Are You Really Ready to Unleash Wall Street Greed?

So, you’re really confused now … is Obama the right leader for our country, or should we try a new guy?

We think there are many reasons to stick with President Obama, but one of the strongest arguments may just be: Financial Regulations. Yeah, we know … BORING!

But, we should stop for a moment and consider HOW we got into this economic slide in the first place. It wasn’t “big government,” or “deficits and debt,” or even Social Security and Medicare … much less Food Stamps! See previous CLN post.

The cause of the economic crisis is the financial deregulation in 1999, when the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed and replaced with much weaker regulations of the big banks. The Glass-Steagall Act was put into law following The Great Depression in order to reign in Wall Street greed and ensure that such a financial crisis would never happen again. When The Glass–Steagall Act is mentioned, it is most often in reference to four provisions of that act which separated commercial banking from investment banking. Many believe that separation is what kept our financial sector safe from itself.

For over 50 years our economy thrived, with no depression in sight, and the financial sector did just fine. The American economy enjoyed the very best growth in our history with The Glass-Steagall Act in place — and by the way, during that time the top marginal tax rate was much higher than 50%; it was up to 90% at one time. Under Ronald Reagan the top rates were over 50% — eight years of a presidency that the GOP claim was the economic zenith that they wish to replicate!

The new deregulation in 1999 once again unleashed Wall Street —> and the greed of the 1930s returned, but this time — because of a globalized economy — the financial collapse brought down the world’s economy.

Many Americans believe that the Dodd-Frank Act was not strong enough to actually keep these forces in total check (commercial banking and investment banking are NOT separated) … and yet: Mitt Romney wants to repeal even these mild reforms.

ARE YOU REALLY READY TO UNLEASH WALL STREET GREED?