President Obama Cracks Down on Wall Street
Mr. Obama, in yet one of his harshest speeches on Wall Street affirmed, “We want our money back, and we’re going to get it.” The President was referring to the hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer bailout money that was mismanaged by large firms for profits and executive bonuses. The Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee is a proposed 10 year levy on bank liabilities which would effect most heavily the 6 largest banking institutions in the United States: JP Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, and Morgan Stanley.
Critics of the tax were concerned that the new levy could effect institutions ability to lend out money to small businesses and furthermore, banks would try to avoid the tax by shifting liabilities into off balance sheet vehicles that helped bring the economy to its current recession. If approved, the tax would raise $90 billion over 10 years from banking institutions, brokers and insurance companies.
It’s ironic that the phrase “We want our money back,” comes from the same man who financed these large institutions, helping bail them out of an economic crisis that was festering and waiting to erupt after years of corruption. It seems naive, and silly to expect that large corporate institutions would funnel tax payer’s billions of dollars of bailout money to the right places, and not continue the line of corruption that got them there in the first place. Perhaps instead of brownnosing the public angst and restricting growth and incentive for banks to lend, the administration should focus on creating employment and bringing back the millions of jobs that were sent overseas for the past decade.
You seem to think that Obama is nosing around where he shouldn’t be (I am inferring this from the way you speak about the situation). How do you expect him to bring back jobs from over seas without putting his fingers in pies you don’t think he has any place to be.
Also, why are we blaming the government for the banks’ corruption?
Government shouldn’t be blamed for bank’s corruption, but the government should not be surprised when corrupt companies mismanage money. It’s a lost cause. I think the author is trying to say “Choose your battles.†Instead of investing tremendous effort on punishing financial institutions for mismanaging money, and getting back a “measly†$90 billion, we should focus on other pressing issues – like despite the fact that almost a trillion dollars was pumped into the economy…unemployment is on the rise.
Is this going to have any immediate effect on lending?
With all due respect to President Obama, a very intelligent man and I believe an inherently very good man, he suffers from a major problem of not being able to utilize his mandate and get things done other than bail out the major financial institutions and then accosting them with meaningless lectures.
He is still too inexperienced to actually, ‘be the President’, and pull the trigger on anything by making a decision. For instance, as chief executive, Mr. Obama can declare a state of emergency, now that 30 million Americans are out of work and the economy is completely stagnant. Banks are not lending to private individuals or businesses and even private equity money is very scarce. A simple .05% federal sales tax
( one half of one percent) on every transaction in the USA ( no exceptions, food, gas, medical everything- if money changes hands, .05% goes into the USA ) would fill the government coffers, end the budget crisis, instill confidence and get the country moving in the right direction. In two or three months,the president could repeal the tax as quickly as he enacted it and we could all move ahead with our lives. Of course, then we will have to deal with the inflation that is definitely on the horizon. ~A