War on Poverty and government efficiency

[mookiemookie]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Nice political speech, especially since this started as a thread on government misspending, but what is your solution?

No easy solution. So much of politics is intertwined with corporate money. Laws and policies are written by the very industries that are to be regulated.

Take the rule on leverage for financial firms. It used to be that they were limited to a 12 to 1 ratio for debt to net capital. In 2004, the big 5 (Merrill, Goldman, Bear Stearns, Lehman Bros, Morgan Stanley) pushed to be exempt from the rule. The SEC allowed it. Lehman was at 33 to 1 when it failed (meaning a 3% drop in the value of their investments would wipe out all your capital.) Take a look at the current status of the names on that list to see how well that rule worked out.

So long as the inmates are running the asylum, you're going to end up with laws that favor the upper class at the expense of everyone else. I say ban all campaign contributions that do not come from individuals. No more corporate money. No more PAC money. That'd be a great start.