Word: reform
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...Despite widely televised Congressional hearings in recent weeks on financial reform, 75% of those polled expect Wall Street to return to dangerous activities. Americans clearly want action: some 62% believe financial regulations need to be tougher, and 67% want the government to force pay cuts on top executives at Wall Street firms that received government bailout money. It's a bit of a turnaround for a country that has been leaning toward the less-regulation-is-better model of government. Yet most people are still wary of giving Washington too much say in running businesses. The majority...
...competence. The CEOs didn't understand the fine print. These firms collapsed out of ignorance fueled by avarice - a particularly toxic combination. Under the circumstances, Feinberg is doing the best he can. But what he's doing is more symbolic than real (although symbolism does matter). Meanwhile, genuine reform of the financial system is bogging down. Wall Street wins again...
Indeed, these banks ought to acknowledge that the government saved them. For starters, they ought to stop gouging the vulnerable among us with overdraft fees and credit-card games. "Reform" is supposed to take effect early next year, but banks have accelerated their gouging since the legislation passed...
...does this matter now? Because we are in the midst of a debate over how to fund a health-care-reform plan - and the idea of raising taxes, even just a little bit, to pay for it is causing heart failure among our legislators. They are looking for somewhere between $30 billion and $35 billion per year. If the bill isn't properly funded - if working-class families don't receive large enough tax credits to help pay for their newly mandated health insurance, if they're forced to pay thousands of dollars in new out-of-pocket expenses - Republicans...
...only way to create health-care reform that will survive and be popular is to write a bill that doesn't stint on funding and promises to control future costs. The best way to do that is to end the $250 billion in subsidies the Federal Government pays to employees who receive corporate health-care benefits - benefits that aren't taxed. The money would be better, and more fairly, spent giving people tax credits to pay for health care, according to their income. This would have the additional benefit of controlling insurance costs, since people are more likely to shop...