Obama's Perilous Compromise with Wall Street Looters

[eridani]

Of course, he may yet get a clue and reverse course on this. If he doesn't, we're screwn.

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/117219/?page=entire

Looters have taken over America's Treasury. The executives who successfully ransacked their own banks, investment funds and insurance companies have set their eyes on Obama's stimulus. Tragically, the architects of the current economic fiasco have been placed in charge of America's recovery.

President Obama has made an enormous mistake. Instead of cracking down on serial looters and complicit regulators, he wants to guarantee the financial sector's obligations, which are several times larger than America's economy. This is a Ponzi scheme far beyond Bernie Madoff's imagination. Simply put: The government is breaking the rules of capitalism to reward the most reckless capitalists.

<snip>

Consider Obama's Economic Czar, Larry Summers, who comes fresh from heading a highly secretive hedge fund. As Clinton's Secretary of the Treasury, Summers championed the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, which led directly to the excessive risk-taking by newly enlarged financial entities deemed too big to fail when they failed. Additionally Summers and Robert Rubin lobbied intensely for legislation signed by Bill Clinton that forbid government oversight of derivatives, the toxic instruments that have poisoned balance sheets around the world. Summers' former deputy Tim Geithner, the new Secretary of the Treasury, has supervised more recent rip-offs. He bears significant responsibility for the Lehman Brothers' catastrophe and for the flawed Fannie Mae, Bear Stearns and AIG bailouts. At Geithner's confirmation hearing, he must be asked repeatedly why the looters were rewarded and why plans giving taxpayers more equity were rejected.

[izzie]

1. He will have trouble with all this. Looting the people has ----

become big business and the govt. is now full of this type persons who has been doing the looting. It starts at the top and when the top is corrupt it rubs off. It is just like a town or a family. They set the tone and it is off running. Obama will have a job getting these people out and trying to run a clean govt. Their is so much money to take it is hard not to do it, that is if the GOP and the Bush crooks have left us anything. We know Bush got away with 'stock deal' when his father was in power so did any one think he would do any thing but let other crooks get away with this stuff? I do not envy Obama fighting all this.

[terisan]

2. Obama just brought the looters in: Summers, Rubin, Geither . The Democratic congress

and Senator Obama championed the bailout and ceded all power to Paulsen.This is now a Dem looting.

[izzie]

4. well I do not like what I have read about some of these guys.

I frankly do not under half this banking stuff. Why are we giving money to the very people who did all the bad stuff in the first place. They all should be in jail not running banks. One hardly feels safe at their own bank any more and mine controls my retirement fund which I can not get back from them as it is set up that way. Even the English controlled the money they gave their banks. That Bush put this guy in is enough for me to shake my head in wonder. :shrug:

[mikehiggins]

3. Who is this "President" Obama you refer to?

As far as I and people who read the Constitution know the President of the United States is George Bush.

At least let the guy take the Oath of Office before blasting him for his actions.