The Rich.

See,.. if we cut taxes on the rich, they will take that money and invest it in ways that are good for the US and it will eventually trickle down to you poor bastards.

or,...  "Regulation, we don't need no stinking regulation"

US regulators on Thursday charged Samuel and Charles Wyly, two billionaire brothers whose interests range from software to restaurants, with reaping more than $550m in undisclosed gains by trading shares in companies on whose boards they sat.

The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that the Wylys created a “elaborate sham of trusts and subsidiary companies” in off-shore jurisdictions to sell $750m in stock in Michaels Stores, Sterling Software, Sterling Commerce and Scottish Annuity & Life Holdings. The brothers held board seats on all four companies.

A Little Regulation Never Hurt Anyone

Here's a good post that shows how government regulation in the form of consumer protection might not be the pure evil thing that Fox News Republican, Free-market Propaganda Network claims it to be.

Of Innovation and Confidence Tricks - Maxine Udall (girl economist)

A Joe Stiglitz quote highlighted in the post

In all these go-go years of cheap money, Wall Street did not come up with a good mortgage product. A good mortgage product would have low transaction costs and low interest rates and would have helped people manage the risk of home ownership, including protection in the event their house loses value or borrowers lose their job. Homeowners also want monthly payments that are predictable, that don't shoot up without warning, and that don't have hidden costs. The US financial markets didn't look to construct these better products, even though they are in use in other countries. Instead Wall Street firms, focused on maximizing their returns, came up with mortgages that had high transaction costs and variable interest rates with payments that could suddenly spike, but with no protection against the risk of a loss in home value or the risk of job loss.

Wall Street Reform Passes

Here's a pretty good overview of what's in the bill and a little about the process that created it.

Wall Street Reform Passes

This bill may help protect the economy from the greedy elites but i'm not holding my breath. Bankers have a way of working around regulation and after a few years they'll have their people in all the right "regulatory" positions and will be gaming the system again.

Also, I liked this line.

A team of Goldman Sachs analysts predicted in a Tuesday research note that the legislation will annually cost Bank of America about $4.4 billion, Citi about $3.7 billion, JPMorgan about $5.3 billion, Morgan Stanley about $900 million, and Wells Fargo about $2.2 billion....

I wonder how much it will cost Goldman Sachs?

Government Regulation

Wouldn't the world be a great place if the government would just leave all these nice companies alone. End all those silly regulations and just let the markets work.

Diabetes Drug Maker Hid Test Data on Risks, Files Indicate - NYTimes.com

Sure the markets work, companies/businesses will act in their best interests but those interests often conflict with the best interests od the people. Government provides the balance.

It's "We the people...." not "We the corporations..."