Can anyone tell me where all the government over site is? I keep hearing the same tired meme about how the abundance of government regulations are what is holding the free market back. They say that there are too many, and I'll grant that there are literally thousands upon thousands of regulations on the vast sectors of the market. But that is because the market is so enormous. Arguing that there are too many regulations on the market is like saying that there are too many hairs on my scrotum. I need all those hairs or my noonies will freeze! Just like we need the thousands of regulations on the thousands of different sectors of the market. What I am interested in is, where's the beef(still on my Reagan 80's kick)? How did this meltdown happen, and what regulations, or lack there of caused it?
Now I am admittedly a economic hack. My knowledge of economics, finance, and the market is elementary at best. However, since I am effected by the economy like the rest of the majority who have little to no knowledge of how things work, I think my point of view is at least worth considering.
The two popular arguments as to what led to the economic melt down are that there was not enough governmental regulation, and that there was too much.
Those that say there was not enough cite the importance of bills like Glass-Steagall, whose function was to protect depositors from the risky pitfalls of trading in securities by not allowing comercial banks to do business with brokerage firms or act as investment banks. This regulation was repealed in the Grahm-Leach-Bailey Act in 1999, with the support of both Democrats and Republicans. Bubba himself signed it into law.
Free market advocates say that government meddling in the market is what caused the collapse. They point to legislation like the Community Re-investment Act of 1977, and say that the government forced banks to give loans to under qualified applicants.
To both these arguments I say BULLCOCKY!
I grant that both points of view are valid to some degree, but they both have the same root problem: Government and Business colluding together in order to carve up this great nation for themselves. If you look at the big picture, one can not survive without the other, and more importantly one can not steal without the other.
Let's look at Glass-Steagall for a minute. This law was passed during the great depression as a measure of preventing another bank collapse. It worked just fine up until the late 90's, so why repeal it? The banking industry claimed it was no longer relevant....oops. Please correct me if I am wrong here, but isn't the root of the problem commercial banks playing in the risky field it was barred from in Glass-Steagll? Again, economic hack talking here, but these banks that collapsed all owned bad mortgages that they were using to make bets on the market with. Now I am not sure as to the technicalities of how or why that is bad, but I know it is bad because the POTUS at the time when it all went down(Bush 2) went on national television and said "HOLY SHIT". I guess shopping after nine eleven wasn't good enough to avoid the giant ice berg the economy was heading for. The banks all collapsed, jobs where lost in mass numbers, and everyone felt it, mostly the people who did not cause the problem. But Bush is but one player in this ballet of greed and irresponsibility.
No before I continue on with my indictment of big Government and big business, I should note that WE THE PEOPLE are responsible for this too. But I'll get back to that.
I ask myself, how can a sensible regulation like Glass Steagall get overturned? Our elected officials want what is best for us right? It is the only way we will re-elect them. Why would they repeal a piece of legislation that is designed to protect average Americans who don't know about things like investment banking or derivatives. I'll tell you why, they are all bought and paid for! I realize for those of you who pay attention that this is no big revelation, but I am pretty sure most Americans would be shocked if they understood how our elected officials get so damn rich retain their office, and more importantly, weild emense power. You see, this had nothing to do with incompetence, no no no. This was a straight up jacking! Let's break it down.
Where do banks get the ability to do what they want in the market place? That's right, the Government. And where does the Government get all the money it needs to run all those expensive campaigns, and pay for hookers, and blow, and new tvs, and have mistresses in the Dominican Republic? Man you are sharp! That's right, the banks!! You see that one hand washes the other. All these crooks that perpetrated this scam knew what would happen, and they packed a "golden parachute". Now I am no conspiracy theorist, but this looked pretty planned after the dust settled. Whether you know a lot about economics or not, when a bubble is created, it will eventually burst. Can you really tell me these banker predators didn't see this coming. Of coarse they did, and so did the Government. So why let it happen? Because those who perpetrated it all got rich, and they did so on the dime of what was left of the middle class.
Has there been any significant indictments, or even firings? No, as a matter of fact, many of the C.E.O.'s of these banks are retiring with huge pensions. With the tax payer bailout, these banks will be able to do the same thing again. The politicians will continue to let them do it because they get their kick back too. You think all that stimulus and bail out money is going to fix the "financial problem"? If you do, I bet you also think that the Sun revolves around the Earth, and herpes is only contagious during breakouts...trust me it's not!!
So after these modern aristocrats and robber Barron's have pulled off their crime, not right under our noses, but right in front of our faces, what happens next? The same fucking thing. Unless we do something about it.
Elected officials work for us. The type of republican democracy we live in works so well because we have a separation of powers. We also need a separation of money. Keep money out of my government....what? That seems a strange thing to write, but what I mean is, stop giving the elite the power to buy off the people who are supposed to have our best interests in mind. Let's stop giving money to the people who are stealing from us, and use it for campaign finance reform. If a man robs your home, you don't go bail him out of jail and put him up for the night do you? Why do you think bribery is such a serious crime? We cannot let businesses who have way more money than we do as individuals, have this sort of power in our government. Did you know that corporations have the same rights as individuals(Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific Railroad), and are protected under the bill of rights just the same as you and I? I have to ask, is that fair? Maybe it is or maybe it isn't. Whether it's big business, special interest groups, unions, or private citizens, no one or entity should have the power to influence policy with money.
This is why we should have publicly funded elections and only publicly funded elections. Each candidate gets the same amount of tax dollars to conduct their campaign. Maybe they will have to actually stand for something, and use the money to communicate their plans and ideas, rather then outspend each other on smear commercials. But why should my tax dollars pay for this?
Because it is a part of the commons. It is the most important part of the commons, and it should not be privatized the way it is. If puts you mind at ease, we can impose term limits and cut elected officials salaries to pay for these elections. After all, isn't it supposed to be public service? When did it become a career to be a government servant?
At the end of the day we need to own this America. The man who stands by and does nothing is just as guilty as the criminal. We let this small minority run rough shod over us. We blindly trusted those dirty bankers when they came to us with their adjustable interest rate loans. Middle and Working class Americans trusted a government to protect them, a government that most of them do not understand the inner workings of. If people bothered to see how this country is really run, and who runs it, the term populist rage would need a whole new meaning.
Now I am admittedly a economic hack. My knowledge of economics, finance, and the market is elementary at best. However, since I am effected by the economy like the rest of the majority who have little to no knowledge of how things work, I think my point of view is at least worth considering.
The two popular arguments as to what led to the economic melt down are that there was not enough governmental regulation, and that there was too much.
Those that say there was not enough cite the importance of bills like Glass-Steagall, whose function was to protect depositors from the risky pitfalls of trading in securities by not allowing comercial banks to do business with brokerage firms or act as investment banks. This regulation was repealed in the Grahm-Leach-Bailey Act in 1999, with the support of both Democrats and Republicans. Bubba himself signed it into law.
Free market advocates say that government meddling in the market is what caused the collapse. They point to legislation like the Community Re-investment Act of 1977, and say that the government forced banks to give loans to under qualified applicants.
To both these arguments I say BULLCOCKY!
I grant that both points of view are valid to some degree, but they both have the same root problem: Government and Business colluding together in order to carve up this great nation for themselves. If you look at the big picture, one can not survive without the other, and more importantly one can not steal without the other.
Let's look at Glass-Steagall for a minute. This law was passed during the great depression as a measure of preventing another bank collapse. It worked just fine up until the late 90's, so why repeal it? The banking industry claimed it was no longer relevant....oops. Please correct me if I am wrong here, but isn't the root of the problem commercial banks playing in the risky field it was barred from in Glass-Steagll? Again, economic hack talking here, but these banks that collapsed all owned bad mortgages that they were using to make bets on the market with. Now I am not sure as to the technicalities of how or why that is bad, but I know it is bad because the POTUS at the time when it all went down(Bush 2) went on national television and said "HOLY SHIT". I guess shopping after nine eleven wasn't good enough to avoid the giant ice berg the economy was heading for. The banks all collapsed, jobs where lost in mass numbers, and everyone felt it, mostly the people who did not cause the problem. But Bush is but one player in this ballet of greed and irresponsibility.
No before I continue on with my indictment of big Government and big business, I should note that WE THE PEOPLE are responsible for this too. But I'll get back to that.
I ask myself, how can a sensible regulation like Glass Steagall get overturned? Our elected officials want what is best for us right? It is the only way we will re-elect them. Why would they repeal a piece of legislation that is designed to protect average Americans who don't know about things like investment banking or derivatives. I'll tell you why, they are all bought and paid for! I realize for those of you who pay attention that this is no big revelation, but I am pretty sure most Americans would be shocked if they understood how our elected officials get so damn rich retain their office, and more importantly, weild emense power. You see, this had nothing to do with incompetence, no no no. This was a straight up jacking! Let's break it down.
Where do banks get the ability to do what they want in the market place? That's right, the Government. And where does the Government get all the money it needs to run all those expensive campaigns, and pay for hookers, and blow, and new tvs, and have mistresses in the Dominican Republic? Man you are sharp! That's right, the banks!! You see that one hand washes the other. All these crooks that perpetrated this scam knew what would happen, and they packed a "golden parachute". Now I am no conspiracy theorist, but this looked pretty planned after the dust settled. Whether you know a lot about economics or not, when a bubble is created, it will eventually burst. Can you really tell me these banker predators didn't see this coming. Of coarse they did, and so did the Government. So why let it happen? Because those who perpetrated it all got rich, and they did so on the dime of what was left of the middle class.
Has there been any significant indictments, or even firings? No, as a matter of fact, many of the C.E.O.'s of these banks are retiring with huge pensions. With the tax payer bailout, these banks will be able to do the same thing again. The politicians will continue to let them do it because they get their kick back too. You think all that stimulus and bail out money is going to fix the "financial problem"? If you do, I bet you also think that the Sun revolves around the Earth, and herpes is only contagious during breakouts...trust me it's not!!
So after these modern aristocrats and robber Barron's have pulled off their crime, not right under our noses, but right in front of our faces, what happens next? The same fucking thing. Unless we do something about it.
Elected officials work for us. The type of republican democracy we live in works so well because we have a separation of powers. We also need a separation of money. Keep money out of my government....what? That seems a strange thing to write, but what I mean is, stop giving the elite the power to buy off the people who are supposed to have our best interests in mind. Let's stop giving money to the people who are stealing from us, and use it for campaign finance reform. If a man robs your home, you don't go bail him out of jail and put him up for the night do you? Why do you think bribery is such a serious crime? We cannot let businesses who have way more money than we do as individuals, have this sort of power in our government. Did you know that corporations have the same rights as individuals(Santa Clara v. Southern Pacific Railroad), and are protected under the bill of rights just the same as you and I? I have to ask, is that fair? Maybe it is or maybe it isn't. Whether it's big business, special interest groups, unions, or private citizens, no one or entity should have the power to influence policy with money.
This is why we should have publicly funded elections and only publicly funded elections. Each candidate gets the same amount of tax dollars to conduct their campaign. Maybe they will have to actually stand for something, and use the money to communicate their plans and ideas, rather then outspend each other on smear commercials. But why should my tax dollars pay for this?
Because it is a part of the commons. It is the most important part of the commons, and it should not be privatized the way it is. If puts you mind at ease, we can impose term limits and cut elected officials salaries to pay for these elections. After all, isn't it supposed to be public service? When did it become a career to be a government servant?
At the end of the day we need to own this America. The man who stands by and does nothing is just as guilty as the criminal. We let this small minority run rough shod over us. We blindly trusted those dirty bankers when they came to us with their adjustable interest rate loans. Middle and Working class Americans trusted a government to protect them, a government that most of them do not understand the inner workings of. If people bothered to see how this country is really run, and who runs it, the term populist rage would need a whole new meaning.
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