The Mugging of the Common Good

[marmar]

The Mugging of the Common Good
By Robert Borosage

September 15, 2009 - 12:03pm ET


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Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
....The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand

-- William Butler Yeats


President Obama traveled to Wall Street on the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers that triggered the worst financial debacle since the Great Depression. His purpose was to challenge Wall Street's barons, telling them:

"We will not go back to the days of reckless behavior and unchecked excess..where too many were motivated only bvy the appetite for quick kills and bloated bonuses"

Those days are over, the president said. It's time for comprehensive legislation. Taxpayers won't cover your bets or your bonuses. And we know once more the threat that financial holdings can pose to the nation.

The president invoked country and the common good. "Instead of learning the lessons...of the crisis, are choosing to ignore them. They do so not just at their own peril, but our nation's." Obama called on Wall Street to act on its own, to overhaul pay systems, to level with consumers, to join with him in defining reform, but his tone was almost wistful. As he knows all too well, for much of Wall Street, patriotism is for suckers. And in Washington, private interests are rolling over the common good.

In the wake of the worst economic downturn since the 1930s, the president has called for fundamental reforms vital to the country's future. Put aside whether he's been too bold or too timid, whether he has pushed hard enough or too hard; there isn't any question he is calling the nation to its senses. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2009093815/mugging-common-good