When Wall Street sneezes, the world does catch a cold. Unfortunately, Wall Street is gravely ill and the contagion is spreading to the rest of the world. I submit that Wall Street is essentially siphoning money--not merely investing it for the good of their customers. Gone are the days when you could put your money in for a decade or two and would likely get a decent return. Day and flash trades result in short term gains/losses. Worse, one bad quarter and a stock tanks. Wall Street, in my opinion, is no longer relevant. Most of the activity - the big money - is on the sidelines in swaps, shorts, options, futures and some new products designed to give the rich an express elevator to wealth while the masses make pennies on the actual stocks which, by the way, seem unrelated to the performance of the underlying company but have more to do with market speculation on a single given day or report. I strongly believe the bailout was a mistake. We need a new financial system--not an empire of rich bankers that do quite well and leave us a pittance--if that. With today's technology, we don't need to sustain these Wall Street empires or the people who are raking in insane amounts of money from us; and I do mean us. When the pension fund of our state does poorly, we will be made to make up the difference. Either our taxes will be increased or we will feel cuts for necessary services and infrastructure.
L Richards
The cost of financial reform is too high. Our politicians are extorting deals from each other that are not sustainable and will be a heavy burden for the middle class and poor in particular. I believe Elizabeth Warren and Paul Volcker had some great ideas. Unfortunately, they are far too watered down. In fact, healthcare reform, credit card reform and financial reform fall far short of what is necessary. Energy reform probably will not fare better. We need to get lobbyists out of the way, elect politicians who have the courage to do what is right for the country and stop spinning the truth to the American people. In my opinion, we are on a collision course to disaster and I suspect a class war will result.
The unknown effects of the extensive use of dispersants is of great concern. As if the original faux pas wasn't bad enough, this strategy appears to be compounding the situation in an unprecedented manner. Thanks for this info: http://renergie.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/bps-strategy-to-limit-liability-in-regard-to-its-gulf-oil-gusher/
It will be no surprise if "Act of God" gets tossed around in court proceedings against BP and the other corporations involved in this on-going terrible disaster. Therefore, I now look with jaundiced eye upon the May 3 suggestion of Texas Governor Rick Perry "that the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil disaster were 'acts of God'"
It will be no surprise if "Act of God" gets tossed around in court proceedings against BP and the other corporations involved in this on-going terrible disaster. Therefore, I now look with jaundiced eye upon the May 3 suggestion of Texas Governor Rick Perry "that the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil disaster were 'acts of God'"
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