Thursday, November 3, 2011

BloggeRhythms 11/3/2011

I'm not a big fan of NYC Mayor, Michal Bloomberg, because I think he's a bit too impressed with himself and tends to bully. Nonetheless, at least he agrees with me on one point.

In a panel discussion on Tuesday, he clashed with former Mayor, Ed Koch, when the subject of the Wall Street protests came up. Bloomberg defended the banks, saying "It was not the banks that created the mortgage crisis. It was, plain and simple, Congress." He himself was a former executive of a financial information company, at the event for business leaders.

In oppositon, Koch angrily called for criminal prosecutions of corporate executives, noting that major banks have been fined hundreds of millions of dollars. He asked, "What do you think they got fined for? Schmutz on the sidewalk? They beggared the people in this country. There's something wrong with a kid who steals a bike going to jail, and someone who steals millions paying a fine."

Now, I've always liked Ed Koch and thought he performed quite well as Mayor. However, he has a huge liberal bias and tends to play to crowds as if still running for office, consequently I think his contention was a little short of the mark. Because in one sense he's absolutely correct...there really is something wrong when those who steal millions of dollars get a slap on the wrist and a fine while bike thieves wind up in the slam.

However, what Koch is talking about is a small group of bankers who abused or broke the law, and yes it did involve millions of dollars. But what Congress has done regarding writing those laws and involving themselves in issues they clearly don't understand has cost folks trillions, with a "T."

What's more, now that the president's decided that even Congress doesn't give away taxpayer's money in large enough amounts or nearly fast enough to suit him, he's doing the job alone.

By unilaterally easing student loan payback terms and conditions and reducing mortgage obligations, he's building the framework for another financial collapse led by losses in federally backed investment, which is likely only a place to start. Because now that he's figured out how to circumvent Congress and the public, he can give away the whole country's hard-earned assets piece by piece by himself.

That's it for today folks.

Adios

No comments:

Post a Comment