July 21, 2010

We Sure Showed the Big Banks, Didn’t We?

By Michael Shaw

Richard Drew/AP

Equivocations like this from Alternet’s economics editor exemplifies why that sad excuse for  a banking reform bill will slink into law with hardly a yelp.

So Congress caved on almost everything, but yeah, right, it’s “a good first step” — like Congress is now going to come back around and do something about “too big to fail” or kill the derivative madness.  Hats off to Feingold, at least, for refusing to support the sham.

So here we are, a week after Goldman-Sachs got off with an apology and a sizable fine they’re more than happy to pay — with a strict agreement, I imagine, that they’re not allowed to gloat. If there’s a small bit of solace to be found, it’s knowing there’s at least a wire photo out there that reflects the way it really is — which in this case is: business as usual.

(caption: A television screen at the post specialist Chris Malloy on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shows President Barack Obama signing into law an overhaul of banking and Wall Street regulations that he says will create the strongest financial protections for consumers in history, Wednesday, July 21, 2010.)