It’s hard to find a less popular foil for the White House than bailed-out banks, and the administration is doing its best to show off its new plan to make financial firms pay for the unpopular bailout. President Obama talked up the proposal in his radio address Saturday, but also defended the initial bailout. He said that banks faced a “crisis of their own creation,” but that the “distasteful but necessary” bailout prevented an “even greater calamity for the country.” Nonetheless, he said recent news that some banks, such as Goldman Sachs, had paid back their funds was “good news” but still not enough. “We want the taxpayers’ money back, and we’re going to collect every dime,” he said. The proposed 0.15% tax on banks would collect about $90 billion over 10 years and apply to approximately 50 of the country’s largest banks.
Read it here.
fnord
PrairiePopulistsAndProgressives.net 
The biggest questions of all —
Will we make it through this crisis?
Will it only appear we made it through, but actually be a rebuilding on the same less-than-adequate foundation?
What will the voters think?
Will Griffin ever be able to join me in retirement? (OK, so this last one is a bit personalized to me and mine.)
Taxing the banks is like yelling at an armored tank. The only thing that will change these circumstances is both thoughtful but strict rulesgovernment oversight, something that became nonexistent sometime in the past 30 years, and has yet to meaningfully return.
Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman-Sachs actually is so contrite that people in his employ actually shorted bundled mortgages that they sold for a profit. Gee, this wasn’t criminal or anything, was it?
Of course not. Prison is something that what happens when oil executives (Enron) or communications executives (Worldcom) start thinking they’re above the law, and get caught.
Banks control the money supply, internationally. No black helicopters, just a fact. Goldman-Sachs contributed a equal amount to both major party candidates in 1992, and generously to anyone who matters in official Washington. They expect reciprocation and even when they’re in the proverbial doghouse and like the roommate who blew the rent check on booze and blow, their “too big to fail” power gives them excessive leverage over everyone.
Blankfein, Dimon and others no better to laugh at us now. They feel the anger and, in fairness, the collective greed that’s indulged is more to blame than any one person. Hell, Blankfein is only in his 50s.
It’s time to start using Antitrust and breaking up bloated conflict-of-interest institutions, and examine just how throughly they’ve simultaneously incompetent and corrupt.
A huge task, to say the least, and many jobs depend on cleaning up the foul mess in the corner, and the banks insist on Doing It Their Way — Or Else.
“And the banks — hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place.”
Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (D-Illinois), April 27, 2009.
On a talk radio show today, I actually heard a Conservative say that these Wall Street bankers did not know they were selling ‘bad paper’ when they almost brought down our economy last year.
Of course, the villain in this person’s scenario was only Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae – and, of course their favorite whipping boy – Barney Frank.
Yeah, right. Everybody in that process knew exactly what they were doing and they each got their cut of the pie.
I’m not saying that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were not a part of the problem – but they – being led by Barney Frank – did not cause the entire breakdown of the economy.
Oh, come on, Lilac, they approved those loans to minorities (which they were forced to do) who couldn’t pay them back. See, easy answers… The black man and other minorities are responsible for this economic crisis.
Note: I think these arguments are nonsense. But, I think I will hear them for a while longer…