Obama Owns It

by Steve

This is the most meaningful indictment of Barack Obama and Tim Geithner's failure to address Wall Street corruption and culpability in the destruction of our economy and middle class that you are likely to find. You can blame a good part of the calamity on Bill Clinton, Bob Rubin, and Larry Summers for willingly repealing Glass-Steagall at the end of the last decade. And you can also blame a good deal of it upon George W. Bush, Alan Greenspan, and the entire GOP "no regulations are good regulations" ideology that allowed the cancer to grow and topple the house of cards over the last several years.

But a large part of the TARP disbursements and a continuation of Hank Paulson's deception and transfer of risk from Wall Street to Main Street happened with Tim Geithner's and Barack Obama's blessing and involvement. And at no time has this administration ever lifted a finger to hold these same bank holding companies accountable for the mess they created. Nor has this administration, Treasury Department, or Federal Reserve ever committed itself to protecting the middle class from the economic destruction caused by mass foreclosures. Instead, the Obama administration gives us lies about loan modification programs that don't make the banks do anything. For a fraction of what the Fed and Treasury Department handed out to Wall Street in taxpayer money, this administration could have saved the middle class and home ownership in this country - if only they cared as much for people as they do for banks.

Barack Obama owns this mess and the ongoing devastation upon the middle class. When Wall Street is sitting on this much cash at the same time that consumer demand is tepid at best because jobs and homes are vanishing, a Democratic administration should have a clear mission and set of priorities. Yet this administration has aligned itself with those who should be behind bars.