How Obama found his mojo on Wall Street
By Eugene Robinson
WashPost
Friday, April 23, 2010
The politics of financial regulatory reform are simple. After the meltdown and the bailout, many Americans -- perhaps most Americans -- are inclined to see Wall Street as predatory and all-devouring. Striding into the lion's den and calling the beast to heel, as President Obama did Thursday, was a move without a downside.
Perhaps Obama could have scored more popularity points if he had ordered a few financiers to be led out of the Cooper Union auditorium in handcuffs. Then again, in terms of candidates for a perp walk, there were pretty slim pickings: Many of Wall Street's leading luminaries stayed away, perhaps out of pique at the notion that mere elected officials would have the gall to tell Masters of the Universe how to run their affairs.
"Unless your business model depends on bilking people, there's little to fear from these new rules," Obama said. Yet there is so much fear abroad in the land, or at least up and down Wall Street, that the big financial institutions are shelling out millions to try to torpedo the reforms. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, J.P. Morgan Chase spent $1.5 million on lobbying during the first quarter of the year, Citigroup spent $1.4 million and Goldman Sachs spent $1.15 million -- for Goldman, a 70 percent increase over what the firm spent during the first quarter of 2009. Reasonable people might ask: Why all the worry?
Obama's tone was not that of a sword-wielding avenger -- he doesn't do fire and brimstone -- but of a stern parent explaining to party-hearty teenagers why their driving privileges are being curtailed.
(More here.)
WashPost
Friday, April 23, 2010
The politics of financial regulatory reform are simple. After the meltdown and the bailout, many Americans -- perhaps most Americans -- are inclined to see Wall Street as predatory and all-devouring. Striding into the lion's den and calling the beast to heel, as President Obama did Thursday, was a move without a downside.
Perhaps Obama could have scored more popularity points if he had ordered a few financiers to be led out of the Cooper Union auditorium in handcuffs. Then again, in terms of candidates for a perp walk, there were pretty slim pickings: Many of Wall Street's leading luminaries stayed away, perhaps out of pique at the notion that mere elected officials would have the gall to tell Masters of the Universe how to run their affairs.
"Unless your business model depends on bilking people, there's little to fear from these new rules," Obama said. Yet there is so much fear abroad in the land, or at least up and down Wall Street, that the big financial institutions are shelling out millions to try to torpedo the reforms. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, J.P. Morgan Chase spent $1.5 million on lobbying during the first quarter of the year, Citigroup spent $1.4 million and Goldman Sachs spent $1.15 million -- for Goldman, a 70 percent increase over what the firm spent during the first quarter of 2009. Reasonable people might ask: Why all the worry?
Obama's tone was not that of a sword-wielding avenger -- he doesn't do fire and brimstone -- but of a stern parent explaining to party-hearty teenagers why their driving privileges are being curtailed.
(More here.)
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