FOOD FOR THOUGHT ON THE STATE OF AMERICAN POLITICS

Do you really think the United States Congress could pass a bill that puts serious restrictions on Wall Street..?

The answer (I feel) is “No”…there is an old saying that probably was first coined in the halls of the U.S. Congress that goes like this...”don’t bite the hand that feeds you”. Well, Wall Street ”feeds” many ....the NRA similarly ”feeds” many..and as they doll out the ”food”, their power and influence continues to grow.

President Obama was praised today by Hillary Clinton for “taking on Wall Street” and passing a stringent “Dodd-Frank” bill that puts “restrictions” on Wall Street. This is the Barack Obama who received record donations from Wall Street for a Democrat.

Don’t get me wrong..I generally like President Obama, but does anyone really think that the “Dodd Frank” bill which was passed by Congress and signed by the President went far enough in reigning in Wall Street?…can’t we all just imagine all the lobbyists for Wall Street who paid visits to Senators and Congressmen…conceding that some type of “law” had to be passed to appease the American people--those same American people who had to finance the Wall Street bailout, but hoping that the ”new laws” would be toothless.

Why did Obama’s Justice dept. NOT go after one single player on Wall Street? They paid billions in penalties for ruining the lives of countless Americans..but they were served NO indictments. That Dodd Frank bill was a sheep in wolf’s clothing..it was carved out and distilled down to something that Wall Street could live with…even thrive with…with the help of our Congress.

And, if you think that Hillary Clinton is going to attack Wall Street…you are likely very mistaken…just like you would be mistaken to think that Charleston Heston would have attacked the NRA..

Why weren’t the big financial institutions dismantled?,..after all, we had all the leverage..they were at our mercy…it was our best chance…it was maybe our last, best chance to avoid another Wall Street nightmare…If we have another Wall Street induced financial collapse I am going to hold Obama largely responsible for it--for letting those guys off the mat, and allowing Wall Street to play by their rules...yet again.

Here’s another thing that confuses me…why, in a year when so many people are expressing dissatisfaction with the “Establishment”, even contempt, and in a year when the approval of Congress is an abysmal 9%, why then would political candidates be seeking endorsements from this tired old donkey that is unscrupulous, self serving, and grossly incompetent….? I would certainly not be hoping to get the support of the Congressional Black Caucus…a group that actually opposed Obama in 2008 and supported Hillary…These men are largely relics from the civil rights era…the 60’s…their time is gone…(long). I wouldn’t the support of the Flat Earth Society either, or the Amish, or the American Pipe Smokers Society, nor would I want the support of Newspapers,…who cares what the New Hampshire Gazette thinks….

Were the Founding Fathers trying to get the support of the London Telegraph Newspaper? If they had they would have known that their strategies were off…

Let’s remember, if we ever knew in the first place, that only 1/3 of those living in the colonies supported the American Revolution. Most were fine being exploited by the King…1/3 still supported the King and another 1/3 were neutral….so, only 1/3 drew their swords and fought for Independence and opposed the stranglehold that the British had on the colonies…the “rigged” system that didn’t allow for any voting or representation but taxed the colonies nonetheless…it sounds a lot like campaign finance these days…where the majority of Americans don’t have any political power…their power is/was usurped by the “Kings.

The initial proposal for Dodd-Frank addressed most of the concerns that many had about Wall Street’s lack of regulation. As drafted, it would have created a system for shutting down failing megafirms, required swaps to be traded and cleared on regulated exchanges, and restored the spirit of Glass-Steagall through the so-called Volcker Rule, which would have prevented federally insured banks from engaging in dangerous speculation. It envisioned a powerful new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to represent the interests of consumers against Wall Street, a bureau headed not by some banker stooge but by an actual consumer advocate and financial expert like Elizabeth Warren, the Harvard professor who came up with the idea. And it would have cleaned up the mortgage markets by ending predatory home-lending and forcing everyone in the market, from homeowners to banks to investors buying mortgage securities, to post real cash and keep “skin in the game” when buying or selling a mortgage.

Is there any doubt that if you put Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders in charge of looking out for Wall Street fraud that the public interest would be served and Wall Street cronies would be instantly grabbing for antacids…Is Wall street similarly afraid of Hillary Clinton or even Barack Obama? Hardly..Obama got more campaign donations from Wall Street that any Democrat ever..though Hillary might break that record…

And, the totally disingenuous argument that receiving millions of money in donations has no bearing at all on how a politician will stand on an issue, fight on an issue, back down on an issue, etc…Really? Are we born yesterday?

When Hillary Clinton says she will “take on Wall Street” and income inequality, how are we supposed to believe her? 96% of New Hampshire voters who voted based on honesty voted NOT for Hillary Clinton but for Bernie Sanders…60% of Americans in general think Hillary is dishonest….

When did integrity and honesty stop being important with people?

Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are the top 4 candidates for President of the U.S.; only Bernie Sanders is considered trustworthy, the other (3) are considered highly untrustworthy.

Keeping voters uninformed, fooled, sidetracked, and deceived, and in the dark is a political strategy in this country....make not mistake about it.

“If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true and to be skeptical of those in authority, then we are “up for grabs’ for the next charlatan, political or religious, who comes ambling along.” - Carl Sagan

Food for thought...