Up 'til now I haven't been a proponent of the "pass something" idea on health care reform legislation, but I think the time has come. It has become such a convoluted mess and such a distraction that it's time to get it off the table and move on to economic issues. Like taking on Wall Street for instance:
One suggestion for the president, take out the "at least in spirit" doubt inserted there. Learn something from the health care fiasco, propose something tough and fight for it. Please.
Yes. More Volcker and less Summers and Geithner is definitely a good thing. But here's where it gets tough and requires some as yet unseen backbone when it comes to dealing with Wall Street:
Not to mention a large presence in the administration. And for goodness sake, Mr. President, put a stop to this:
*Sigh*
"President Barack Obama on Thursday is expected to propose new limits on the size and risk taken by the country's biggest banks, marking the administration's latest assault on Wall Street in what could mark a return, at least in spirit, to some of the curbs on finance put in place during the Great Depression, according to congressional sources and administration officials."
One suggestion for the president, take out the "at least in spirit" doubt inserted there. Learn something from the health care fiasco, propose something tough and fight for it. Please.
"Mr. Obama is also expected to endorse, for the first time publicly, measures pushed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, which would place restrictions on the proprietary trading done by commercial banks, essentially limiting the way banks bet with their own capital. Administration officials say they want to place "firewalls" between different divisions of financial companies to ensure banks don't indirectly subsidize "speculative" trading through other subsidiaries that hold federally insured deposits."
Yes. More Volcker and less Summers and Geithner is definitely a good thing. But here's where it gets tough and requires some as yet unseen backbone when it comes to dealing with Wall Street:
"The proposal could have the biggest effect on Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., which control a large amount of U.S. deposits, as well as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Citigroup Inc. which have a large presence on Wall Street."
Not to mention a large presence in the administration. And for goodness sake, Mr. President, put a stop to this:
"News of the announcement came shortly after Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner had a private dinner Wednesday night with chief executives from some of the top Wall Street banks."
*Sigh*
Therein lay the absolute brilliance (hive mentality?) of the Republican party. Everyone doing their job by veritable instinct. Block any action attempted by anybody else not Republican. It truly is an amazing thing to watch unfold.
Fact is, we never had 60 votes to pass the final bill, anyway. Not that we actually needed 60 votes. Harry Reid proved himself unworthy of the title of leader by compromising on reconciliation way too early.
During the Bush administration, Republicans had nowhere close to the majority that Democrats now enjoy in the Senate. Unless you are fucking blind it ought to be clear that Democrats are still the majority party - hell, it ain't even that close. Getting Harry Reid to understand that seems to be the problem. 51 votes is all you need, Harry.
Nevermind. Delete that comment and this one.
"Discretion is the better part of valor." This battle lost, MOVE ON.
Let's hope Obama has learned from his mistakes. Because THIS fight will involve an army of defenders just as well armed if not better equipped to defend the garrison. "The International Banking Conspiracy" as some call them, are gonna put up one helluva fight. Changing the status quo of "we get the profits you get the losses" will likely make the Battle for Iwo Jima look like a Junior Forum debutante ball.
This is gonna take some LBJ arm-twisting (also known as political blackmail). I've got a bad feeling that we are bringing a knife to a gunfight.
"I am running to tell the lobbyists in Washington that their days of setting the agenda are over. They have not funded my campaign. They won't work in my White House."
Lol. When he said that I thought he meant something else. Now I see that he meant while the lobbyists won't be setting the agenda, their bosses will be. Private dinner indeed. Pfft.
And the relation between that and regulating banks is.....?
Apropos of nothing, whatever happened with that "National Day of Strike" that the teabaggers were going to hold on 20 Jan?
Where to begin......Miemaw....stop blaming Republicans.....Up until 2 days ago....they had ZERO ability to affect ANYTHING in Washington. You are correct that the Democrats didn't have the stones to push their adgenda thru on their own.
And Voice.....it appears that the "comical teabag BS" as you put it....is a little stonger than you would like to believe. But unfortunantly its been hijacked by Fox News.......so I can really not be taken seriously. And does your house cleaning include all incumbents.....or just Republicans?
Can You Imagine?
I have this dream (or nightmare) depending on your perspective.
I dream Harry Reid got some balls, and called the Republicans on their "filibuster bluff."
I dream of C-Span teevee showing hours, and hours and hours, of one Republican Senator after another reading mundane stuff to the tv cameras.... while government grinds to a halt.
(As it was.... what we saw on the teevee, was government grind to a halt, while Harry Reid (and the WH) tried to make nice with Olympia Snowe, Joe Lieberman, Ben Nelson, and Mary Landrieu. And, that's where the blame was placed, and the buck stopped.
Instead of the "Party of No" absorbing some of the fall-out from nothing getting done --- or business as usual getting done....
Because the Democrats didn't have the backbone to stand up, and call McConnell's bluff.... the Republicans skated away scott free.
And... it's working for them. They have won three elections as a result.
My dream is that the Democrats grow some cajones.
My nightmare is that they have learned nothing from the latest loss... and they continue to allow themselves be pushed around by the minority party.
'Course my vision is .... Harry Reid loses his bid for re-election. And, that whoever replaces him will appoint Democrats.... not Dino's to committee chairs.
Ah.... dream on.
Voice, from your lips to God's ears...
*Sigh* is right. The more things "change" the more they stay the same.
This is going to take an "uprising" of the people to really effect the kind of reform WE are looking for. I don't mean the comical teabag BS. We need to get ourselves organized and our tactical action plan implemented so that we get these idiots out of office. They've long since forgotten who they work for -- WE THE (LITTLE) PEOPLE.