Grade Administration's Handling of Banks - WJ this morning

The failure to clamp down on usury is the word from callers

Last year was a disaster for the banks #1 customers (other than themseles)...they needed quick cash, first to stave off going belly up and now to keep Geitner and the Fed from snooping through their books and business practices. And who do you think is paying for it? They took the TARP money to keep their biggest investors "whole"...why no money went to easing the credit mess and now they want to pay that money back as quick as possible...so the little guy gets squeezed. And they can get away with it.

Thanks to that regressive "bankruptcy" bill of 2005 that set off this economic fiasco, the banks can do what they please as far as interest rates and fees and even the "reform" that was passed won't kick in until the Fall. In the meantime, until people literally show up at the banks with torches and pitchforks, the most vulernable will get the short end. They not only don't have a seat at the table in this game, they are kept miles away.

:hi:

Obama should have broken up the banks. If it's too big to fail, make it smaller.

I agree...if it's too big to fail, it's too big. However, there's the realist in me that said letting those banks implode would have made things in this country far worse than where we are now. The "recharge" has stabilized the market and helped those on fixed incomes and living off investments/retirement from falling off the edge. In many ways TARP was successful...it's hard to see it now, but I honestly think it will be a significant act that kept this country from going into a deep depression.

That said...now that they've been saved, it's time to clamp down...restore a lot of the regulations that were wiped away over the past 30 years and break 'em up that way. Make it less lucrative...put the incentives in investing and saving over spending and credit. I've seen moves in that direction, but things still are still too fluid to expect a major overhaul anytime soon.

Let's see how he handles the GM bankruptcy...then we'll see if he should have done the same with the banks.