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We The People vs Wall Street

"I promise to use every tool at my disposal to see these reforms enacted: to ensure that the bill I sign into law reflects not the special interests of Wall Street, but the best interests of the American people." — President Obama




(The following text is from Organizing For America's Wall Street Reform Info)

President Obama has proposed a series of reforms with two main objectives:

1) Create the strongest consumer protections in history so that Americans always get the information they need to make smart financial decisions

2) Rein in Wall Street abuses, hold the big banks accountable, and ensure that taxpayers never again have to bail them out

Consumer Protections:

To ensure that consumers have the protection they deserve, the President’s plan will consolidate the consumer protections now spread across seven government agencies into one single Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The CFPA will be tasked with preventing predatory practices and making sure consumers get the clear information they deserve before signing for a mortgage, loan, or credit card.

Big banks and credit card companies will be required to provide consumers with clear and transparent terms, ensuring Americans have all the information they need to compare mortgage and credit card rates and make the right financial choices for their families.

The CFPA will be responsible for protecting consumers from unfair and deceptive practices like ballooning mortgage payments or credit card rate hikes.

Consumers will be provided with clear disclosure regarding the consequences of their financial decisions, and clear identification of costs, penalties, and risks.

Reining in Wall Street:
The President’s reforms will guarantee that Americans never again end up holding the bag for the bad decisions and greed-driven policies of big banks and credit card companies – protecting consumers and taxpayers alike. Wall Street reform will protect taxpayers and investors by making the financial system more stable for everyone.

In the recent crisis, millions of American families saw their retirement savings or their children's college funds fall dramatically. The President’s plan will help to make financial markets safer for investors by closing regulatory gaps and loopholes.

Wall Street reform will require tough new rules and greater transparency from investment advisors, financial brokers and hedge funds – holding them accountable while protecting investors and businesses.

The President’s plan will strengthen oversight and aggressively pursue financial fraud, conflicts of interest and manipulation of the system that benefits the special interests at the expense of American families and businesses.

Reform will put in place tough new capital requirements, rigorous standards and supervision to ensure that no financial institution is capable of bringing down the economy, and that taxpayers are never again forced to bail out big banks because they are "too big to fail."



Stand with President Obama on Wall Street Reform: http://www.my.barackobama.com/page/content/wallstreetsignon?source=issuepage

Yes We Can

Democrats vs Chief Justice Roberts

Things have been (rightfully) tense between Democrats and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court since the Court's controversial decision on corporate campaign finance.

Most famously President Obama chastised the Court for its decision during his State of the Union Address. On Tuesday, Roberts responded by saying the scene at President Obama's first State of the Union address was "very
troubling" and that the annual speech to Congress has "degenerated into a
political pep rally."

From Huffington Post:
Roberts said anyone is free to criticize the court and that some have an
obligation to do so because of their positions.

"So I have no problems with that," he said. "On the other hand, there is the
issue of the setting, the circumstances and the decorum. The image of having the
members of one branch of government standing up, literally surrounding the
Supreme Court, cheering and hollering while the court – according the
requirements of protocol – has to sit there expressionless, I think is very
troubling."

---

Today Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hit back with remarks of his own.

Also from Huffington Post:

On Wednesday Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he was "so
disappointed" with the Court's swing vote -- Justice Anthony M. Kennedy -- for
enabling the court's rightward, corporatist tilt. As for Chief Justice John
Roberts, the majority leader castigated him as being out of touch and completely
detached from political reality.

"Do you think John Roberts knows or cares how people get elected?" he said,
referring to the role the chief justice played in crafting the court's Citizens
United decision.


Insisting that the court was engaged in "activism" for allowing corporations
to spend unlimited amounts of money on congressional campaigns, the Nevada
Democrat insisted that the time had come to stop appointing judges to the bench.


"I think we've had enough of them," he said. "I think what we need are people on
that bench who have been legislators, people who are lawyers, people who are
academics. You look at our Supreme Court and all these people, all they know is
working with people in black robes. We have got to change that."
---

President Obama's remarks on the Court's decision during his State of the Union Address


The full article on Chief Robert's comments
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/09/john-roberts-scene-at-oba_n_492444.html

The full article on Senator Reid's comments
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/10/harry-reid-slams-supreme_n_493532.html

CPAC Civil War: The Fight For the Soul of Conservatism

Conservatives seemed to be in disarray at this year's CPAC Convention, with a full blown war being waged for the soul of the Conservative movement. The fight was between the ultra-conservative, take no prisoners, cultural warriors club led by the likes of Glenn Beck, Dick Cheney, and Sarah Palin against the more moderate, "independent", big tent faction led by Ron Paul and Bob Barr.

The division and uncertainty was on full display in the CPAC Presidential Straw Poll, where the attendees voted on their 2012 presidential hopefuls. In a surprise to everyone, Ron Paul won the poll with a whopping 31%. Mitt Romney came in second with 22% and Sarah Palin came in a distant third with only 7%.

Here are the full results from the poll:

Texas Rep. Ron Paul - 31 percent
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- 22 percent
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin -- 7 percent
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty - 6 percent
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich - 4 percent
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee -- 4 percent
Indiana Rep. Mike Pence - 5 percent
South Dakota Sen. John Thune -- 2 percent
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels -- 2 percent
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum -- 2 percent
Mississippi Gov. Hailey Barbour - 1 percent
Other - 5 percent
Undecided - 6 percent


However, it has been reported that upon announcing Ron Paul as the winner the crowd erupted in to a chorus of "boos".

In his speech at the conference, Ron Paul, essentially a libertarian, rallied against government over reach but also against the dangers of neoconservatism. This seemed to be in direct conflict with the keynote speaker, Glenn Beck's, speech.

In his highly anticipated keynote speech Beck blasted fellow Republicans (including John McCain and Teddy Roosevelt) and called for purity in the Republican ranks. In fact, most of the major Republican speakers-Cheney, Armey, Bachmann, Coulter-not only stuck to their normal vicious and partisan attacks, but actually seemed to even up the ante. Why? The widespread pandering to the Tea Party movement that has been on display in the Republican party throughout 2010, not to mention the venom that courses through neoconservative veins at the mere thought of President Obama.

So which is it going to be, conservatives? The "big tent, independent" style of Ron Paul or the "take no prisoners, purity" approach of Beck and Palin?

Honestly, I think it has already been decided. All of the major, mainstream, best known Republican speakers-Beck,Cheney,Coulter-embraced the radical style and talking points of the paranoid, conspiracy theorist, anti-Obama fringe. The representation of the more libertarian conservatism would probably be met with "Oh yeah, I remember you. You're still around?" (Ron Paul) or "Who the hell are you?" (Bob Barr) by the average Fox News follower. The star power of the conservative movement seems to be drifting even further towards the fringe and taking the whole Republican Party with it.

Media Matter's full coverage of the CPAC event, with videos from about every important speaker:
http://mediamatters.org/search/tag/cpac_2010

The Insanity of Beck:

Beck calls President Warren Harding's death "divine providence"



Beck: "Rush [Limbaugh] is a hero of mine"




Keith Olbermann's coverage of CPAC:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

There's Something in the Tea

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Hypocrisy of Sarah Palin

On Saturday, at the first official Tea Party convention, Keynote Speaker Sarah Palin was caught with notes written on her hand during her big speech. Now, this wouldn't be so bad, except in that very same speech (and countless times before) she mocked Obama for using a teleprompter.

Silly Palin, your hypocrisy is matched only by your stupidity.

Now, if I was president, and I had to give a 40+ minute speech live to the entire country, I think I would want a prompter too (it's not like you can be standing up there with note cards). The funny thing about Palin was she only had a few vague words on her hand (such as "energy" and "budget cuts"). So it's not like she was worried about tripping over a few lines or getting flustered: she apparently was worried she was going to forget all of her morals and talking points by the time she hit the stage.





White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has some fun with the crib note controversy, or "Palmgate", as some have dubbed it.