"Clown Prince" Weekly Blather; March 20th

A Patriotic Respnse To The "Clown Prince;" 03/20/2010
Weekly Address

March 20, 2010
   On Monday, the Banking Committee of the United States Senate will debate a proposal to address the abuse and excess that led to the worst financial crisis in generations. These reforms are essential. As I’ve urged over the past year, we need common-sense rules that will our allow markets to function fairly and freely while reining in the worst practices of the financial industry. That’s the central lesson of this crisis. And we fail to heed that lesson at our peril.
   Of course, there were many causes of the economic turmoil that ripped through our country over the past two years. But it was a crisis that began in our financial system. Large banks engaged in reckless financial speculation without regard for the consequences – and without tough oversight. Financial firms invented and sold complicated financial products to escape scrutiny and conceal enormous risks. And there were some who engaged in the rampant exploitation of consumers to turn a quick profit no matter who was hurt in the process.
[What I'm not telling you:   A lot of Americans think the voters were stupid for electing for electing me to my exhalted position;  I can't see how the Connecticut voter can continue to put that Dodd guy back in Washington each six years!!  I know he follows the fascist line and I applaud that--BUT you realize that he steals from public companies through his negotiating "sweet-heart" deals no one else can get, right??    And you're expecting him to fix the "big bank" financial and oversight problems??  I wonder at what cost to the American taxpayer??  If he continues to steal from you--through these sweet-heart deals--will there be enough money left for me to re-distribute??] 
Now, I have long been a vigorous defender of free markets. And I believe we need a strong and vibrant financial sector so that businesses can get loans; families can afford mortgages; entrepreneurs can find the capital to start a new company, sell a new product, offer a new service. But what we have seen over the past two years is that without reasonable and clear rules to check abuse and protect families, markets don’t function freely. In fact, it was just the opposite. In the absence of such rules, our financial markets spun out of control, credit markets froze, and our economy nearly plummeted into a second Great Depression.
That’s why financial reform is so necessary. And after months of bipartisan work, Senator Chris Dodd and his committee have offered a strong foundation for reform, in line with the proposal I previously laid out, and in line with the reform bill passed by the House.
It would provide greater scrutiny of large financial firms to prevent any one company from threatening the entire financial system – and it would update the rules so that complicated financial products like derivatives are no longer bought and sold without oversight. It would prevent banks from engaging in risky dealings through their own hedge funds – while finally giving shareholders a say on executive salaries and bonuses. And through new tools to break up failing financial firms, it would help ensure that taxpayers are never again forced to bail out a big bank because it is “too big to fail.”
[What I'm not telling you: Can you believe that "load-a-shit....??" ...that first line:  that I've long been a vigorous defender of the free market system......??  I refuse to believe that the American consumer has the intelligence to  manage their own finances;  they need the control that the federal government will exert with this new agency..... to 'guide' them in the use of the various financial products available to them.  Had I not come into power when I did the American public would have had to develop their own knowledge and self-reliance concerning their financial 'life.'  My becoming everyone's "big brother" has obsolved anyone of responsibility for their own actions!!  Isn't that wonderful??  If you're stupid enough to not read the 'fine print' and let the credit companies to take advantage of you... never fear, I'll fix it!!  If you're stupid enough to buy a home you can't afford and have no intention of paying for... never fear, I'll fix it!!  If you're too dam' lazy to get off your ass and get a job... never fear, I'll keep increasing welfareRAT benefits; thus, I'll fix it!!  Can you see the trend here?  More and more governmental control!! 
...shareholder control over executive compensation..... Whadda laugh that is!!  If you're too lazy to work, to stupid to have a credit card, to stupid to own a home.... how the Hell can you make an educated decision about someone else's pay??  It's GOVERNMENTAL CONTROL!!  Although I hesitate to point this out, here's the HUGE difference between governmental and stockholder control.... look at Government {General} Motors and the Ford Motor Company:  GM went from $25 to FIFTY CENTS; Ford went from a Buck-Thirty Seven to a 13 dollar company!!  So much for effective, profitable governmental control!!   
...that "too-big-to-fail...." thingie??  You'da never heard of that had I not been annointed!!  Previous to my reign if a big company was about to fail, it would have been saved by private investment, NOT a government bailout!!  In reality, there's no such animal as an enterprise "to-big-to-fail...!!"]
Finally, these reforms include a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to prevent predatory loan practices and other abuses to ensure that consumers get clear information about loans and other financial products before they sign on the dotted line. Because this financial crisis wasn’t just the result of decisions made by large financial firms; it was also the result of decisions made by ordinary Americans to open credit cards and take on mortgages. And while there were many who took out loans they knew they couldn’t afford, there were also millions of people who signed contracts they didn’t fully understand offered by lenders who didn’t always tell the truth.
This is in part because the job of protecting consumers is spread across seven different federal agencies, none of which has the interests of ordinary Americans as its principal concern. This diffusion of responsibility has made it easier for credit card companies to lure customers with attractive offers then punish them in the fine print; for payday lenders and others who charge outrageous interest to operate without much oversight; and for mortgage brokers to entice homebuyers with low initial rates only to trap them with ballooning payments down the line.
[What I'm not telling you: These seven agencies could easily be "boiled down" to one or two... so we certainly don't need Dodd's; another one to screw the American taxpayer, SOMEHOW!!  But what would that do to my control over your lives??  What agency--anywhere in the government--has your interests at heart??  We can't have that!!  It just wouldn't be the fascist way!!]
For these banking reforms to be complete – for these reforms to meet the measure of the crisis we’ve just been through – we need a consumer agency to advocate for ordinary Americans and help enforce the rules that protect them. That’s why I won’t accept any attempts to undermine the independence of this agency. And I won’t accept efforts to create loopholes for the most egregious abusers of consumers, from payday lenders to auto finance companies to credit card companies.
Unsurprisingly, this proposal has been a source of contention with financial firms who like things just the way they are. In fact, the Republican leader in the House reportedly met with a top executive of one of America’s largest banks and made thwarting reform a key part of his party’s pitch for campaign contributions. And this week, the allies of banks and consumer finance companies launched a multimillion dollar ad campaign to fight against the proposal. You might call this ‘air support’ for the army of lobbyists already arm twisting members of the committee to reject these reforms and block this consumer agency. Perhaps that’s why, after months of working with Democrats, Republicans walked away from this proposal. I regret that and urge them to reconsider.
[What I'm not telling you:  It's just NOT IN THE MAKEUP of any governmental agency to "advocate for ordinary Americans;"  it's not the way they're set up; it's not the way ANY politician functions!!  I have to admit:  replubicRATs are not fascists, by definition; hence, they're as close to being advocates for Americans as any politician can be.]
The fact is, it’s now been well over a year since the near collapse of the entire financial system – a crisis that helped wipe out more than 8 million jobs and that continues to exact a terrible toll throughout our economy. Yet today the very same system that allowed this turmoil remains in place. No one disputes that. No one denies that reform is needed. So the question we have to answer is very simple: will we learn from this crisis, or will we condemn ourselves to repeat it? That’s what’s at stake.
I urge those in the Senate who support these reforms to remain strong, to resist the pressure from those who would preserve the status quo, to stand up for their constituents and our country. And I promise to use every tool at my disposal to see these reforms enacted: to ensure that the bill I sign into law reflects not the special interests of Wall Street, but the best interests of the American people.
[What I'm not telling you:  Although in retrospect I didn't need this topic; I've spoken on this to keep the public mind off the House vote to takeover 18% of the American economy; a step to universal healthcare; a step toward total fascism not seen since 1930s Germany!!  Get used to it, America... There's more coming!!]