House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., said banks were acting "stupid" and making it harder for lawmakers to defend them.
"People really hate you," he said, imploring banks to do everything possible to avoid offending people. "And they're starting to hate us just for hanging out with you."
Yeah I would say that pretty much pegs it. Meanwhile in other financial news, Obama's decision to cap CEO salaries at $500,000 for any company taking a future government bailout has been lauded by those on Wall Street as draconian. Are you freakin' kidding me? If that is draconian, maybe they should just give the CEO's a 10th of that, a salary that the average American would consider themselves damn blessed to have.
Meanwhile, the Senate Democrats can't seem to grow a pair and force the Republicans to actually filibuster Obama's proposed stimulus package. The Dems have 58 seats so it seems logical that they could come up with 50 votes to pass the thing. But no! They would rather lie down and roll over while the GOP forces them to meet the 60 vote threshold a filibuster demands without working for it. What is going on here? Is this some sort of bizarro version of battered spouse syndrome? The Democrats are so used to being whipped by the Republicans that they can't stand up and take charge, rather they continue to cower and submit? Today my party of choice is making me sick.
Adding to my general feeling of malaise is the fact that Cheney has decided to re-emerge. (Is this like the groundhog? A Cheney sighting means we will have eight more weeks of fear-mongering or some other Bush Administration-related bullshit?) And what tender morsel of glee does the Dark Lord have to convey to us today?
"When we get people who are more concerned about reading the rights to an Al Qaeda terrorist than they are with protecting the United States against people who are absolutely committed to do anything they can to kill Americans, then I worry," Cheney said in an interview with Politico. He added that protecting the country is "a tough, mean, dirty, nasty business... These are evil people. And we’re not going to win this fight by turning the other cheek."Right Dick. It is so much better that we inter people without cause or reason indefinitely. Cheney talked about the recidivism rate of the Gitmo detainees at 11%. Alrighty. But, maybe you ask, what is the recidivism rate of a normal U.S. prison? That would be 65%. Just go away Cheney, sane people do not care to buy the crazy that you are peddling.
You know, I don't know what the answer is to our current economic nightmare (aside from wishing this was an episode of Dallas and we will wake up and find out it was all a dream), but I do know that no one—meaning the politicians—seem to be talking about the credit card debt that faces most Americans. Only my boyfriend Jon Stewart seems to be pushing for this to be acknowledged. Twice in the last two weeks, he has questioned guests (newscaster, Gwen Ifill, and economist, Lawrence Lindsey) as to why the government can't give the American people a bailout to pay off their debts, thus giving the banks liquidity and giving the consumers cash to spend and/or save—preferably both. (Isn't it ironic that just last year everyone bitched about how Americans weren't saving and now they are bitching that we aren't spending? Make up your minds already.)
Admittedly I am no economist, but sounds like a fine idea to me. Maybe we all need to start contacting our Representatives and Senators asking why this idea isn't on the table?
