But the health care reform law was a major giveaway to the health insurance industry (31 million new customers for piece of shit health care that they will barely be able to afford after they pay the premiums.) People with employer-provided health care insurance will lose the quality of their care once the 40% excise tax kicks in and employers begin dropping their coverage or replacing it with cheaper coverage (this was the cost savings President Hopey/Changey wanted and why he refused to drop the excise tax from the law.)
This is NOT a good law, but it won't become apparent until all that stuff kicks in a few years down the road - after President Hopey/Changey finishes his second term (if he wins one.)
As for financial reform:
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Washington's plan for Wall Street will disappoint the financial industry, but its grieving should be short lived.
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There are new restrictions on how banks can participate in hedge funds and private equity along with new limits on proprietary trading - guidelines championed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker.
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The final bill has its weaker spots too -- as the rally of bank stocks in pre-market trading suggests.
It fails to address the lingering problems of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A new consumer protection agency will be run by the Fed, a defeat for reformers who wanted a stronger, stand-alone agency. Regulations for community banks, payday lenders, check-cashing companies and auto-lenders were weakened. There are still plenty of loopholes since lawmakers dropped a plan to consolidate the alphabet soup of regulation. Read story on how tougher provisions were compromised.
Expect Wall Street to exploit these new gaps.
You can tell how Wall Streeters feel about the "reform" by how they bought financial stocks this morning in pre-trading.
That's all you need to know about this garbage financial reform - just like all you needed to know about Obama's garbage health care reform earlier this year was how the Wall Streeters all bought health care and HMO stock when it became clear what the "reform" actually was.
You can expect the administration to push for garbage education reform next and then garbage energy reform.
Next year, after the elections, Social Security "reform" comes.
Watch for that one - Obama loaded that commission with people who want to destroy Social Security and you can expect that to be another giveaway to Wall Street and the banksters and a shot aimed at middle and working class people.
If they just raised the amount of income taxed for Social Security to the first $500,000, the program could be made solvent through the end of the 21st century.
Instead Obama and his commission will claim the program is bankrupt and must be destroyed.
President Hopey/Changey is a disgrace.
With any luck, he'll be perp-walked out of the White House in handcuffs after the Blago trial.
Not that I think that will really happen, but it is nice to contemplate, isn't it?
Yes, the perp-walk is nice to contemplate--although it's probably too much to hope for. I hate to admit this now, but I not only voted for Pres. Hopey/Changey, I also contributed my pittance to his campaign and to the Democratic Party during the 2008 elections. Now, when the Democratic Party telephone fund-raising solicitors call me, I tell them that I'll start contributing again when they start acting like Democrats again.I also enjoy giving them a few examples of where they've gone wrong, usually starting with "Race to the Top." I've been a registered Democrat all my adult life and I'm seriously wondering what to do about upcoming elections (any ideas?). The Republicans are odious, but Democrats are increasingly adopting a similar conservative agenda--at the state, as well as the federal, level. Interestingly enough, the Socialists were out at that big union rally, handing out flyers and their ideas seemed closer to what used to be Democratic ideals than the Dems themselves are today.
ReplyDeleteAnon, here is what I plan to do:
ReplyDeleteI am loudly NOT voting for Dems this year.
I am going to call the White House every day in October and TELL them EXACTLY why I am not voting for Dems - because of RttT, NCLB Jr., the scapegoating of teachers, etc.
Then I am going to call my congressman and senator and tell them the same thing - every day in October.
I am going to ACTIVELY campaign AGAINST Dems at school - reminding people just who brought about RttT and NCLB Jr., who applauded the firing of teachers in RI, who put the policy in place that now has us evaluated by test scores - OBAMA.
Dunno if any of this will mean anything, but I suspect scared Dems are not going to be pleased to lose a core constituency. So do the same. call, email, write, let the assholes in the WH know you are not only unhappy with their GOP policies on education, you are ACTIVELY campaigning against them.
And you hope they lose.
That's my plan. It will be hard work, but every time I get tired with it, I will remind myself about the RI teachers, the new teacher evals tied to test scores, and the school turnaround policy that will close 23 NY schools this year and another 20-25 next year.