Small Change You Can Believe In?

[Armstead]

That's what it seems to be.

Let me be clear. I like and really want to support Obama and am glad the Democrats are back in charge. I am glad that Bush is gone. Yes really glad. And I am a realist about the obstacles to change. There are no quick miracles, and we have to be content with a slow and steady race, etc.

But they are not going to get my blind loyalty if they are going to just give us more of the same in a slightly more palatable package.

Yes some good things have been done. But most have been forced by circumstances. .

Sure, Obama gets to do a huge stimulus bill with some good old liberal spending in it. But that only snuck by because of the financial emergency. In a more normal economy, I suspect most of what was allocated there would have been shunted aside in favor of a balanced budget. Meanwhile there are promises that "We have to do this now, but we promise we won't make a habit of it. We'll join the GOP in counting beans once we get over this crisis." Very inspiring.

And, when all the fuss and feathers about healthcare is done, what are we likely to get? A major gift to the insurance industry with a few strings attached to make us peons feel better. "You can have a captive market of every American, just don't deny coverage for pre-existing conditions." Well, yeah, I'd take that deal if I was in business too.

Meanwhile, Rahm Enmmanuel, one of the Usual Suspects, helps to gut financial regulation.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/03/obama-administration-help_n_344042.html

Except: With the White House's blessing, a House panel voted Tuesday to water down a key post-Enron measure designed to protect investors....In a voice vote, members of the House Financial Services Committee agreed to permanently exempt from a provision of the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act all publicly traded companies with market values less than $75 million -- which amounts to more than half of all public companies. The provision mandates that firms obtain audits of their internal controls. Companies say it costs too much.....Former SEC chairman Arthur Levitt said of the amendments: "This has enormous significance to individual investors. This is something the Republicans could never have accomplished, and what a bitter irony it is that the Democrats...are emasculating the best piece of legislation of the past 20 years..."....Their message that regulation is just too burdensome and too costly should send a chill down the spine of anyone who still held out hope that this Administration is serious about regulatory reform.
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To reiterate: I Really Want Obama to succeed.

But all this stuff makes one wonder if the White House and Democratic Congress really want to change things for the better? Or do they just want to get things back to a few years, when things seemed better on the surface while the termites were eating away at the foundations of our economy and society.

(Let the Unrecommendations begin.)

[villager]

1. Is it me, or are the unreccers getting steadily more pathetic in their robotic reflexiveness?

n/t

[mkultra]

9. i think we have just identified the reflexive howlers

I know that everything from this poster will be an anti-obama smear of some sort. Since his stance is out of balance with reason, then i have no problem unreccing him in the same fashion.

[Armstead]

18. Howl

One person's "reason" is another's uncritical reflexive loyalty.

[mkultra]

19. or irrationally reflexive criticality.

[rollingrock]

2. I wish Obama would take his own advice

How did the candidate who once told a stadium of adoring supporters in Denver, "the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result," become the president who has done exactly that?


Token change we can believe in?

[123m456h789d]

7. Token

What a wast of thinking, the man is doing all he can to bring
about a change, He told you change is hard and all you can do
is make it harder. You sound like the tea party people.
He can not govern, from the left crazy people. He will not get
any thing done. Let's stop acting like little kids and grown
up. He can not bring about the change that you want all by
himself. Some change is better than No change.  He have
brought change I have a Job now. That why I'm going to give
him 4 years not 10 months.  

[rollingrock]

8. Does it take four years to find the right people?

like Obama said, you can't play the same old politics (ie: appeasing the right wing, expanding the war. etc), put the same old players in your administration and expect a different result. But isn't that precisely what he has done? It doesn't matter if its one year or four years, doing the same thing over and over again will always give you the same predictable results. You don't need to wait four years to see how bad the outcome will turn out to be.

[geek tragedy]

3. The House bill will help millions of Americans.

It will save hundreds of lives.

As for the SOX stuff, those companies have been exempted for years because, to be honest, SOX does impose a disproportionate burden when applied equally to firms like AT&T and a local burger chain.

The talk of those reforms being 'gutted' is hyperbole.

[Armstead]

4. If it were just Mom and Pops I might agree

But everything under $75 million?

[rollingrock]

5. Rham has a funny definition of 'small business'

nt

[geek tragedy]

6. Believe it or not, businesses with values of $50 million

don't have huge accounting departments or administrative overhead. A single McDonalds restaurant runs about $5 Million.

[Armstead]

12. If they are public companies, that means they have more responsibilities

This would affect companies that go public. It's fine if a company chooses to do that, but it also means they have agreed to take on additional responsibilities. Additional public reporting to ensure transparency doesn't seem like too much to ask.

[geek tragedy]

14. It depends on how much paperwork is imposed.

Sarbanes Oxley costs a lot of time and money to comply with. It's necessary, of course. But, the legislation should have had a sliding scale--more requirements for companies like Tyco and less for companies that typically don't have the infrastructure to hire 10 full-time accountants.

[Armstead]

15. I agree with flexibility in regulations

I agree that regulations should not be so onerous that they make it difficult to do business. I'd be in favor of whatever could be done to take circumstances into account and adjust for smaller companies.

But not an outright exemption. Sometimes paperwork is a necessary evil to avoid bigger evils.

[geek tragedy]

16. Yep.

Probably some SOX-Lite legislation is due for the smaller businesses.

[Dr Robert]

10. "I like and really want to support Obama" that remains to be seen.

[Armstead]

11. Un huh

[xchrom]

13. i agree. nt

[jonnyblitz]

17. it's probably best if i keep my opinion of him to myself. nt

[uponit7771]

20. ANOTHER out of perspective fact challenged rant