of every reform that built the modern democratic society; the right to vote, freedom of speech, all of that.

If the right had been allowed to rule unimpeded since the 1800s, we would still be ruled by nobility, kings and emperors.

You should be deeply thankful of the liberal left! :D
 

rudder

Lifer
Nov 9, 2000
19,441
86
91
You americans are funny. You use "liberal" as an insult, yet the root word that it originates from is "liberty". So thus what you really hate is freedom.

Then again, that's nothing new when it comes to conservatives. The right has always stood in the way of every reform that built the modern democratic society; the right to vote, freedom of speech, all of that.

If the right had been allowed to rule unimpeded since the 1800s, we would still be ruled by nobility, kings and emperors.

You should be deeply thankful of the liberal left! :D

For purposes of political discussions, please make the assumption that the terms we use on this forum are defined in a book that was written this century.

ha... the urban dictionary...http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=liberal
 
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Arkaign

Lifer
Oct 27, 2006
20,736
1,379
126
You americans are funny. You use "liberal" as an insult, yet the root word that it originates from is "liberty". So thus what you really hate is freedom.

Then again, that's nothing new when it comes to conservatives. The right has always stood in the way of every reform that built the modern democratic society; the right to vote, freedom of speech, all of that.

If the right had been allowed to rule unimpeded since the 1800s, we would still be ruled by nobility, kings and emperors.

You should be deeply thankful of the liberal left! :D

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

You don't know Craig, he's a great guy and a solid liberal. He's just being honest about the situation. You only have 170 posts, so you probably didn't know that.

I'm a classical conservative, so I'm disgruntled in my own way (dissatisfied with GOP and extremists/wackadoodles on the right).
 

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,329
126
Don't shoot me- I'm just the messenger. Much the same can be said for the Obama admin, as well. It took 30 years to create this mess, and we can't expect people who've been in office less than a year to fix it magically overnight, if ever.

But your message is wrong. Obama can easily ensure this doesn't happen again by asking Congress to reinstate Glass Steagal and the previous leverage limits.

Not only has he not done that, he hasn't called for investigations into the mountains of fraud that took place, he and Congress have guaranteed banksters bonuses not once but twice, his treasury department literally fucked over the American consumers with the housing credit in order to help the banks out, allowing the banks to rape even their good customers while the Fed loans them money at 0% (argument to be made the Fed is paying the banks to borrow money), pretending to help us with a consumer credit bill only to have the banks rape us even more to their "shock" (in my book they either colluded with the banks or they are incompetent to not see that coming, take your pick) and the list goes on and on.

Pay attention to the actions, not the words, and you will see that Obama and Congress have repeatedly bent the American public over to enrich the big banks. He isn't trying to magically fix it he is trying, very successfully, to make his elite buddies a fortune.

How about that nice home buyers credit for example? I wonder why the treasury didn't announce the massive amount of short sales that would be hitting the market shortly after the credit ended? Wanna guess how the short sales will affect housing prices? Not to mention the current lending practices of the FHA being damn near "predatory" to help the banks unload all these properties at higher prices while the taxpayers guarantee the bad loans AND treasury stays oddly quiet about a program starting in a few months that could drastically reduce the value of the house you just purchased.

Yup, sounds like he just needs more time to fix this mess. The president might have changed but the real masters have not.
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
I suspect that the banking situation is much worse than we've been led to believe- that it's still too precarious to survive the compartmentalization and separation into discreet component parts that a return to New Deal banking would require.

And it's not like the Obama admin has any real choice other than to follow through in the direction set by their predecessor. The choice between collapse, bailout or nationalization had been made before they ever took office.

The perps got to pick the remedy. The chumps who bought their song and dance over the preceding 30 years, the american people, got the shaft. The lootocracy has prevailed, thanks to those who voted their mouthpieces, guys like RR, into office.

Don't shoot me- I'm just the messenger. Much the same can be said for the Obama admin, as well. It took 30 years to create this mess, and we can't expect people who've been in office less than a year to fix it magically overnight, if ever.

The situation demands some personal sacrifice, some willingness to dial down our personal expectations so as to have a cohesive society. The haves need to allow a little more for the have-nots so as to avoid poisoning the whole thing.

Too easy? Probably true, given the worship of greed and selfishness we've mistaken for virtue.
Obama deserves none of your mercy, not a bit. Even if he has to continue the bailouts, even if he cannot fix 30 years overnight, he can do something. He's been in office a year now, how much reform has come down the pike to fix this? What is he doing? This contributed to the greatest recession in many decades and instead of reform he just keeps paying. There are no sticks here only karats.

And yes I think that misspelling of carrot was very clever.

The problem is that his entire team are old Clinton people, and they were fucking wrong about things like NAFTA, Glass-Steagal and just about everything else. The New Economy was/is a complete assrape of the middle class - they will not admit they were wrong and continue to be wrong about what needs to be done to correct the problems they themselves created.
Kinda like the US' policy on Cuba. Funny that of the recent terrorist watch list they put Cuba on the list again. Sure is comforting to know they are stopping all those Cuban terrorists who keep hitting the US. In fact, I went there as a Canadian years ago on vacation. I wonder if I'll get badgered next time at the border.
You americans are funny. You use "liberal" as an insult, yet the root word that it originates from is "liberty". So thus what you really hate is freedom.

Then again, that's nothing new when it comes to conservatives. The right has always stood in the way of every reform that built the modern democratic society; the right to vote, freedom of speech, all of that.

If the right had been allowed to rule unimpeded since the 1800s, we would still be ruled by nobility, kings and emperors.

You should be deeply thankful of the liberal left!
You don't know who you're talking to; there is a recent Craig feared breaking the forums with his post.
 

Specop 007

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2005
9,454
0
0
I chuckle. People cheer and parade around an empty suit that came from one of the most corrupt political districts in the free world and then they wonder why things are the way they are.

Hope and Change gentlemen. Congrats, you put him in office. Well done!
 

Arkaign

Lifer
Oct 27, 2006
20,736
1,379
126
I chuckle. People cheer and parade around an empty suit that came from one of the most corrupt political districts in the free world and then they wonder why things are the way they are.

Hope and Change gentlemen. Congrats, you put him in office. Well done!

You mean that things are exactly the same as they were under Bush, Clinton? Yes. And things would have been the same with McCain as well.

We have no choices, it's bad and bad. Oh well :p
 

Genx87

Lifer
Apr 8, 2002
41,091
513
126
Lets see if the Dems have the balls to use their super majorities to go against Obama on this issue and pass it anyways veto proof.
 

Jaskalas

Lifer
Jun 23, 2004
35,544
9,776
136
Lets see if the Dems have the balls to use their super majorities to go against Obama on this issue and pass it anyways veto proof.

I'm willing to bet Congress is in the bag for this one as well. Surely it's not just the President.
 

Darwin333

Lifer
Dec 11, 2006
19,946
2,329
126
A funny thing happened on the way to a liberal Presidency.

Read this:

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/01/06-4



I don't agree with the Democrat=Republican cynics at all, but on Obama's economics, they have more and more of a point.

Sure is getting harder to argue that point isn't it?



(Apparently, Wall Street felt the Treasury was 'theirs' and the President wasn't really much in charge.)

They still do believe that and it doesn't seem to be that far off.


Where's the backlash headed? To progressives, the most useful place? To tea party? To Libertarians? We'll see.

Why don't the progressives trade their health care vote for reinstating glass steagal? The Dems don't have a choice but give the progressives whatever they reasonably want so they wield more power at this moment in time than probably ever before. At least then we would get something good out of that mess.

I personally hope to see a 3rd party of some sort gain a few seats to help reduce the possibility of any single party having too much power. We have seen what both parties do with it and unless you are a bankster it doesn't work out very well. I know its wishful thinking but damn near anything would be better than our current system.