By Jaime Ortega Simo.
Recently a few people have blamed Obama for his lack of leadership and pointed out his ability to make short-lived promises. Critics mostly point to financial and health care issues resulting from his political failures. Truth is the Bailout of 08, was a mixture of wild capitalism, corporate decision makers, and no government regulations. Thanks to the pressure of some lobbyist, the Glass-Steagall Act signed by Bush allowed an early century law passed during the 30’s depression to revive allowing markets to regulate themselves. But the idea comes back to the Reagan era. It could be argued that both republicans and democrats are at fault concerning the financial problems the U.S. is currently experiencing.
The question is: Does it really matter whether Mitt Romney, Barack Obama, or Ron Paul is are elected and would it really change anything?
Protesilaos Stavrou.
“While the idiosyncrasy and political agenda of a president is always important in shaping decisions; these alone will not have a major impact under normal conditions. Even if we assume that the congress does not stand as a stumbling block to every effort of reform; we will have to face a multi-faceted and greatly complex financial system, which goes beyond the standard understanding of capitalism, whether regulated or not.
The complex, interweaving web of causes that has allowed the aggrandizement of banks, is not just insufficient or bad regulation; but rather the very relations between the financial elite and the state apparatus. Banks are enjoying a near-symbiotic relationship with the state, meaning that they defy the rules of standard capitalism. A thoroughgoing reformation of the financial system is necessary, one that will put an abrupt end to the collusion between the government and the financial elite, through a mixture of new regulations and a withdrawal of privileges”
Claude Nougat.
“I think it will make a huge difference whether Obama or Romney are elected – Romney represents (and is himself) Big Money, in short the One Percent, and the Republican platform is clear: it is anti-government and anti-tax. Nobody knows how the government budget will ever be balanced once the super-rich stop paying taxes (they already are paying very little since Bush junior’s days – less than anywhere else in the developed world). This is a fundamental issue Romney does not address and cannot address.
Majia Nadesan.
“Widespread corruption in finance might be tackled by Paul given his desire to audit the Federal Reserve Bank, as well as the endless expansion of U.S. wars abroad and domestic surveillance at home. However, moneyed interests representing finance and the military-surveillance-
My biggest concern with Paul is his laissez-faire approach to environmental protection. Furthermore, he supports nuclear energy, which is a genocidal boondoggle that couldn’t exist without extensive government and taxpayer subsidies. So, I don’t see any of these candidates as capable of true reform of a vastly corrupted system.”
Ronald Bleier.
“I suspect it would be difficult to find a similar example in American history where both major party contenders are so clearly the wrong people for the job and are sure to exacerbate the coming crises.
The less said about Mitt Romney the better. It is President Obama who has deliberately set in motion terrible downward spirals in just about every major and minor policy issue imaginable. It’s no wonder that some are beginning to call him out as the Great Deceiver (Yves Smith), or the More Effective Evil (Glenn Ford), or the Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing (Oliver Stone). If Romney wins he won’t have any trouble following a path already well marked.”
Robert Steele.
“To keep all this in perspective, I believe we have to acknowledge that the Reagan Administration began the one trillion a year borrowing, and Newt Gingrich destroyed the bi-partisan nature of Congress as a separate branch. I was a Republican and even a Reagan nominee for Deputy Assistant Secretary of State position, so I am not a Democrat trying to blame the Republicans.
Where I believe all progressives are making a HUGE mistake is in sticking with the Democratic Party as the lesser of two evils. BOTH parties are evil, and we DO have an alternative course of action as I outline in my presentation below, delivered to the Hackers on Planet Earth in NYC on 13 July.
I feel very helpless right now. I know exactly how to get this country back on track, see We the People Reform Coalition, but I cannot reach the 100 million people that need to contribute $10 each to kick the two party tyranny out of office in time for November 2012.”
