dagblog - Comments for "FINANCIAL REFORM--THE SPECTACLE"

On that topic - I told some

kgb999 — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 08:12:46 +0000

On that topic - I told some of my friends about your signing ... it was kind too short-notice for them by the time we connected, but they were interested. Do you have a schecule of any sort?

Thanks for those references.

Oxy Mora — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:09:41 +0000

In reply to Ah but Stiglitz gets it.And

Thanks for those references. They got me worked up all over again.

I don't like it but I can understand that Obama's leniency with financial executives during the first two years was geared to making sure the system itself didn't fail. We are now past the point of systemic failure. But the fact that financial fraud perpetuators got off scott free remains in our society like ingrown shrapnel. Like Stiglitz said, they consider a few fines akin to a parking ticket--it's the cost of conducting business. Move on to the next consumer scam.

Why doesn't Obama take a more punitive stance toward the banks? Doesn't he have any sense of what Stiglitz is saying about the continued erosion of confidence resulting from the universal knowledge that this privileged class cheated and got away with it? And individual borrowers, investors and consumers were made to pay the price? And that ordinary people are still angry and think he should have done something to call the perps to account? And might be a reason Democrats got their shins kicked in? Isn't every discussion on the state of the economy about consumer "confidence"? And what possible downside is there at this point in throwing the book at banks? What, they won't help the recovery? They'll continue not to lend?

It has been said that Wall St. is a central source of funding for Obama and Democrats and is the reason Obama is going easy on them. God help us if that is true.

Ah but Stiglitz gets it.And

cmaukonen — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:42:13 +0000

In reply to FINANCIAL REFORM--THE SPECTACLE

Ah but Stiglitz gets it.

And Nobel prize winning economist George Akerlof has demonstrated that failure to punish white collar criminals – and instead bailing them out- creates incentives for more economic crimes and further destruction of the economy in the future. See this, this and this.

Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz just agreed. As Stiglitz told Yahoo’s Daily Finance on October 20th:

This is a really important point to understand from the point of view of our society. The legal system is supposed to be the codification of our norms and beliefs, things that we need to make our system work. If the legal system is seen as exploitative, then confidence in our whole system starts eroding. And that’s really the problem that’s going on.

***

A lot of the predatory practices in automobile loans are going to be able to be continued. Why is it OK to engage in bad lending in automobiles and not in the mortgage market? Is there any principle? We all know the answer to that. No, there’s no principle. It’s money. It’s campaign contributions, lobbying, revolving door, all of those kinds of things

From the man himself.

We shall fight on the

Oxy Mora — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 16:33:11 +0000

In reply to Would be great, yet we are

We shall fight on the beaches

We shall fight on the landing grounds

We shall fight in the fields and on the streets...

Oh, forget that. Send in Neville Chamberlain, throw them a bone or two, they'll settle down.

Would be great, yet we are

NCD — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:53:15 +0000

In reply to FINANCIAL REFORM--THE SPECTACLE

Would be great, yet we are stuck with the real Obama, not the Obama who really shakes things up, from the movie by the same name, staring Denzel Washington.

According to David Corn, Melissa Bean is a leading contender for the job:

Bean, a member of the House financial services and small business committees, has a long history as a favorite of Wall Street. Her top donors hail from the finance, insurance, and real estate industries...

Could Wall Street's Favorite Dem Head Obama's Consumer Bureau?

Thanks, Dreamer. I appreciate

Oxy Mora — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:46:00 +0000

In reply to I like your thinking, Oxy

Thanks, Dreamer. I appreciate your posts as well.

I like your thinking, Oxy

AmericanDreamer — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:33:52 +0000

In reply to FINANCIAL REFORM--THE SPECTACLE

I like your thinking, Oxy Mora.

Yeah, you got it. Someone

EmmaZahn — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 00:36:44 +0000

In reply to I like your phrase "someone

Yeah, you got it. Someone genuinely misunderestimated. Not a pretender like W but someone to the manner born.

Addendum: Only pseudo-intellectuals would gag. True intellectuals would recognize the genius despite appearances.

I like your phrase "someone

Oxy Mora — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 23:06:48 +0000

In reply to I doubt Paladino is the sort

I like your phrase "someone no progressive in good standing could stand".--which I take one aspect of to be a certain "indelicate" sort, out of Appalachia perhaps, someone with antennae for bull shit, right or left. A showman who would gag an intellectual. And someone the opposition would underestimate. Is that your thought, or am I off target.

I doubt Paladino is the sort

EmmaZahn — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 22:27:16 +0000

In reply to Thanks. That's an

I doubt Paladino is the sort of person you are looking for. He's a real estate developer and would no doubt love to build the briar patch, maybe settle a couple of scores against select bankers but in the end would really like to be one of them.

For that you need a real grassroots tea partier, not one of Koch's astroturf ones. Someone along the lines of Andrew Jackson or Huey Long. In other words, someone no progressive in good standing could stand. :-{