It is evident that the Obama Administration has chosen the FDR model as a way to deal with the economy. I have no problem with that. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration has made some very poor policy choices.
Let's tackle the banks first. The bank bailout was done to unfreeze the credit market. No problem with that; however, some of the bailout money was given to banks who clearly did not need it [see March 24, 2009 post] and those banks appear to have not sufficiently done their part in unfreezing the credit market; and, in addition, are continuing to support bonuses for doing a poor job [calling them retention bonuses).
The Obama Administration has done nothing to threaten and punish bailout banks that are now actively and negatively trying to influence legislation surrounding the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). This is a government "of the people, by the people" ...; and not a government of the corporations.
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Another Criticism: Why bailout banks and continue subsidizing big farms and food corporations, and not subsidize batteries for hybrid cars before conceivably laying off upwards of millions of auto employees and jeopardizing businesses and their employees who supply parts to auto makers?
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This information could be wrong, but I just read that "A number of big national banks stand accused of systematically bilking black and Latino borrowers. And the administration of our first black president is siding with the banks.
At the end of April, the Obama administration will go before the US Supreme Court to argue that those banks—including bailout recipients Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan Chase—should be allowed to duck a state investigation into their lending practices. If that sounds like the politics of the past, it is. The Obama administration has opted to maintain the stance of the Bush administration—one opposed by the NAACP and other major civil rights groups. And it won't be some Bush holdover making the arguments in Cuomo v. The Clearing House Association (an industry group whose membership includes the world's largest banks).
Instead, the banks will be defended by the office of Obama's new solicitor general, former Harvard Law School dean Elena Kagan." Article by Stephanie Mencimer in Mother Jones.
At the end of April, the Obama administration will go before the US Supreme Court to argue that those banks—including bailout recipients Bank of America, Citi, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan Chase—should be allowed to duck a state investigation into their lending practices. If that sounds like the politics of the past, it is. The Obama administration has opted to maintain the stance of the Bush administration—one opposed by the NAACP and other major civil rights groups. And it won't be some Bush holdover making the arguments in Cuomo v. The Clearing House Association (an industry group whose membership includes the world's largest banks).
Instead, the banks will be defended by the office of Obama's new solicitor general, former Harvard Law School dean Elena Kagan." Article by Stephanie Mencimer in Mother Jones.
Next topic: Privacy Rights and Civil Liberties
From democracynow.org
The Obama administration has decided to continue a Bush administration policy of invoking “state secrets” to dismiss a lawsuit accusing a Boeing subsidiary of helping the CIA secretly transport prisoners to torture chambers overseas. On Monday, a San Francisco appeals court heard arguments on the American Civil Liberties Union’s attempt to reinstate the case against Jeppesen International Trip Planning on behalf of five former prisoners. The lawsuit accused Jeppesen of arranging at least seventy flights since 2001 as part of the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program. The Bush administration successfully won the case’s dismissal on the grounds it would risk exposing “state secrets.” On Monday, Obama administration lawyers told judges the government’s stance is unchanged. ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said, “The] Justice Department stood up in court today and said that it would continue the Bush policy of invoking state secrets to hide the reprehensible history of torture, rendition and the most grievous human rights violations committed by the American government. This is not change. This is definitely more of the same.”"
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PAY ATTENTION TO A PIECE OF LEGISLATION THAT ROCKEFELLER AND SNOWE INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS APRIL 1, 2009- the act is called, The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 (Voice your opinion to Congress when they come back from break, April 20th)
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