Obama vs./& Moneyed interests

Cdr. John Newlin, USN (Ret.)
Vista, Calif.

The "Blue Dog" conservative Democrats in the Senate have already put together a plan that kills the consumer financial protection agency the president has been advocating.

The problem for President Obama is that he does not have the power of previous presidents. The enormous amount of money being spent by corporate lobbyists now puts the Congress in a financial straight jacket. And to add to America's woes, A federal appeals court overturned campaign finance reform regulations in a ruling recently that will make it easier for independent political groups to raise and spend money to influence elections. Which means higher and higher bidding for our congressional prostitutes.

Free speech as envisioned by the founders no longer exists. We are now living in a plutocratic system of government where the ruling mantra is the Golden Rule - he who has the gold rules. And our President, any president, is powerless to thwart the greed and need for power evinced by the members of congress.

And sadly, President Obama will lose battle after battle while the American middle class is drowned in a sea of debt, congressional greed and substandard health care.

It can only end badly for a truly gifted and sincere President. And it will certainly end badly for the vast majority of the American people. I weep for them.


R. Law
Texas

Alas and alack; the President acts as if he doesn't realize the people are with him. Since not one CEO of the top ten banks showed up for the President's Wall Street news conference, their arrogance is magnified.

Mr. Obama seems perhaps captive to his grandmother's experience as a community/regional banker and to his advisers instead of trusting his instincts and last week's snubs in dealing with Wall Street's bankers, who only a year ago presented the nation (and planet) with a one-page $700 billion extortion note.

If we don't break apart the too-big-to-fails and bring back Glass-Steagall, there will be a lot of risk analysts out of work - after all, there's no risk of failure if the government guarantees everything.


nancy johnson
in

Mr. Krugman, you don't honestly expect President Obama to " reform " his bosses, do you? Those financial mavens bankrolled his campaign, and he has already proven his allegiance to them.

There are people who would hold these criminals responsible -- men like Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul, but they are certain to be granted no authority to do anything.

The bankers will continue to do as they please and grow rich beyond belief; and, President Obama will continue to smile and talk and talk and talk and talk.



Phil in the mountains of Kyushu
Japan

To focus on the ongoing ethical depravity of U.S. bankers:

Please remember, too, in a larger sense, that bankers only behave as they learned ethically OK. They know – all know – that U.S. corporate culture legally exists only as a massive bloodsucker. All in it have no ethics other than to extract what they can. Shareholder value entails no obligation to any ethics beyond those depersonalized all learn in biz schools, law schools, and most other. Corporate America has no obligation to any community of humans, nature, or anything living – humanity like nature a cipher to the idolatry of short-term profit for some.

Thanks for your hope that corporate-loving Obama may wake up, and bestir himself to a little regulating of his rich banker buddies. But so long as America’s schools so serve the larger bloodsucking corporate ethos, the world need not be surprised at Americans helpless before their institutional culture gone completely mad.