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Rein in Wall Street and Rescue the Middle Class
It's time for us to end the financial oligarchy so destructive to our economy. If a bank is too big to fail, it is too big to exist
The protest movement called Occupy Wall Street has struck a nerve. The demonstrators' goals may be vague but their grievances are very real. If our country is to break out of this horrendous recession and create the millions of jobs we desperately need, if we are going to create a financially-stable future, we must take a hard look at Wall Street and demand fundamental reforms. I hope the protesters provide the spark that ignites that process.
The truth is that millions of Americans lost their jobs, their homes and their life savings because of the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior of Wall Street. Even Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke agreed when I questioned him this week at a joint economic committee hearing that that there was "excessive risk-taking" by Wall Street. Bernanke also said the protesters "with some justification" hold the financial sector responsible for "getting us into this mess", and added, "I can't blame them." 
Now is the time for us to end the financial oligarchy that has been so destructive to our economy. (photo: David Shankbone)
The demonstrators and millions of sympathetic Americans understand that odds are stacked in Wall Street's favor because of the extraordinary economic and political clout of the big banks. Believe it or not, the country's six largest financial institutions (Bank of America, CitiGroup, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs) now have amassed assets equal to more than 60% of our gross domestic product. The four largest banks issue two-thirds of all credit cards, half of all mortgages, and hold nearly 40% of all bank deposits. Incredibly, after we bailed out the behemoth banks that were "too big to fail", three out of the four are now even bigger than they were before the financial crisis.
Not only do these financial institutions have enormous economic clout, their wealth makes them an extremely potent political force. From 1998 through 2008, in order to achieve their goal of repealing Glass-Steagall and other financial regulations, they spent more than $5bn on lobbying and campaign contributions. They also spent hundreds of millions to water down last year's Dodd-Frank reform bill. After the law was passed, hundreds of millions more were spent to repeal provisions and weaken regulations. They never give up.
Where do we go from here? How do we convert the protesters' enthusiasm into concrete results?
For starters, we should break up the giant financial institutions. Left to their own selfish devices, Wall Street bankers will continue to gamble with other people's money. Sooner or later, when their bets go wrong, they will come back to Congress asking to be bailed out again. Why not nip that in the bud? There also is a sound economic argument against too few owning far too much. The idea that six giant financial institutions can exert such enormous control over the economy should frighten anyone who believes in a competitive free-market system. Good Republican presidents like William Howard Taft and Teddy Roosevelt broke up Standard Oil, the railroad trusts and other huge monopolies a century ago.
Now is the time for us to end the financial oligarchy that has been so destructive to our economy. If a bank is too big to fail, it is too big to exist.
Wall Street reform also must address the powerful and secretive Federal Reserve. A Government Accountability Office audit that I requested found that the central bank provided $16tn in revolving, low-interest loans to every major financial institution in this country, multinational corporations and some of the wealthiest people in the world. The Fed even helped bail out other central banks around the world. When Wall Street was on the verge of collapse, the Fed acted boldly. Today, with the middle class collapsing, the Fed must act with equal vigor.
Real unemployment is more than 16%. Median family income has declined by $3,600 over the last decade. A record 46 million Americans live in poverty. The gap between the very rich and everyone else, the widest of any major country, is growing wider.
Under emergency provisions already in law, the Fed has the authority to provide low-interest loans to small businesses that are starving for capital so that they can create the millions of jobs our economy needs. It should do so. The Fed also has authority to make credit card issuers stop bilking consumers with sky-high fees and interest rates of 30% or more. Especially in a recession, working people use credit cards to stretch their paychecks for basic needs. Usury is already regarded as a sin in the eyes of every major religion. It should be a crime. The Fed has the authority to limit interest rates and fees. It should do so.
The Occupy Wall Street demonstrators are shining a light on one of the most serious problems facing the United States: the greed, recklessness and power of Wall Street. Now is the time for the president and Congress to follow that light – and act. The future of our economy is at stake.
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46 Comments so far
Show AllBernie Sanders,
Cut the crap. Your words ring hollow until you stop supporting the Zionazis. Think I'm being too harsh, then watch this:
http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/witness-the-nazis-of-our-time.html
And simplify the plan for financial reform...the first step is to restore all of FDR's New Deal financial industry regulations...this could be done overnight since the details were worked out 75 years ago and the regulations proved themselves successful for more than half a century until they were dismantled by Ronny Raygun and his successors.
I do hope you plan to keep repeating this fundemental truth?
Yup, you probably are a Zionazi. But my point is simple (and you've not addressed it), which is: How does Bernie come out sounding on the side of ordinary people (the little guy) when he continues to support wholeheartedly Zionist occupation of Palestine?
This not about a "single issue" because Israeli is a colonial, apartheid enterprise. Your turn, Big Bro
What does Palestine or Israel have to do with what Bernie is trying to say? Nothing, but assholes like you conflate everything with it for some sick reason? Take your JEW hating somewhere else. Your just trying to divide us and most of us aren't buying your BS dude.
Yes, where would the Zionists be without the scurrilous accusation of Jew hating? Horrible.
I'm with i ♥ BigBrother on this one.
I'll be the first to point out the criminality of many of the IDF's actions, but conflating their brutality with Bernie Sanders policy positions is just plain dumb, and hurts both arguments for lessening US military aid to Israel, and for bringing more democracy and social protections to the US.
Honestly, I think you're just another right-wing shill trying to bait people you dislike on a left-wing discussion board. Sorry, but our support for Sanders, and our disagreements with Israeli policy are qualified and reasonable, not based on either worship of the man, or ideological or racist nonsense against Jews as a people. Your claim that Sanders 'support[s] wholeheartedly Zionist occupation' is not worthy of response. It's tripe.
Me, right-wing? Don't make me laugh. So you're saying it's OK if Bernie takes a moral position on major issues except Palestine? Sorry, but I still don't understand how one can claim to be moral and still support Israel's continued oppression of Palestinian. Can you even comprehend how widespread is the impact of the Israeli-Palestinian issue? Perhaps there would have been no 9-11 if it weren't for that.
And, no, that is hardly the only issue that concerns me. Further, it's your labeling people Jew-haters is what would turn people against Jews as a whole. But, I understand where you're coming from because I'm sure you regard yourself as The Chosen, whatever that means.
BTW,
There are many many better ways to stand up in support of Palestinian solidarity than to take aim at our better representatives, existing within an admittedly flawed system. Would you have the last remnants of relatively sane perspectives removed from the national political discourse, because those few speaking on our side are not ideologically or legislatively pure enough for you? As I've mentioned elsewhere, you, and other relentless fault-finders like you have much more issue to take up with these politicians' constituencies than you do the politicians themselves.
Get a grip, and stop being such a factionalizing influence... try working with the world you've got, and the people who live in it, instead of waiting for the perfect heroes and circumstances to come along and save us all.
OK, so you want to show me where Bernie has spoken up for Palestinians? Does he support Israel's return to the '67 borders? Return of refugees to their land, etc.?
And, yes, I guess I'm right-wing since I voted for Nader each time he ran for prez. LOL!!!!!!!!!!
If you can't see the connections, it's not someone else's fault. Justice means for all - not a few. Supporting those who oppress others in this case for sure is supporting the same that oppress us all.
You all, as I just did myself, are letting a troll hijack the topic.
Big Bro, spot on! thanks for being sane!
Hi Ling, so why is it that you believe that every economic solution for getting US working folks back on track has to deal with 'Zionazis?' People right here, right now, who have worked all of their lives and have raised children (who have enormous education debts) are hurting because they cannot earn what their talents and work ethic deserve. Why are you even mentioning this in a discussion of US citizens' chances for earning a livelihood? We all know about the problems over there, and many of us have loved ones on both sides...but it is not directly germane to the issue of people out of work NOW, HERE, who cannot feed or clothe their family. The fault is not in 'Israel,: but right here at home; and the longer it takes us to recognize that, the worse off we will be.
If solving our economic problems is the only aim of this uprising than it will be largely meaningless. It's purpose must be to stop the unconscionable destruction and death we cause all over the world. The U.S. as MLK said is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world and this must be addressed forcefully by the OWS movement, Feeding the body is important, saving the soul is imperative.
I've said it repeatedly here at CD (well, not so much lately, I kinda gave up): Fix the democracy or nothing gets fixed, not WallStreet, not the environment, not the Wars, not the debt, not the capital flight to China, not the immigration issue, not the healthcare issue. NOTHING gets fixed as long as money controls Washington, because greed is always after the quick buck and the short fix. It is narcissistically focused on itself so intently that it can't see over its tiny horizon, and is therefore walking to several cliffs at once. Only PEOPLE see beyond the horizon and, for their childrens and grandchildrens sake, make decisions that would be puzzling to greed, and that greed would thus oppose. There are now several movements to get the money out of Washington, and the latest is Dylan Ratigans effort.
The media has asked 'what do the protestors WANT'? I think the short answer is the return of our democracy as our founders intended it. One person, one vote. NOT one dollar, one vote. That's already how our capitalism makes its decisions, and they were never meant to supercede the decisions of our democracy.
Darn, that was good! I'm going to steal most of it for the meeting tonight.
thanks! go for it!
Well, it's a chicken and egg problem. How are you going to get money out of politics when Wall St. controls the vast majority of politicians? There have been bills and laws passed that purported to address this problem, yet all were flawed or else defeated and the problem remains. Right now it looks like a vicious cycle that can only be stopped by some force from outside.
Vince Lombardi the football coach once said 'winning isn't everything, its the ONLY thing'. The forces of greed that have taken over our government have fractured it into many issues: the wars, the finance sector, healthcare. On top of this, corporate-control media have added many non-issues to confuse people and fracture them further. I mean, you've got people who think gun control is the LITMUS TEST issue, against which all others pale in comparison. 'Do whatever you want to me, but don't take away my guns' they are saying, in the face of increasing evidence that 'everything but guns' is actually quite alot. The oligarchal powers essentially have those people exactly where they want them, so focused on the guns in front of them they don't realize their pockets are being picked from the rear. So the result is that when you ask protestors 'what do you want', the answer seems fractured, there are SO many cliffs we are walking toward at the same time. And this is exactly as confused as we were meant to be, by those running our media and our government.
I'm with Vince: 'campaign finance reform isn't everything, its the ONLY thing'. Its the common thread that undergirds every nonsolution to every problem. I once said on CD that 'our' democracy is now so completely beyond our control that we must be very careful to select the single issue that we can all push on, as a force from the outside. Because if we push on everything we'll dilute our impact and probably lose on everything. I would love to see a general understanding take place amongst the youth and the protestors, that the single issue that needs pushing on is strong, verifiable campaign finance reform: bring back the democracy. I truly believe that without this change, nothing will get changed, because if greed in general has a backdoor to 'our' representatives hearts, then every issue that has a 'greed-based' component (which is EVERY issue), will then get influenced by the sectors of greed impacted by that issue (think of how Big Pharma acts to prevent generic drugs, to take just ONE issue).
To get back to you Cathy, no you are wrong, I am not a republican. And your ideas about the Fed are the propaganda cover-story that has kept the whole matter in the dark, and which you believe. The history of this country is in many ways the history of the bankers trying to install a central bank that Jefferson vehemently opposed.
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"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. Already they have raised up a monied aristocracy that has set the government at defiance. The issuing power (of money) should be taken away from the banks and restored to the people to whom it properly belongs." - Thomas Jefferson
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Benjamin Franklin said that people were willing to pay the little tea tax, and that the real reason for the revolution is that England wouldnt let the colonies have their own currency. Jeeez, havent any of you people seen the Zeitgeist films? Or "The Secret of Oz."
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Check it out: http://www.chrismartenson.com/forum/hidden-history-according-benjamin-franklin-real-reason-revolutionary-war-has-been-hid-you/4358
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As I keep repeating - and I am tired of doing so, one can change the monetary system to serve the people instead of an aristocracy without going back to the gold standard. Ive also stated that I disagree with Ron Paul's solution but that I think we should at least give credit where credit is do in that he at least identifies the problem. so how about a little generosity of spirit?
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I think some of you on CD are trapped in this mindset that if you question the monetary system you are an evil libertarian (or Republican), which is an outgrowth of the mindset that all libertarians are horrible evil people who have nothing to offer in the way of solutions. Neither statement is absolutely true, but too many here treat them as if they are.
Hear Hear Kitaj!
re: "As I keep repeating - and I am tired of doing so"
Your fatigue is nothing. Your continued participation and contributions are everything! Keep up the necessary and important posts... I'm right there with you!
However, we disagree about Sanders. But I am willing to let go of my pov and give him the benefit of the doubt a little bit. I am the one who posted the Counterpunch article about the "myth of Bernie Sanders" over on the Nichols article today. I still think the article holds merit, but I am not really all that attached to that pov.
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Ive been hard on Kucinich too. Well, in all fairness, here is a video of Dennis talking about the Fed:
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http://dailybail.com/home/must-see-video-dennis-kucinich-calls-for-congress-to-take-ba.html
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As historian Alexander Del Mar wrote in 1895:
"[T]he creation and circulation of bills of credit by revolutionary assemblies…coming as they did upon the heels of the strenuous efforts made by the Crown to suppress paper money in America [were] acts of defiance so contemptuous and insulting to the Crown that forgiveness was thereafter impossible . . . [T]here was but one course for the crown to pursue and that was to suppress and punish these acts of rebellion…Thus the Bills of Credit of this era, which ignorance and prejudice have attempted to belittle into the mere instruments of a reckless financial policy were really the standards of the Revolution. they were more than this: they were the Revolution itself!"
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Attention CDers:
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Note that though I am discussing the monetary system, i am introducing ideas that the Ron Paulers and libertarian gold standard people disagree with. The main point is, it's not about the intrinsic value of money but control of the QUANTITY and WHO CONTROLS IT. Under the Fed, money is created as debt, at interest, and expanded by the banks through fractional reserve lending. If we, the people take back this power, we can create debt-free money and all but eliminate the boom-bust, inflationary-deflationary cycle, etc (this is a simplified explanation, but I just want to make the point that another way is possible. OK? If I havent mentioned Ellen Bbrown on this thread, I am mentioning her now - she is the authority not me). Do you not think this would be a good thing?
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I'm not an evil libertarian - please dont taze me bros! ;~ ) I just read them as part of the process of trying to think outside the box and utilze good ideas where ever I find them. Honest. Does that clear things up?
As long as your pressure on Sanders and Kucinich comes from the left, and not the right, and if it comes from a desire to see them more responsive to democratic and community oriented forces, I'm all for it. I believe there are some 'jeer leaders' and disparagers here who knock on progressive bastions (or the closest thing we have) not truly because they haven't been 'sufficiently hard-line about Israeli policy', but because these people hate social justice and hate any representation that favors the people over corporate right-wing interests. I absolutely don't see you as that kind of poster Kitaj.
I'm sure you have your valid differences with their choices... my position is just that I still support and endorse the best we've got, even with some flaws included. I want them pressured to be even more staunch advocates for justice, but assume they tread an ethically torturous terrain, and most likely are force to accept that a stronger stance against Israel is statistically the kiss of death to any American politician — they understand that some battles are simply not going to produce results until historical circumstances allow them to, so for now they make the calculated decision to help in ways they know the majority of their constituents will be able to support.
Honestly, I think most of those on the left who have major problems with certain prominent progressives should take up their issues with these politicians' constituencies before blaming the politician. They can only really lead from behind, and that is the reality of true, and valid democracy (not so for rightwingers). And as I understand it, the majority of Americans, left right blue or red support Israel almost unconditionally over their Arab and Muslim neighbors. They think only far-right, and far-left 'kooks' stand on the 'sahd o' th' terrists'.
That's America, not necessarily Sanders or Kucinich... or even Feingold for that matter.
Anyway, the argument could also apply to the healthcare debate, or maybe a different one applies... either way, I know they aren't perfect here either — personally, I think Obama tricked them... but again, I'll still take them over the alternatives.
That's besides the point anyway. We, and America needs to keep hammering away on the fight against the banksters, and private control of the Fed. As the 'Wizard of Oz', Benjamin Franklin, Jefferson, Jackson, FDR et al illustrate, this battle is AMERICA'S BATTLE... it is the defining struggle of our nation, only we have forgotten it's supreme importance due to the force-'fed' propaganda we've been consuming for the last 60 or so years.
This is the absolute heart of the fight between the 1% and the 99%. Let's keep our solidarity based around that, and certainly not get distracted about the quality of other mens' characters, and whether they are or are not the leaders we need. The leader we all need is staring at us from our bathroom mirrors!
Cheers Kitaj!
That is why the power to create and regulate money should be in the hands of we, the people, NOT in the hands of a banking cartel. The only way they can create endless war without raising taxes to the sky is because they can just borrow it or create it out of thin air.
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And that's why you have all these financial bubbles - the Fed just increases the money supply and/or lowers the interest rate, and/or changes reserve requirments for the banks and you have bubbles; the insiders makes their money, the bubble pops and the insiders make more on the way down - the whole thing is rigged!
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Kucinich is starting to do something, but where the hell have these guys been? - it's been open knowledge that the whole monetary system is rigged for decades! Some of these guys damn well know what the f is going on - so why didnt they blow the whistle? Bernie should have been talking like this 3 years ago, but he waits for political cover like a coward - meanwhile the problem gets ten times worse, but he saves himself from having to fight a real fight in Congress and the media. It is their job to protect the people, NOT MAKE A CAREER OUT OF GOVERNMENT! Put it all on the line and go down fighting, dont compromise everything just to get re-elected and then say you had to do it, and wait for some kids to occupy Wall Street before you have the guts to stand up for the truth a little..
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Sorry, but I am wary of these bandwagon jumpers. Our monetary system and our Imperial wars are totally immoral, and these guys should have gone radical on these issues a long time ago.
Yeah, I think you are probably correct. The more I observe what is going on, the more I realize it has to do with the 'value of the dollar'.
Basically, our wealth class (aka WallStreet) want the 'right' to ABUSE the dollar.
And they are willing to use our military to kill anyone who, seeing that abuse, and having anything of value to sell (as in, oil), wishes to remove their product from that abuse. Does Iraq's Hussein want to sell his oil in Euro? XXX Does Libya's Ghaddafi want to sell his oil in Euro? XXX Who is left? Iran? Now you understand why this country is CONTINUALLY threatening to invade Iran...
The only way to get the legalized bribery carried on between politcians and corporations and their lobbyists is to provide public financing of campaigns, that matches or exceeds any private donations given to an opponent. Corporations control our government, it is no longer a government for the people, and by the people, and politicians are caught in the trap of being defeated by the financial power of corporations if they dare to oppose them.
"The media has asked 'what do the protestors WANT'? I think the short answer is the return of our democracy as our founders intended it."
The same "founders" who were either slave owners or supported and condoned slavery. ~snicker, snicker, snicker~ But I guess that "democracy" is in the eye of the beholder.
curb wall street!
Bernie Sanders, a national treasure, keep it up Bernie.
Please do some research into Sanders's career. See post below.
Does it make what Berine Sanders is saying untrue because you disagree with him in other areas?
Is not most of what he is saying not true?
Stop killing every messenger because you don't like the color of a horse he sometimes rides.
the color of his horse?
I don't like the organization to which he belongs, nor the company he keeps...do you?
to focus on what he says is to fall for his act...he's a politician...
he WANTS you to fall for his words...that's his JOB...
the reason Sanders and all of his ilk are so dangerous is precisely because they appear to be a solution they are not...
Congress, as representing the populace, is an illusion...as is each member...
Isn't that exactly what Obama did? He sure did talk the talk...as for walking the walk, that's a whole different thing altogether. However, the Lefties are notorious for falling head over heals for anyone that talks the talk they want to hear. And there is a complete disconnect between the talk and their actions which is the reason why they stand behind monsters like Qaddafi, Assad and Castro. Words are more important to them than and all the actions in the world.
A Socialist in the Senate?
The Unfortunate Truth about Bernie Sanders
by Ashley Smith
www.dissidentvoice.org
November 15, 2006
First Published in Socialist Worker
(excerpts)
Sanders� relationship to the Democrats has been developing for many years. In 1992, he supported Bill Clinton as a �lesser evil,� though he later abandoned this impolite phrase to unapologetically endorse Democrats for the White House ever since.
In the 2006 Senate election, he didn�t even really run as an independent. The Democrats cut a deal with Sanders -- they wouldn�t run a candidate against him, in exchange for him supporting Democrats in other races. The Democrats backed up their word by nominating Sanders in their primary, which he refused to accept to preserve his nominal independence. But Sanders did accept support from national Democrats like Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, Barack Obama and Barbara Boxer. He also accepted a large donation from Hillary Clinton�s Political Action Committee, HILLPAC, which featured him as one of its most important candidates.
Sanders in turn backed Democrats against third-party alternatives. In the election to fill his House seat, he and his supporters helped dissuade Progressive Party hopeful David Zuckerman from running, and went on to support the Democrat Peter Welch, who eventually won.
Sanders� endorsement of the Democrats no doubt helped him build his war chest of about $5 million, over 80 percent of which came from out of state.
For veteran Sanders watchers, this capitulation to the corporate Democrats and their apparatchiks is nothing new. He has made it one of his missions to agitate against voting for Ralph Nader, the Green Party and, in some cases, Vermont�s Progressive Party.
During the 2004 election, Sanders announced on Vermont Public Television, �Not only am I going to vote for John Kerry, I am going to run around this country and do everything I can to dissuade people from voting for Ralph Nader... I am going to do everything I can, while I have differences with John Kerry, to make sure that he is elected.�
The political consequence of his capitulation to the Democrats has been a long list of unnecessary compromises and outright betrayals that will only mount in the Senate.
Despite his own claims, Sanders has not been an antiwar leader. Ever since he won election to the House, he has taken either equivocal positions on U.S. wars or outright supported them. His hawkish positions -- especially his decision to support Bill Clinton�s 1999 Kosovo War -- drove one of his key advisers, Jeremy Brecher, to resign from his staff. Brecher wrote in his resignation letter, �Is there a moral limit to the military violence you are willing to participate in or support?�
So outraged were peace activists over Sanders� support of the Kosovo War that they occupied his office in 1999. Sanders had them arrested. Under the Bush regime, Sanders� militarism has only grown worse. While he called for alternative approaches to the war on Afghanistan, he failed to join the sole Democrat, Barbara Lee, to vote against Congress� resolution that gave George Bush a blank check to launch war on any country he deemed connected to the September 11 attacks.
This summer, Sanders voted for House Resolution 921, which gave full support to Israel�s murderous war on Lebanon. He also voted for HR 4681 that imposed sanctions on the Palestinian Authority with the aim of removing the democratically elected Hamas government.
In response, longtime War Resisters League leader, David McReynolds sent a public letter to Sanders, stating, �Because of your vote of support for the Israeli actions, I would hope any friends and contacts of mine would not send you funds, nor give you their votes.� Indeed, Sanders has consistently defended Israel through it worst crimes against Palestinians and Arabs. Unsurprisingly, some Sanders staffers have also worked with the American Israeli Political Action Committee (AIPAC) -- including David Sirota, now a Democratic Party strategist, and Sanders� former communications director Joel Barkin.
Thanks for this post. I'm sorry I have to disagree with your position on the Fed elsewhere (on Naomi Klein's article).
To genicon, Oct 7 2011 - 2:15pm: you are right!
As for Sanders, yawn.
Mr. Sanders is an independent, he is also one of the very few that is standing up for the working class people of America, Republican governors are bragging about taking collective bargaining away from the working class while promoting the tea party. No one is going to spend four years in college to end up with a job that they can't even discuss their wage or benefits. If you are a member of the tea party, shame on you for selling your idea to these bastards! Fox news, the Koch brothers, roves, the supreme court, are all owners of the tea party. Burnie supports your health care, not just the insurance bullshit fucking rip offs! Go ahead and vote for one of these ignorant bastards on the republican ticket just because you are pissed at Obama, order me some pizza, maybe I will go hunting at Niger camp, that's normal for Texas, or maybe destroy his house to create a bigger one, enough for all his wives, yes the republicans want a job, Obamas job, that is all they care about. Fuck America, they can always rip off the American people.
Still no mentio of Nafta. It was Slick Willie Clinton who signed of on Nafta, the deal that oursourced our idustrial base to China. It was Slick Willie Clinton who destroyed the Glass Steagle Act, that gave us the Wall St Scandal.
The machines are doing a good job protecting Slick Willie and Hillary. Why is Slick Willie so sacred to the Democratic party?
Bernie is better than Barney but not by much. As usual , as a democrat, he has to 'address the middle class'.
That tired old trope that covers his ass.....can't address the working class to rise up. Nope OHHH the poor middle class.
Barney had this to say "“I certainly welcome the energy, I would just like to see it better channeled,” Frank told National Journal Daily. “The problem is, it’s going to get dissipated real fast if the energy is not channeled.”
And this is what Bernie is trying to do. Just channel the rage to one topic. Some 'hope' of glass stegal or whatever....some hope that he and twenty other 'progressive' democrats will somehow do that. These people feed on the logic that we don't know how the system works. Only a complete majority could actually enact any meaningful legislation. And the democrats did not do that in two years at the crisis. No we won't wait for you bubble butts anymore.
and people are not mad just cuz wall street is giving out bonuses. We hate the wars too dammit. A majority of brainwashed americans somehow wanted us to get out of both countries AND cut the defense budget when Obama was elected!!!! And wanted single payer!!! fuck 'em all...pelosi...feinsten (the worst!) and etc.
No more reigning us in. It make take ten years......but the USA will look more like what it 'should' be looking like.....a real upheavel. And even most of us anarchists are smart enough to know....we do the bottom up organizing and the middle class will come to us...and create a real bottom up social movement......not to your promises anymore. finally
I am puzzled why Senator Bernie Sanders calls himself an Independent since he sounds like a Demopublican. Sen Sanders finds it incredible that after the banks were bailed out, three of the four are now even bigger. Don’t blame the market, Senator, blame yourself for bailing them out. So even Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke agreed that there was excessive risk taking by Wall Street. Well, why not? You have told them in effect that they were too big to fail. You say that now is the time to end the oligarchy, that if a bank is too big to fail, it is too big to exist. But you had the chance to end its existence and you bailed it out. I only wish you were in Wisconsin so I could vote you out.
1. Reinstall all FDR bank regulations
2. Add a heavy financial transaction tax.
3. Return to 1970 income tax structure
4. Campaign finance controls, limit incumbent terms
5. Limit Defense budget to no more than half of world total.
6. Begin to set up a world wide standard minimum living wage.
And we could go on and on; but this pretty much covers most of 0WS concerns.
Hum, Single Payer, Free Education through college, etc, etc
" Why is Slick Willie so sacred to the Democratic party'
Because he convinced liberals and progressives that he was one of them.
He lost that title of supreme con man when Obama came along, The greatest purveyor of B.S. in the world today.
Rein in Wall Street and rescue the middle class? So, it's the middle class - not the working class as a whole - that needs rescuing, eh?
I'm losing the love for Bernie myself.
He's an apologist for Israel.
Not only that but he has better approval rating than obama if Sanders were too challenge him in the primaries. What better to force the Dems to do the right thing?
Notice how he's refrained from his standard blaming the repubs here. That's because he's smart enough to know OWS is not about repubs or dems.
We can't look to establishment politicians.
But Sanders won't challenge the establishment because he's a part of them