President Obama heads to Wall Street this Monday to urge financial reform. Financial regulatory systems need an overhaul to avoid the abuses and failures that led to near economic disaster last year.
Most of the focus this past summer has been on health care reform which is also part of our national financial woes. However, the banking, mortgage and insurance industries need to come back to being blips on the radar if serious reform is to take place and future disasters are to be avoided.
According the Washington Post:
He will urge members of the financial community “to take responsibility, not only to support reforming the regulatory system but also to avoid a return to the practices on Wall Street that led us to the financial crisis,” an administration official said Sunday.
Building up to that message, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said recently that “greater urgency” is needed to push through regulatory reform and insisted that “fundamental change is necessary.” National economic adviser Lawrence H. Summers said in an interview that “this crisis will leave a legacy of strengthened regulation.”
Interestingly enough, while the job market hovers just under 10% unemployment, and retail spending is still flatlining, the stock market has gone up on average 45% since March. September which historically is the poorest month for stock gains hasn’t been that bad. Since September 1, the Dow has risen nearly 300 points. According to Bulls and Bears (Fox News) the average Joe 6 pack is just poking a toe back into the water and is investing in the stock market again after the melt down that began last September.
So who will howl about financial regulation? Probably those who are being regulated and need it the most. What are some reforms that contributors on anti see a need for?
[ UPDATE: TEXT OF PRESIDENT OBAMA’S ADDRESS TO WALL STREET]
More transparency in accounting proceedures so institutions can’t hide bad assets and distort the true value of their balance sheets. Banks should be banks, not brokerage houses trading in overvalued bonds, derivatives and other worthless paper.
Excellent points Ivan. This is probably one of the most important things President Obama can do. I don’t understand all the ins and outs of high finance but Madoff should not have flown under the radar for nearly 20 years. Conditions should not have gotten too the point where banks were ‘too big to fail.’
Just ask Barney Frank.
Now Emma, what is it that Barney Frank is being single handedly held responsible for? And what is it we are supposed to be asking him?
I suppor President Obama’s initiative to regulate, at long last, our financial sector.
But if I could just “blame the media” for a moment, you know, the President can dominate the news cycle every day if he wishes. He has so many options at his disposal, the only question is whether he wants to overdo it or not. But he never has to question IF he can do it. The media is at his disposal.
Republicans do not have this luxury. With the exception of Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh, there are no Republicans who can even come close to the President’s ability to command the attention of the media. Without strong leadership from the party Chairman, Republicans of a lower profile are left to their own devises.
The media’s message to Repubilcans seems to be: “You get ZERO air time unless you are loud, angry, over-exaggerated, borderline racist, or, you paint the President as one of the many enemies we have warred against during the past 70 years: nazi, socialist, communist, or terrorist.”
Is it any wonder that so many Joe Wilsons are emerging to take the only path available to national stardom?
Obama heads to the home of the Bulls….well, at least nobody will mind the extra BS around!
First of all, NO real change has occured via congressional legislation to ensure we don’t end up in this disaster again. The real immediate crisis was the financial market and I wish that legislation were being coming to fruition and not sitting on the back burner. No country should be so reliant on a few banks and one insurance firm that if they fail, our fincancial market fails and disaster ensues.
LBH – and whose fault is it that the Republicans do not have a leader? They are letting Rush/Hannity/Palin be the defacto leader – a mistake in my opinion.
Fortunately, it seems that the TARP funds, and the FED have resolved some of the issues on wall street – Unfortunately, the companies and employees who were helped do not realize or appreciate the fact that wall street was basically insolvent, and that most of them should currently be unemployed because of their tactics.
Excellent points, Pat.
Hey Emma, just what is it that Barney Frank is responsible for? Your President Bush was in the WH when all of this was going down, y’a knucklehead!
“My” President Bush? That’s more insulting than “knucklehead”!
Hey, there’s a new snack at Fenway Park this year…the Barney Frank. If you don’t like it, you can stick it up your @$$!