Recent comments

Dear Mr. Mann: Thank you for taking the time to write in about this! I am not sure how much money has been taken from you by this system, but it is clear to me that the regulatory agencies have been captured by the industries they regulate. The Secretary of the Treasury, Tim Geithner, was the president of the New York Federal Reserve, and he has--unfortunately--opposed crucial reforms requiring that the big banks derivatives trading desks be spun off and opposed rules like the "Volcker Rule" that would prevent banks that enjoy taxpayer guarantees from engaging in high risk behaviour, such as investing in hedge funds, and he hired a Goldman Sachs lobbyist, Mark Patterson, to serve as his Chief of Staff at the Treasury Department. But, the close ties between the Treasury Department and the big Wall Street speculators did not begin with this administration. President George W. Bush's last Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson was the former CEO of Goldman Sachs. I think the government has allowed Wall Street to get away with the risky gambling practices that have undermined our economy because too many politicians rely on the industries they are supposed to be regulating for campaign donations and lobbying support. Wall Street has used its extraordinary profits to exert undue influence on economic policy development in ways that ultimate harm ordinary Americans and the promise of the American dream. International trade policy, so-called "free trade" has been a boon to the bottom lines of the big corporations and has been a net loss to hard-working Americans in our industrial base. Geithner and his recent predecessors at Treasury have been big proponents of trade policies and other efforts to undo protections for ordinary people's economic futures that accrue big benefits to wealthiest few. The other candidates in the most recent presidential election also had close ties to bad financial policies--with McCain embroiled in the Savings and Loan crisis, and Palin an apologist for anything the Big Oil companies want to do. We do need major reforms to right the ship of state and put America back on track, including overturning the recent Supreme Court decision in Citizens United that put even more corporate money into our election and policymaking process. It can seem so daunting to try to fight back against these powerful interests but if we give up they will definitely win. We really need to ensure that the American promise of democracy--government by the people, of the people, for the people--does not become a nightmare of government by the corporations, of the corporations, for the corporations. The people in Washington are supposed to represent us, not the banks. But, unfortunately the new House leadership includes people like Alabama Rep. Spencer Baucus who recently said In Washington, the view is that the banks are to be regulated, and my view is that Washington and the regulators are there to serve the banks." Such a view is simply astonishing and means we've got a lot of work to do in the coming year. I hope you will join us in our fight against these bad ideas, Mr. Mann! Lisa