I found myself conflicted today with David Gregory's Meet the Press interview with JP Morgan/Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. On one hand I want to crucify what this man stands for being both the CEO of arguably one of the biggest players in the great depression of 2008, a company that had just as many boiler room MBA's creating shady derivatives that placed bets on bets and then collateralizing them as Goldman Sachs AND one of the New York's Federal Reserve Presidents that make our monetary policy for this country. This man holds more power and sway than even the president yet here he was, on national TV with humble pie all over his face leveling with the American people saying in essence, I screwed up as leader of my company. On the face alone I admire what he did and hope he enlightened many of his peers. Peers who may be doing similar risky speculations but may not live by the personal responsibility standard this man lives by, personal responsibility that most likely will get him fired by the shareholders of that corporation.
For me, on its face is not enough. This is getting to be typical behavior from Wall Street and should be a clarion call for those that understand what this Wall Street casino climate did to our economy because of its lax over site and weak regulations. Remember how when Drexel Burnham was found out for the same type of risky derivative trading? Remember how Wall Street reassured us that they will not do these type of things again? This is just another example that our financial institutions can not police themselves and lends credibility to those who warned how the repeal of the Glass/Steagal act would blur the lines that separated safe commercial banking practices from the risky speculation and casino climate the Wall Street investment houses now practice. How these same Wall Street Banks through lobbyists are trying to do everything they can do to de-regulate the most current set of weakened regulations that were put in place just to try and protect us from another large scale meltdown with modest consumer protections. I understand when Dimon said there is a disconnect between the regulators at the SEC and the regulators at Treasury and think this is a fundamental problem with our regulatory environment because in my opinion the stronger federal law should have precedence and the agency that's tasked with the enforcement of the law should be held to account. I do not believe these banks learned any lessons since 2008 except that they must have to find another market to play and hope they make it obscure enough that no one can decipher what they are really doing. I see this happening currently in the energy and commodities markets but I digress, this whole issue, if anything, must be about transparency.
Why transparency? I am a shareholder in my mutual funds of such pillars of our economy as JP Morgan/ Chase. I didn't chose these funds because of JP but as most Americans I tend to invest blindly in what my broker puts me into because I'm a busy guy and its his world to know. I as a shareholder think I should have a choice in what my investments do. I mean, since the Supreme Courts decision to proclaim that corporations are people and have the right to speech, shouldn't I as a shareholder have a voice on what my stock should or shouldn't be investing in? Are we not the people that are the corporation? Jamie Dimon and his decisions lost my stock a proportionate amount of that 2 billion dollar loss and the stock share price is being pressured because of it; yet Mr. Dimon and the other execs will get their millions in salary and hundreds of millions in stock options for failure? I am sure JP Morgan gives money to superpacs that fund campaigns, I am also sure JP Morgan gives millions to lobbyists to try and weaken laws on the books and probably through some fund or another actually give money to groups like ALEC to coordinate direct interaction with legislators writing their own set of rules for their hand picked legislators to vote on. Corporations that have this much power over our economy should be transparent and on public record in all its forms. Derivatives trading and tranched CDO's should be transparent and public. We need to know what corporations that receive tax dollars as subsidies, bailouts, special dispensation laws are doing at all times.
I like making money on my stock portfolio because between you and me I don't really trust the Washington crowd to keep their hands off my government medicare or social security and I want to retire someday. We already know one side of the political equation wants to privatize it all so these huge monolithic financial corporations can get more business and large sums of money to continue the churn of risk trading. I figure since I am an owner through my stock and get voting rights, I should probably have a say in what corporations spend my hard earned investment dollars on, what schemes they cook up, and what they say as political speech. I think its fair considering that I don't believe this will be the last big financial corporation to parade out into public its executives and apologize for what their companies did. I am emphatically against the notion that they think they can self regulate themselves and abhor the fact that after damage and subsequent exposure they only get slapped on the wrist to then disappear behind the conference room door to listen to another risky hedging strategy that could take down our economy again. Jamie Dimon may be someone to be admired because of the humility he exhibited, but for his industry, I believe words just are not enough anymore. Regulate these guys please. When will we learn? #wakeup #ows #p2
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
i don't take bull shit lightly, quit lying @richardRSmithJr
I have to get back to this, I get so busy with other stuff I never get to finish my thought coherently because I am a small business person and I am always working. I am the very person the GOP pretends to want to help with this mantra of low regulation and free markets. Sir, respectfully your full of BS; the GOP is destroying me with their non-regulation of industries whose only motive is to make money. This is the history: http://bit.ly/x7KJrH This law did was not help liquidity and strengthen the markets as was its intention but did allow traders on Wall Street and CBO to infuse the markets with speculator $$ meant to drive up the prices of commodities like Oil, Gas, Food & Copper, you name it (its so rabid in energy it affects everything consumers buy, prices even go higher because everything is transported using fuel). They did this by means of bets on bets (derivatives) for the future price of those essential economic materials that every American uses. This is bad calculus and fuzzy math at best as these options on futures completely changed the commodities markets making them so complex that even Alan (I spent nights fawning over Ayn Rand) Greenspan couldn't understand them and who recently came out apologizing to Americans that he didn't pay enough attention to what these time bombs would do to the real economy. Sir, there are 10's of Trillions of $$ traded on these phony baloney financial instruments whose base underlying commodity wasn't worth even a 10th of the value purported by the end price paid at contract. These speculators play spreads, plain and simple and rather unfairly because they aren't regulated closely with the regulators charged with the oversite being part of the industry they are tasked with regulating. Lets be clear, these investment bankers have the upper hand with the volumes brokerage firms and hedge funds control, they can sway markets by large swings to get upside commission fees and profits or downside commissions fees in essence for them its "win win" any way you look at it.
I as a construction person can tell you first hand that just in my industry, because of the great Bush/Greenspan depression caused not from a redlining law but from the financial industry writing any kind of mortgage instrument it could make up, package them, and sell them on derivatives markets tranched (CDO’s) up so much that some were even made up of future mortgages just for speculative trading and insult to this was they also made up insurance vehicles (CDS’s) with no capital requirements to bail them out if they failed. All fake and phony making so much $$ for a few that In my industry we are still depressed. Construction had a nuclear bomb the GOP and their de-regulation set off in 2007 and much of the fall out still hasn't killed everyone in the industry like suppliers and transport.
I'm sorry sir, energy supply is up and demand is down. We are drilling everywhere and with methods that 20 years from now will probably will be blamed for sicknesses such as cancers or pulmonary maladies. We are not consuming as much energy and lets be real honest about this, other than transportation services & true manufacturing processes, construction is a big player in consumption and our demand is at historically low levels. Let’s not forget that we are driving less as a nation and we are using more fuel efficient vehicles.
Don't Bull Shit me sir because I am awake now, I am a small businessman who understands the tactics used by the Republicans. They do not care about me or my small business and they will keep lying about what the real reason is for high gas and oil prices. They care about deregulation in industries that make some very rich industries richer even if its known it will cause the rest of us great financial pain. I know energy & financial industries have found many in media greedy and gullible enough to sell a well refined PR message to a constituency looking for a boogieman and unfortunately many will believe that message. I also know they will use every social issue they can like smoke and mirrors to hide how fascist they have become while blaming it on government. I am however optimistic the American people will see through the haze this time.
Oh and by the way; Eisenhower is the President who thought it prudent to invest in a national system of highways, President Eisenhower was a progressive. We need more progressives to save this country.
I as a construction person can tell you first hand that just in my industry, because of the great Bush/Greenspan depression caused not from a redlining law but from the financial industry writing any kind of mortgage instrument it could make up, package them, and sell them on derivatives markets tranched (CDO’s) up so much that some were even made up of future mortgages just for speculative trading and insult to this was they also made up insurance vehicles (CDS’s) with no capital requirements to bail them out if they failed. All fake and phony making so much $$ for a few that In my industry we are still depressed. Construction had a nuclear bomb the GOP and their de-regulation set off in 2007 and much of the fall out still hasn't killed everyone in the industry like suppliers and transport.
I'm sorry sir, energy supply is up and demand is down. We are drilling everywhere and with methods that 20 years from now will probably will be blamed for sicknesses such as cancers or pulmonary maladies. We are not consuming as much energy and lets be real honest about this, other than transportation services & true manufacturing processes, construction is a big player in consumption and our demand is at historically low levels. Let’s not forget that we are driving less as a nation and we are using more fuel efficient vehicles.
Don't Bull Shit me sir because I am awake now, I am a small businessman who understands the tactics used by the Republicans. They do not care about me or my small business and they will keep lying about what the real reason is for high gas and oil prices. They care about deregulation in industries that make some very rich industries richer even if its known it will cause the rest of us great financial pain. I know energy & financial industries have found many in media greedy and gullible enough to sell a well refined PR message to a constituency looking for a boogieman and unfortunately many will believe that message. I also know they will use every social issue they can like smoke and mirrors to hide how fascist they have become while blaming it on government. I am however optimistic the American people will see through the haze this time.
Oh and by the way; Eisenhower is the President who thought it prudent to invest in a national system of highways, President Eisenhower was a progressive. We need more progressives to save this country.
Friday, December 30, 2011
what the hell am i doing wrong?
happened again...thought I wrote up a pretty good comment on a huff po blog by Cenk and it doesn't get published....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/vote-against-obama-in-iow_b_1174314.html
I know I'm not a writer. I don't even think I'm that smart but as I read other comments on the same article, well, I'm still kinda shaking my head. I think I was within TOS but who really reads that stuff anyway? Was it because I named out another Network Media company and compared Cenk to them? Almost makes you want to just forget even the effort. Keep the thoughts bottled up and randomly ranted at an unsuspecting acquaintance.
I mean who really cares what I say anyway? I have an average twitter account though I'm not on any lists & even I'm smart enough to know, twitters power is in the lists.
I'm over it, lets move on.
What do you do when you think you have important stuff to say but you get panned?
HMM; I wonder sometimes if I shouldn't just be like some and play the political game, you know, suck up to people just to move forward a notch? ....Can't.
How about replying to everything knowing if I play the numbers game, I'm bound to be published on a few?.....Yea right! Like I'm not that lazy. That stuff takes effort and dedication and a way larger vocabulary than I know I have plus I'm more suited to manual labor...
I know, I will tow the line and compromise what I say just to get on the blogs?....hmm....I see so many professionals do it, all blinged up?? hmm....Nah! I have enough regrets and I like to sleep at night, plus I don't know how to act away disdain.
Or can it be the real truth?? Its Just Me?? I'm that inane????
I watched a video on U-Tube about that poor young man who wrote out his heart just before it gave out on him and I know millions of us watched that beautiful person with tears in our eyes as he gave us the rest of himself. His message gives us the meaning of being at peace.
RIP BEN
http://abcnews.go.com/US/ben-breedlove-1500-attend-memorial-service/story?id=15259455
We all have a story, but today, his is so much more important.
Now if you've gotten this far I just want to tell you, a guy like me does have this burning feeling to just let it out. My spelling sucks, my syntax sucks, punctuation? forget a bout it, but I promise, I will be honest..
We will have to start with a history someday because to know me is to know the truth on how I got here and why I think the way I do..when? who knows, most of the time I don't feel confidence so I don't act.
If no one reads it? I need to get it out.. way to much stuff goes unsaid or is couched.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/vote-against-obama-in-iow_b_1174314.html
I know I'm not a writer. I don't even think I'm that smart but as I read other comments on the same article, well, I'm still kinda shaking my head. I think I was within TOS but who really reads that stuff anyway? Was it because I named out another Network Media company and compared Cenk to them? Almost makes you want to just forget even the effort. Keep the thoughts bottled up and randomly ranted at an unsuspecting acquaintance.
I mean who really cares what I say anyway? I have an average twitter account though I'm not on any lists & even I'm smart enough to know, twitters power is in the lists.
I'm over it, lets move on.
What do you do when you think you have important stuff to say but you get panned?
HMM; I wonder sometimes if I shouldn't just be like some and play the political game, you know, suck up to people just to move forward a notch? ....Can't.
How about replying to everything knowing if I play the numbers game, I'm bound to be published on a few?.....Yea right! Like I'm not that lazy. That stuff takes effort and dedication and a way larger vocabulary than I know I have plus I'm more suited to manual labor...
I know, I will tow the line and compromise what I say just to get on the blogs?....hmm....I see so many professionals do it, all blinged up?? hmm....Nah! I have enough regrets and I like to sleep at night, plus I don't know how to act away disdain.
Or can it be the real truth?? Its Just Me?? I'm that inane????
I watched a video on U-Tube about that poor young man who wrote out his heart just before it gave out on him and I know millions of us watched that beautiful person with tears in our eyes as he gave us the rest of himself. His message gives us the meaning of being at peace.
RIP BEN
http://abcnews.go.com/US/ben-breedlove-1500-attend-memorial-service/story?id=15259455
We all have a story, but today, his is so much more important.
Now if you've gotten this far I just want to tell you, a guy like me does have this burning feeling to just let it out. My spelling sucks, my syntax sucks, punctuation? forget a bout it, but I promise, I will be honest..
We will have to start with a history someday because to know me is to know the truth on how I got here and why I think the way I do..when? who knows, most of the time I don't feel confidence so I don't act.
If no one reads it? I need to get it out.. way to much stuff goes unsaid or is couched.
Twitter / @AndrewBreitbart: To be fair, I kiss asses o ...
Twitter / @AndrewBreitbart: To be fair, I kiss asses o ...
When will we realize people like this do it for the effect and that inside they are probably hiding from their own regrets.. Love him or hate him, he makes gobbs of money from the art of legal slander and exploitation.
When will we realize people like this do it for the effect and that inside they are probably hiding from their own regrets.. Love him or hate him, he makes gobbs of money from the art of legal slander and exploitation.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
what New York Times wouldn't let me say
I'm a diligent reader of the New York Times and I comment a lot on their articles. Recently an article was written concerning News Corps foray into the Latino market. Usually I have no problem getting my comments published but this time they didn't and I would like your opinion on why. The article is aptly named "Fox Expands Presence in Hispanic TV" http://nyti.ms/hkqcSv & here is my comment:.
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kecko
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On the surface this seems very benign, a corporate entity seeing an opportunity to expand their markets in a growing demographic. I hate to be the cynic and a bit suspicious, but I have watched News Corp. over the last couple years spend & knowingly lose money with shows like Glenn Beck on their flag ship Fox News because of a political agenda they believe in. Glenn Beck is plagued with low sponsorship but Fox News and Roger Aile's believes that they have a mission to slant their news to the right in order to control the message to millions of their viewers for the Republican Party. We have much evidence as executives have candidly told us that they knowingly fib and exaggerate to their viewership in order to perpetrate fear and doubt of our current President and his Democratic administration.
We all know this and I believe that their foray into the Latino markets are part of a larger strategy by News Corp. We all know Fox news has a brilliant messaging strategy and we also know the Hispanic demographic is not only growing but is voting in record numbers. Lets put two and two together quickly and realize that Fox news can and will master the messaging to this vital Democratic demographic. Lets target the Latino market as heavily before they too vote against their own interests based on propaganda and rhetoric that they are convinced by superior marketing that its news.
I'd like to state a little of my reasoning behind my assumption. We all saw Fox News stage an all out assault when President Obama nominated Sonya Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Numerous Fox News commentators parroted the fact that she was made comments about being a Latina that gave her insight & empathy when judicating that others may not have. We also remember how Fox tried to scare their viewership because Judge Sotomayor once belonged to La Raza and was tainted because they successfully painted them as some sort of terrorist organization who hated Americans and white people. We also remember how Fox News defended Jan Brewers profiling bill as something uniquely American, even using concocted ideas that their were dead bodies all over the Arizona desert to intensify the fear.
This new network will distance itself from Fox News by using Latino commentators speaking in Spanish who will disassociate their messaging from their flag ship station, but WILL continue their role in creating doubt of anything the Democratic administration does. I am not naive and I believe they will master their duel role and be successful at it. Lets remind the Latino's who this entity represents and convince them, its not the Latino community but is the almighty dollar & Republican agenda.
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Thank you for your submission. Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
Your Submitted Comments
Display Name
kecko
Location
Chicago
Comment
On the surface this seems very benign, a corporate entity seeing an opportunity to expand their markets in a growing demographic. I hate to be the cynic and a bit suspicious, but I have watched News Corp. over the last couple years spend & knowingly lose money with shows like Glenn Beck on their flag ship Fox News because of a political agenda they believe in. Glenn Beck is plagued with low sponsorship but Fox News and Roger Aile's believes that they have a mission to slant their news to the right in order to control the message to millions of their viewers for the Republican Party. We have much evidence as executives have candidly told us that they knowingly fib and exaggerate to their viewership in order to perpetrate fear and doubt of our current President and his Democratic administration.
We all know this and I believe that their foray into the Latino markets are part of a larger strategy by News Corp. We all know Fox news has a brilliant messaging strategy and we also know the Hispanic demographic is not only growing but is voting in record numbers. Lets put two and two together quickly and realize that Fox news can and will master the messaging to this vital Democratic demographic. Lets target the Latino market as heavily before they too vote against their own interests based on propaganda and rhetoric that they are convinced by superior marketing that its news.
I'd like to state a little of my reasoning behind my assumption. We all saw Fox News stage an all out assault when President Obama nominated Sonya Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Numerous Fox News commentators parroted the fact that she was made comments about being a Latina that gave her insight & empathy when judicating that others may not have. We also remember how Fox tried to scare their viewership because Judge Sotomayor once belonged to La Raza and was tainted because they successfully painted them as some sort of terrorist organization who hated Americans and white people. We also remember how Fox News defended Jan Brewers profiling bill as something uniquely American, even using concocted ideas that their were dead bodies all over the Arizona desert to intensify the fear.
This new network will distance itself from Fox News by using Latino commentators speaking in Spanish who will disassociate their messaging from their flag ship station, but WILL continue their role in creating doubt of anything the Democratic administration does. I am not naive and I believe they will master their duel role and be successful at it. Lets remind the Latino's who this entity represents and convince them, its not the Latino community but is the almighty dollar & Republican agenda.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Disclosure, that’s all we want. Seems innocent, not like its national security, right? I mean come on Justices of the Supreme Court; when the majority of our highest court decided for Citizens United did you know that your ruling would allow other countries to have a weighted say in our American elections like I did? Think about this for a second Justice Scalia, Roberts, Thomas, Alito, and especially you Kennedy; we aren’t talking about American multinational corporations allowed to dump limitless money into stealthily named pacs like “citizens for this or that” in order to do campaign commercials and other media for the sole intent of getting politicians elected that are sympathetic to their causes, no, this was the slippery slope we all knew it was. Besides the CU decision is no more than legalizing lobbying with no limits scripted to an electorate audience that loves drama, smut, and craftily made commercials. This ruling has many implications and stretches farther than its intent by allowing countries that harbor terrorists or others that wants our jobs in their countries or worse, a way into our elections to control our policies against them. These countries through their corporations are now allowed to voice their opinions in our elections by contributing money to American organizations like the United States Chamber of Commerce. This is a direct influence into our countries elections through entertainment media. This is why President Obama went after you in the State of the Union address and I applaud his courage in doing so.
When this ruling was made, educated people knew its scope was sinister enough because you were giving a corporation more free speech rights than us biological beings without the right for us who patronize those same corporations to know who was funding what. We thought it was ludicrous a legal corporate charter could spend money for professional media groups to do ad after ad for politicians who sympathized with their free market, laissez faire unregulated philosophies without any over site intent in creating a neo feudalism. Corporations got the right to buy lawmakers and create policy! It’s true your honors, sooner or later the corporations will run their candidates but dress them up to look just like you, a sellable marketable image, but please don’t be fooled because he or she will be that Manchurian candidate, a kind of corporate sock puppet to do their bidding. I’m sorry sirs, I had a lot of respect for our judicial branch but now I wonder aloud because as impartial jurists you shouldn’t of allowed precedent to be subverted and you should have never re-wrote a law that protected people for over 100 years from a few controlling the many. In my humble opinion this is way more detrimental to our republic than if a president got a BJ. I ask would it be unconstitutional to make a change to our countries highest esteemed document and change our laws to give us the right to remove Supreme Court Judges for impeachment by branding some of you for what you are; bought by money interests and against ours.
You may feel I’m being a little pejorative in my rhetoric, but it doesn’t matter to me, I’m just a serf who means nothing in your world. I’ve been bred to do work and be subordinate, right? After all, economists like Friedman didn’t think workers like me were smart enough to think for themselves and should be led. Unfortunately for you, I have a mind and I see disparity with this because I see commercial ad after ad for politicians that obfuscate the truth tainted with an emotional spin and marketed in such a way that many who can’t see through the obscurity actually believe these ads as truth swaying this unsuspecting public to vote against their best interests. I guess I’m just a little cynical, right?
Where is our disclosure? Why can’t we have the right to see who is paying for these ads? Why is it OK that our American Chamber of Commerce can get in on these shenanigans? Seems to me I remember a time where the Chamber was esteemed as an organization that cared about their reputation as a fair and honest broker to businesses of all sizes. Now it’s just another Lobby group who cares nothing of the people who work in the corporations but just so the highest up in those corps get theirs.
Bahrain is putting millions into their coffers in hopes of hand picking our next lawmakers and you guys let them. Your ruling is allowing countries like China, Korea, and India to get influence in who gets the jobs in the world. Big Banks from across the ocean are spending millions to make sure they can keep up with their money games unmolested by the Americans. Used to be that we all loved this country. Used to be American exceptionalism meant something. This decision has proven one thing to me, something the Fox crowd should really be scared about. This misguided Citizens United decision has sold our countries greatest right; the way our vote means something in a true Democratic election. We are being bought out by that New World Order that we’ve been warned about.
When this ruling was made, educated people knew its scope was sinister enough because you were giving a corporation more free speech rights than us biological beings without the right for us who patronize those same corporations to know who was funding what. We thought it was ludicrous a legal corporate charter could spend money for professional media groups to do ad after ad for politicians who sympathized with their free market, laissez faire unregulated philosophies without any over site intent in creating a neo feudalism. Corporations got the right to buy lawmakers and create policy! It’s true your honors, sooner or later the corporations will run their candidates but dress them up to look just like you, a sellable marketable image, but please don’t be fooled because he or she will be that Manchurian candidate, a kind of corporate sock puppet to do their bidding. I’m sorry sirs, I had a lot of respect for our judicial branch but now I wonder aloud because as impartial jurists you shouldn’t of allowed precedent to be subverted and you should have never re-wrote a law that protected people for over 100 years from a few controlling the many. In my humble opinion this is way more detrimental to our republic than if a president got a BJ. I ask would it be unconstitutional to make a change to our countries highest esteemed document and change our laws to give us the right to remove Supreme Court Judges for impeachment by branding some of you for what you are; bought by money interests and against ours.
You may feel I’m being a little pejorative in my rhetoric, but it doesn’t matter to me, I’m just a serf who means nothing in your world. I’ve been bred to do work and be subordinate, right? After all, economists like Friedman didn’t think workers like me were smart enough to think for themselves and should be led. Unfortunately for you, I have a mind and I see disparity with this because I see commercial ad after ad for politicians that obfuscate the truth tainted with an emotional spin and marketed in such a way that many who can’t see through the obscurity actually believe these ads as truth swaying this unsuspecting public to vote against their best interests. I guess I’m just a little cynical, right?
Where is our disclosure? Why can’t we have the right to see who is paying for these ads? Why is it OK that our American Chamber of Commerce can get in on these shenanigans? Seems to me I remember a time where the Chamber was esteemed as an organization that cared about their reputation as a fair and honest broker to businesses of all sizes. Now it’s just another Lobby group who cares nothing of the people who work in the corporations but just so the highest up in those corps get theirs.
Bahrain is putting millions into their coffers in hopes of hand picking our next lawmakers and you guys let them. Your ruling is allowing countries like China, Korea, and India to get influence in who gets the jobs in the world. Big Banks from across the ocean are spending millions to make sure they can keep up with their money games unmolested by the Americans. Used to be that we all loved this country. Used to be American exceptionalism meant something. This decision has proven one thing to me, something the Fox crowd should really be scared about. This misguided Citizens United decision has sold our countries greatest right; the way our vote means something in a true Democratic election. We are being bought out by that New World Order that we’ve been warned about.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Respectfully Mr. Stranahan
I realize your a busy man, but I felt compelled to clarify our earlier exchange. When I read "The Conscience of a Liberal" by Mr. Krugman, I interpreted President Obamas' exchange with his interviewer about the comparison of the salaried athlete and the CEO bank executive differently than you. Now I know the analogy our President made was in reference to baseball players salaries but I can predict that most of main street media along with many respected bloggers' as yourself as well as any red blooded fan will be engrossed by the impending NFL Players Union strike against corporate management. We all are fans & this will be a fascinating fiasco. I also predict that the word outrage and greedy will be used a lot. What audacity these millionaire and billionaires have squabbling over....well....negotiated contracts? You and I both know, we patronize the game, we honor the celebrity but in the end, we come to agreement that this is an issue between a corporate entity and its employees. No matter how much we hate that our ticket prices or memorabilia may go up, we can do nothing to stop it short of not watching the game anymore.
If you believe the conflict is about the tone of our President; well.............again, what do you expect him to say let alone do? If he does as the populous rage wants him to do and use full frontal attacks to channel anger against the financial industries credibility thinking this is a political benefit for some short sighted flash poll, I can not agree with you. This would not be productive or honest and it would be throwing red meat to a politically addicted #gop giving them another opening to shout Socialism and wealth distribution every chance they get.
I agree, Obamas' cavalier Eh-What do you want me to do attitude snipe on the surface sounds disconnected, but I argue that he was being logical and honest. If he came out and said, "short of tearing up the contracts these gentlemen had with their corporations, I can do nothing". Would that have convinced you and Mr. Krugman otherwise in you criticism? Unfortunately, he does not have that right to void negotiated contracts because we do not have actual governing ownership in the bank corporation they represent but just a material interest in non voting stock. We are a free market society and his governance has boundaries. TARP did not give him blanket authority and most of these guidelines were set up before he stepped into office.
Mr. Stranahan, the way I see President Obamas' presidency thus far can be described in one word: DIVIDE
We have a political party that is solely dedicated at this point in their history to getting back into power any way it can. The GOP pretends it is all about our freedoms and spending but actively uses its governing powers in supporting corporate interests over people interest. This has gutted the middle class because their perceived "free market" is really only free if they can deregulate industry giving free hand for markets to regulate themselves. We tried that philosophy and look what happened.
The Republican party in its current construct will parse every word this progressive President says for context, amplify it through corporate media, and then use the brilliance of corporate marketing and sales strategy to spin the messages in any direction they want. Right now the message is Fear and when that fear is about a man whose half black, with a funky name, pal'in around with terrorists, socialist Obama fear becomes an easy emotion to manipulate! Couple all this with a Democratic counterpart of the legislative branch who itself has lost its way and is as beholden to the money interests. Nothing can move or get done!!
Naturally, blaming Mr. Obama is easy and calling him out as Mr. Krugman and you did for something he said about something he can't control will always have people like me who think you are unfair. That being said; I am starting to question your motive for going after President Obama progressive agenda every chance you get. I always see your criticism but never your solutions. I am even starting to wonder if you are the progressive you claim to be. Your tone definitely makes me think not.
If you believe the conflict is about the tone of our President; well.............again, what do you expect him to say let alone do? If he does as the populous rage wants him to do and use full frontal attacks to channel anger against the financial industries credibility thinking this is a political benefit for some short sighted flash poll, I can not agree with you. This would not be productive or honest and it would be throwing red meat to a politically addicted #gop giving them another opening to shout Socialism and wealth distribution every chance they get.
I agree, Obamas' cavalier Eh-What do you want me to do attitude snipe on the surface sounds disconnected, but I argue that he was being logical and honest. If he came out and said, "short of tearing up the contracts these gentlemen had with their corporations, I can do nothing". Would that have convinced you and Mr. Krugman otherwise in you criticism? Unfortunately, he does not have that right to void negotiated contracts because we do not have actual governing ownership in the bank corporation they represent but just a material interest in non voting stock. We are a free market society and his governance has boundaries. TARP did not give him blanket authority and most of these guidelines were set up before he stepped into office.
Mr. Stranahan, the way I see President Obamas' presidency thus far can be described in one word: DIVIDE
We have a political party that is solely dedicated at this point in their history to getting back into power any way it can. The GOP pretends it is all about our freedoms and spending but actively uses its governing powers in supporting corporate interests over people interest. This has gutted the middle class because their perceived "free market" is really only free if they can deregulate industry giving free hand for markets to regulate themselves. We tried that philosophy and look what happened.
The Republican party in its current construct will parse every word this progressive President says for context, amplify it through corporate media, and then use the brilliance of corporate marketing and sales strategy to spin the messages in any direction they want. Right now the message is Fear and when that fear is about a man whose half black, with a funky name, pal'in around with terrorists, socialist Obama fear becomes an easy emotion to manipulate! Couple all this with a Democratic counterpart of the legislative branch who itself has lost its way and is as beholden to the money interests. Nothing can move or get done!!
Naturally, blaming Mr. Obama is easy and calling him out as Mr. Krugman and you did for something he said about something he can't control will always have people like me who think you are unfair. That being said; I am starting to question your motive for going after President Obama progressive agenda every chance you get. I always see your criticism but never your solutions. I am even starting to wonder if you are the progressive you claim to be. Your tone definitely makes me think not.
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