The thing that cracks me up most about "reform" is the President saying he wants it so this sort of thing can never happen again. Guess what? That's the same kind of reform we got after 1929! I'd love to see an analysis of just how many of the things that triggered the latest crash would have been prohibited if the reforms passed in the wake of the great depression were still in place. Whatever reforms they pass now, the greedheads will have plenty of opportunities to buy the necessary number of congressmen to change the laws in the future and gut the reforms.

I like that expression, greedheads

I feel that if I stay in this country eventually, after a life time of working hard and doing all the right things, i'll be homeless and living under a bridge with the rest of the poor. These polititions don't give a damn about anyone except themselves. I had a talk with one recently about companys giving mortgages to people who couldn't afford to pay and then hedging the transaction knowing that they'll make alot of money either way. His responce was "Its legal!" This attitude is unacceptable. The morality of this country is gone, greed rules, and it will never change. Oh for the days of a handshake and a man's word!!
If you travel to Costa Rica or Vietnam look me up, that is if I can ever sell my house!!

you'll never get reform when we have a revolving door between the regulated business and the regulaters and especially not when chair heads are recipients of money...the public is in a lose/lose situation:

Volcker and Reform Defeated
The Former Fed Chairman Offers A History Lesson, Congress Skips the Class

Mr. Volcker's testimony was at once a brilliant articulation of the structural dangers of Wall Street as it stands and a forceful warning. He clarified the most controversial part of the rule, the ban on proprietary trading for commercial banks.

A bank "trading for its own account, it will almost inevitably find itself, consciously or inadvertently, acting at cross purposes to the interests of an unrelated commercial customer of a bank," he said in prepared testimony.

This state of affairs at big institutions such as Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is more than just a conflict. It is an all out internal war at the heart of these institutions pitting the money system so important to the economy with the risk-taking system important only to those who benefit from the betting windfall.

But given the reaction of committee members, the Volcker Rule appears to be doomed. By the end of his testimony the dais was nearly empty. Big bank stocks rallied. The only question now is whether the bill will be gutted or euthanized like failed investment banks would have been under the Volcker plan.

Sen. Shelby has his own interests. He is running for reelection this year. Wall Street has been the leading contributor to his campaign and the leadership political action committee this cycle, with $600,000 in donations through Jan. 10, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Add the real estate and insurance industries and Mr. Shelby has taken $2 million from financial interests, more than double the contributions from the next leading industry, the CRP said.

http://tinyurl.com/yam945m

Do a search on Catherine Austin Fitts..watch videos 2 & 3

http://tinyurl.com/ybvx9ky

No reform because the citizens do not have powerful lobbyists...

Everybody's been talking about that Republican retreat last weekend, where President Obama engaged his opponents in a give and take. But what you may not know is that it was organized by something called the Congressional Institute. Nice highfalutin civic bunch, you might deduce from its name. Turns out the Congressional Institute is funded by corporate contributions and run by top Republican lobbyists. There are fourteen members on its board--twelve are registered lobbyists. And the contributors to the Congressional Institute read like a who's who of corporate America. Among its benefactors have been General Motors, Lockheed Martin, Time Warner, UPS. The institute's chairman lobbies for among others, Goldman Sachs, B.P., Health Net and AHIP. That's the trade group for the health insurance industry that fought tooth and nail against the public option and brought the White House to its knees.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02052010/watch4.html

the republicans do not care as long as the rich are getting richer and thats it

the republicans dont care as long as the rich get richer and that is all they care about

Conflict With Goldman Helped Push A.I.G. to Edge

Here's the problem: Goldman didn't own the securities.*

In addition to offering to cancel its own contracts, Goldman offered to buy all of the insurance A.I.G. had written for several other banks at severely distressed prices, according to three people briefed on the discussions.

Negotiating with Goldman to void the A.I.G. insurance was especially difficult, Federal Reserve Board documents show, because the firm did not own the underlying bonds. As a result, Goldman had little incentive to compromise.

Now do you see the outrage in these so-called "protection devices"?

...... They were raw bets. Very highly-leveraged gambling instruments that had a very low cost at origination - a cost all out of proportion to their eventual potential return.

We do not let "just anyone" buy insurance. You must have an insurable interest. That is, I can't buy fire insurance on your house. If I could, I might - and so might 20 of my best friends. We might even target those homes we think might have fires. We could even bribe the folks doing a controlled burn nearby to be a little less careful than they ordinarily would. Or, in the extreme case, one of us might just set a fire on purpose!
http://tinyurl.com/yc58c5u

Saturday, February 6, 2010
The OTHER Reason that the U.S. is Not Regulating Wall Street

Sure, American politicians have been bought and paid for by the Wall Street giants. See this, this and this.

And everyone knows that the White House and Congress - while talking about cracking down on Wall Street with strict regulation - have actually watered down some of the most important protections that were in place.

For example, Senator Cantwell says that the new derivatives legislation is weaker than the old regulation. And leading credit default swap expert (Satyajit Das) says that the new credit default swap regulations not only won't help stabilize the economy, they might actually help to destabilize it.
http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2010/02/other-reason-that-us-is-not-regulating.html

THANKS A LOT OBAMA FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF TIM GEITHNER WHO HAS BEEN SO INSTRUMENTAL IN ROBBING AMERICANS BLIND
Why didn’t Obama fire Tim Geithner long ago? That is a question that a lot of Americans would like to have answered. Geithner has tarnished Obama’s image as much as Obama’s backroom deals in the White House with Pharmaceutical companies. It looks more and more like Obama represents Wall Street and not Main Street and as for a transparent government–well Obama must have misread his teleprompter when he was telling us about his “transparent” government.
http://iflizwerequeen.com/?p=5090

no reform just profiteering:

The Indymac Slap in our Face. 02.08.10

http://www.thinkbigworksmall.com/mypage/player/tbws/23088/1540466

Is this a threat?

Friday, February 12, 2010
Schwarzman Says Kowtow to Banks or They Will Strangle the Economy

Can someone shut these banking industry narcissists up?

http://tinyurl.com/y9ocl2k

RED ALERT: Mortgage Bankers Strongly Oppose New Foreclosure Bill in California – SBX8 38

These guys are a bunch of farbisseners. And I think every homeowner in America should know just what the Mortgage Bankers Association is all about. Because these guys are no one’s friend. And they should all ech hob dir in drerd.

http://tinyurl.com/yaxujuv

There will be no reform...lok what your up against.

REPORT AIR DATE: Feb. 11, 2010
Unraveling the Profit Puzzle at Goldman Sachs
SUMMARY
As part of his continuing series of reports making sense of business and the economy, Paul Solman examines the inner workings of investment powerhouse Goldman Sachs and how it makes money.

http://tinyurl.com/ydmblwl

"Mistaken" Foreclosure Or Felony Criminal Conduct?

Let me be clear: To foreclose on something you must first be holding a mortgage on that thing.

Bank of America did not “foreclose” on anything as the home in question was purchased for cash and thus owned free and clear.

Bank of America had no more right to be present upon that property for any purpose whatsoever than a crack dealer, gangster or other street thug.

http://tinyurl.com/ya35rgr

A Hundred Thousand Homeowners – Voices of Hope & Change

http://tinyurl.com/yj5bao6