Basic Safeguards
Congressional Democrats and Obama have passed Wall Street reforms, that will put an end to taxpayer bailouts; that will bring complex financial dealings out of the shadows; that will protect consumers; and give shareholders more power in the financial system.
During the Wall Street reform debate, battalions of financial industry lobbyists descended on Capitol Hill and firms spend millions to influence the outcome of the reform debate. Misleading arguments and attacks were made that weren’t designed to improve the bill, but to weaken or to kill it. A bipartisan process buckle under the weight of those withering forces.
Nevertheless, Congress produced a bill that according to Obama is a reasonable, non-ideological approach that targets the root problems that led to the turmoil in our financial sector and ultimately in our entire economy.
Obama urges, that business as usual in Washington must end and both political parties must put that kind of cynical politics aside. He points out to those, who are in the financial sector, that although they’ll not always agree, that doesn't mean they have to choose between two extremes. We don’t have to choose between markets that are unfettered without even modest protections against another crisis, or markets that are stymied by onerous rules that suppress enterprise and innovation. That is a false choice and we need no more proof than the recession that America is now experiencing.
There has always been a tension between the desire to allow markets to function without interference and the absolute necessity of rules to prevent markets from falling out of kilter. How to manage that tension, has been debated since the founding of our nation. By taking up this debate and figuring out how to apply well-worn principles to deal with inevitable problems, we ensure that we don't tip too far one way or the other. In the end, our system works and our markets are free, when there’re basic safeguards that prevent abuse, that check excesses, that ensure that it’s more profitable to play by the rules than to game the system.
During the Wall Street reform debate, battalions of financial industry lobbyists descended on Capitol Hill and firms spend millions to influence the outcome of the reform debate. Misleading arguments and attacks were made that weren’t designed to improve the bill, but to weaken or to kill it. A bipartisan process buckle under the weight of those withering forces.
Nevertheless, Congress produced a bill that according to Obama is a reasonable, non-ideological approach that targets the root problems that led to the turmoil in our financial sector and ultimately in our entire economy.
Obama urges, that business as usual in Washington must end and both political parties must put that kind of cynical politics aside. He points out to those, who are in the financial sector, that although they’ll not always agree, that doesn't mean they have to choose between two extremes. We don’t have to choose between markets that are unfettered without even modest protections against another crisis, or markets that are stymied by onerous rules that suppress enterprise and innovation. That is a false choice and we need no more proof than the recession that America is now experiencing.
There has always been a tension between the desire to allow markets to function without interference and the absolute necessity of rules to prevent markets from falling out of kilter. How to manage that tension, has been debated since the founding of our nation. By taking up this debate and figuring out how to apply well-worn principles to deal with inevitable problems, we ensure that we don't tip too far one way or the other. In the end, our system works and our markets are free, when there’re basic safeguards that prevent abuse, that check excesses, that ensure that it’s more profitable to play by the rules than to game the system.
posted by Jim O'Leary | 6:50 AM
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