Moneythoughts has a lot of stuff to take care of today, so, if you feel like it, go back and read some of the posts that I have written over this last year. As I have said many times, this financial stuff is not difficult to understand once you know the terms - the language of economics and finance and the capital markets.
Difficult is manipulating proteins in the human body to stop the blood flow to tumors. That kind of work and research is difficult, not the work that goes on in the world of finance and the capital markets.
Moneythoughts believes that if we are going to use the capital markets to grow our economy, then the government should see to it that investors, both large and small, are treated fairly. This then requires a Securities & Exchange Commission fully staffed and financed to do the work that is before them. Without regulations of the capital markets and financial products, the greed factor takes over and we all get the financial crisis, bond market meltdown, and the bursting of an economic bubble. The credit rating agencies must be regulated and better yet, the Federal Reserve Bank should be the arbiter of what constitutes a triple-A credit.
As I have said many, many times, this stuff is not complicated or difficult. Politics and lobbyists and corrupt politicians make it difficult.
Stay tuned.
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4 comments:
I still say that the one way we can see improvement in government - and by association, so many other aspects of society - is to define term limits for congress. Senate AND House. One term. Period. After which you get a stipend ( a STIPEND - not a windfall) until you reach retirement age and then you get a bump in Social Security - for having served your country in Congress. Then I would change the rules in Congress so that all Bills are "Single Purpose" - no tacking on of amendments which have nothing to do with the original Bill. And pass laws which limit lobbyist spending to 25 dollars or less.
Term limits is just another dumbing and watering down of what's left of our democracy. To say nothing of the fact that it generally favors Republicans, the party responsible for most term limit legislation, both state and federal. Trying to hobble lobbyist will be harder than nailing jelly to a wet wall! The problem is really much simpler to understand and nearly impossible to solve.
The great failure of our democratic republic is the fourth estate, most especially the broadcast media that uses our public airwaves. Not only do they not keep the public informed, but they are the major reason that all that money is needed to run for elected office. Both major political parties are also culpable here too. If a political candidate is on the ballot, then they should be able to have equal access to the public airwaves to get their ideas to the voters and they should be participants in all public debates that are broadcasted on the public airwaves too. Instead, the cost of running for elected office is so expensive, because of the cost of broadcast time on the public airwaves, that candidates must eventually prostitute themselves. And the last thing either the Democrats or the Republicans want to happen, especially in national politics, is for a viable third party candidate to get a fair shake and get their message to the voters.
If the American citizenry wants their government back, they have to somehow elect politicians that will change the laws that allow it to be continuously up for sale to the highest bidder.
politics does make everything extraordinarily complicated and seedy. Why should getting citizens to doctors be so complicated? I can't believe I keep watching the whole horrendous thing on C-Span.
@hezigler - I disagree about dumbing down and watering down our Democracy if we went to term limits. I see it as returning government to the people - we are, after all, supposed to govern ourselves, are we not? Is that not the way it's supposed to be - we as a people are supposed to govern ourselves?
I would not only like to see term limits - I would like to see dissolution of the two party system - in favor of No Party At All. Let a man run for office on his merits and his personal platform. Let The People decide who achieves office - not the GOP or the DEMS.
I'd like to see a return to Objective News Reporting - instead of Fox "Oh My God I'm Conservative" News or MS"I'm a By God Blue Liberal"NBC type reporting. There was a time in this country when "Yellow Journalism" was viewed as despicable. It is no longer. The Walter Cronkites of this world have all disappeared in favor of bottom lines and ratings. And we all suffer for it.
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