Conceding U.S. Lapses, Obama Resists New Bank Rules

[IDemo]

Source: New York Times

By DAVID SANGER and MARK LANDLER
Published: April 2, 2009

LONDON — Leaders of 20 nations including the United States met behind closed doors Thursday to address the world’s financial woes, seeking to resolve an array of differences after appeals from America and Britain for unity in face of the worst economic crisis since the Second World War.

The leaders gathered a day after President Obama conceded that the United States had “some accounting to do” for the crisis, but sought to brush past French and German demands for global financial regulations that could reach well inside American borders.

As the politicians from the Group of 20 countries met, Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain, the host of the summit, said that the text of a joint statement being circulated among officials reflected “the very high level of consensus that exists.” He did not give details. News reports suggested that a compromise deal might involve both stricter regulation and a boost in funding for the International Monetary Fund.

Mr. Obama acknowledged Wednesday that regulatory failures in the United States had a role in the meltdown, but he urged world leaders to focus on solutions rather than on placing blame. He also cautioned that the United States was unlikely to return to its role as a “voracious consumer market,” and he urged other nations to do more to revive growth in their home markets.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/03/world/europe/03summit.html?_r=1&hp

[ixion]

1. Obama can't seem to do enough for the bankers

seriously.

"Some accounting to do?" That's it? The largest banking crises in 70 years, and there's "some accounting" to be done.

Oh, please. :eyes:

[natrat]

2. as if there is any question at all as to who controls this country, sickening

[Wednesdays]

22. Controls the country? More like the whole fucking planet. nt

[ShortnFiery]

3. And who just SUNK the GM mega-corporation but walked away with 23 MILLION DOLLARS?!?

I don't know about Obama himself, but this new administration needs to BEGIN the investigations, prosecutions and the "take no prisoner's" clawing back of unearned GOVERNMENT WELFARE CHECKS to bailed-out CEOs and UNEARNED Bonuses to corrupt executives. It's THEFT! :grr:

[saigon68]

5. Just another day in Paradise

[westerebus]

9. Heard just after the trip flares went off, "there it is". Quang Tri 69 n/t

[formercia]

38. One of my faves.

Everything is beautiful until you look closely at the tree line.

[westerebus]

70. Are the trees getting closer? n/t

[guruoo]

47. What are the proposed rules that Obama seems to be balking on?

In other words, do you really know what you're talking about?

[saigon68]

4. This is Fresh

Let the Criminals run wild--- I wonder if he'll pardon Bernie Made-Off too.

[ShortnFiery]

6. I don't think so, but Madoff has a VIABLE appeal to get out of jail in the near future for a ...

few months before his extended incarceration. It's flying "under the M$M radar" because ole Bernie is supposedly cooperating with prosecutors. I wonder if the power elites are so arrogant that they'll also feign Madoff's death like I suspect they did with OUR BUDDY of Enron destruction, Kenneth Lay. Their greed and arrogance knows no bounds. :(

[leveymg]

8. Madoff is not cooperating or revealing his confederates. Instead, he plead guilty to 11 counts.

He has no viable basis for an appeal. He's not going anywhere - the only question is, will his wife and sons be joining him.

[louis-t]

57. Doesn't Bernie have a PR guy now?

Saw a photo of him this morning where he looked just like George Washington. Almost fell off my chair.

[Wednesdays]

24. Madoff is the sacrificial lamb

To make the public think something significant was done about the mess.

Not that Madoff didn't deserve punishment, but it's all kabuki theater so that all the other criminals get to walk free. :puke:

[madrchsod]

7. every day it just keeps getting worse...

it`s becoming clear that he does`t think his policies are going to save the middle/working class in america.

[acmavm]

13. Sorry, what's becoming clear is this administration's contempt

and disdain for the great unwashed.

[rhett o rick]

29. Yes disdain. That and $3.50 will get you a cup of Starbucks. nm

[acmavm]

39. Yeah, and people like you will keep us bailing out the Predator

class at the expense of our children and grandchildren.

[rhett o rick]

40. Wow, what brought that on. I do not at all favor the bailouts. I want way more than disdain tho.

I am willing to let Pres Obama have some time but I am getting nervous when I see very few steps in the right direction. He needs to fire the crooks that got us into this mess and break up the banks yesterday. And the big insurance and investment companies. I am sorry if it sounded like I was attacking you.

[acmavm]

41. Damn, then I'm sorry for what I posted. I thought you were giving me

the business.

I am sorry.

[rhett o rick]

43. np. I completely understand the frustration. I am sick of promises and investigations

I can't help it, I want results. Every day the banks, insurance and investment companies are not broken up, makes them more powerful.

[rhett o rick]

28. I agree sadly. nm

[TechBear_Seattle]

35. So let's save the very rich by helping them get even richer

Typical politician.

[Zhade]

63. How would he know? He'd have to follow through on his promises to us to know that.

NT!

[GeorgeGist]

10. Don't look back ...

for fear of confronting the problem, is a coward's solution.

[Kolesar]

11. Obama did not say he would oppose new federal bank rules

The contention is whether there would be international rules.

...
The leaders gathered a day after President Obama conceded that the United States had “some accounting to do” for the crisis, but sought to brush past French and German demands for global financial regulations that could reach well inside American borders.

[SkyDaddy7]

12. Exactly...

Obama will do what is right without destroying our economy...After all I voted for him because I trust he will do what is right.

[L0oniX]

18. ...

Are you of the body?

[pampango]

15. It'd be interesting to see which side DU'ers would come down on: support or oppose a new

international set of rules regarding global financial regulation which would require the US to comply with rules from outside the US (kind of like the WTO in the area of international trade) or oppose such a new system based on the belief that the US should have the right to regulate its own industries (including financial) without regard to what other countries want.

I like the idea of an international body that established and enforced global financial regulation, but the devil would be in the details.

[Kolesar]

17. I recall that European Union imposed rules on Microsoft (much to their surprise)

...because in the EU's analysis, Microsoft was acting as a monopoly. Perhaps European regulations would be sufficient to control the US corporations (despite their crony influence in Washington).

[L0oniX]

19. How disgraceful would that be ..."we the people" can't control our government because of the MIC ...

and Wall Street so the Europeans have to step in and make them behave.

[EFerrari]

26. I hope they do it. This must be the way residents in the Soviet Union

felt when their government was running amok.

[Kolesar]

42. European governments have forced "product safety" standards onto the rest of the world

I am referring to requirements to reduce carcinogens and other nasties in flame-retardants and other compounds.

[blue97keet]

34. Hell no to WTO

Make our food safety regulation a matter for an international tribunal and end up with the least common denominator or nothing at all (because the multinational corps like it that way). The same way for financial?

[Zhade]

64. I, for one, relish the idea of the U.S. actually following international law.

For example, with regards to war crimes. As it is, Spain has to do it because our leaders won't do their fucking jobs and hold criminals accountable. It makes me CONTINUE to be ashamed to be an American.

[Wednesdays]

27. Still, he's defending the status quo

And obviously what got us to this point ain't working.

[blue97keet]

31. We obviously need better regulation but not a WTO of finance

yikes!

[ieoeja]

36. Glad to see at least one other poster actually read what Obama said. n/t

[spotbird]

37. You're right, the article only addresses international rules

It does not mention Obama's view on stricter regulation in the US.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. Some accounting? Some?

Oh lord. A tad of accounting. Perhaps a stern warning to the guilty. Very harshly worded.

[Marie26]

21. Maybe a lecture

complete with finger-wagging? I always hated that! That'll show 'em.

[Wednesdays]

25. Or worse, a strongly-worded letter

I'll bet that'll make them shake in their shoes!

[westerebus]

71. A strongly worded letter

placed into their PERMANENT RECORD! that ought to do it!

[global1]

16. I Don't Know If He Realizes That Most Americans Have Lost All Confidence......

in the financial community - including banks and the stock market. Before most get back to investments - we are going to need assurances that such a crisis will never happen again and that regulations have been put into place and somebody will be watching out for us.

Without change to the financial industry - Americans will be reluctant to wade back into the water and as such any recovery will be long in coming - if ever.

[Marie26]

20. Accounting to whom?

Not Obama, that's for sure. Not to Treasury, who keeps handing over money to the banks. And apparantly not to the world at large. So who are the banks accountable to?

[willing dwarf]

23. Mr. Obama

Who owns ya baby?

At least with this we are all now able to see how little freedom even the person with the best of intentions and the brightest mind has to change this system. I'm going to try to hate the message but still love the messenger, because I have the sense that if it could be otherwise, he would demand real change.

[rhett o rick]

30. It appears our president is powerless in the face of the banks. nm

[Cass]

32. Since the failure of these firms have a global impact why shouldn't there be global regulations on

international financial firms? Nations are being asked to commit trillions of dollars to bailout these crooks - why should any of them be expected to do so without strict regulations in place?

Sarkozy and Merkel seem to have the right approach to this IMO - quit throwing money we don't have at these crooks and impose strict regulations on them. It is disappointing (to say the least) that the US is resisting this.

[OhioChick]

33. So much for "Mainstreet." n/t

[antimatter98]

44. Face it, Obama is owned by the banks and corporations.

We're seeing the most blatant evidence yet that this White House
is for the doing away with America's working class, and becoming
an elite GLOBAL banking center---like a large Dubai, where we Americans
on Main Street take servile minimum wage jobs in support of this new
"America, Inc."

We're also seeing the most blatant evidence yet that our government
has merged with corporate and banking power. Corporations and banks
now run the country. Our votes and Congress are only ceremonial. Congress
does not listen to us. They listen to banking and corporate interests.

Obama is the 'man in the suit' occupying a ceremonial office of president,
but you can easily tell his allegiance is to the banking/corp. sector.

Question is: how do we take the country back? Afterall, anyone today whoi
believes in the Constitution is branded by DHS and law enforcement as a
terrorist. And we see that 'the left' is being vilified also in the MSM.

The more we complain , the more we citizens are vilified and labeled.

So what is the answer?

[astroBspacedog]

53. TEA BAG DEMONSTRATIONS !!!

Sorry, I'm in a real cynical mood today. I'd better get out of here and take my dog for a hike.

[Marie26]

66. Populism

Social democracy. The exact opposites of neoliberalism. I don't think this is so much about Democratic vs. Republican anymore.

[grahamhgreen]

45. Repeal the Finacial Services Modernization Act & Graham-Leach-Bliley, please Mr Prez

[Odin2005]

46. Do people know how to read? Obama was saying he was against INTERNATIONAL regulation...

...not regulation in and of itself, which makes sense given that an international regulatory system that transcends national sovereignty would not be politically kosher to most Americans, the wing-nuts would make political hay out of it and say Obama is "letting other countries control America" or some such nonsense.

[Javaman]

48. Wow, the greedy rich have won again, who could have predicted this? nt

[Median Democrat]

49. Not Sure I Agree To Giving Some Int't Regulator Power Over U.S.

The OP is misleading because Obama is not against regulation. Rather, he is against agreeing to make the U.S. part of another world regulatory organization like WTO regarding bank regulation. Then again, some pro-free trade types would probably support having the U.S. part of such an international regulatory program.

[ben_jenne]

50. Dont stop, thinking about tomorrow,

Dont stop, thinking about tomorrow,
Dont stop, itll soon be here,
Itll be, better than before,
Yesterdays gone, yesterdays gone.

[redqueen]

51. Welcome to DU.

Enjoy your stay.

[ben_jenne]

67. Oh, thank you very much!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

72. Despite some pretty trollish comments it's still here. nt

[redqueen]

52. Was that the headline? It's "G-20 Pact Tries to Bridge Gaps on Stimulus and Bank Rules" now.

Hm.

I only skimmed it, but I saw nothing in that article about Obama resisting international banking regulations.

Just this:

While the United States was determined to resist European efforts to create regulatory authorities with crossborder authority, officials said the two sides worked out policies on transparency and early risk warnings for banks that would placate France and Germany.

“There’s not going to be a ceding of sovereignty to a global regulator,” said a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations were confidential.

[cosmicdot]

55. yes, it apparently was the headline

I did an Internet search of 'Conceding U.S. Lapses, Obama Resists New Bank Rules'; and, in a 20 results to a page, I got 20 'hits'.

[Reform]

54. Well it looks like Bush Sr got

His new world order after all, Brown has announced.
Im disgusted at this whole thing, nothing but a corporate take over of nation's sovereignty.
This economic collapse was created for consolidation i feel.
So that little thing that was called a revolution America had i guess was all just to give up national sovereignty in the end?
Look i am absolutely not putting all this on Mr.Obama at all but he does share in its responsibility.
I honestly didn't think he would go for all of this, i was honestly hoping for his rhetoric of bottom up economic changes but giving all this money to corporate money changers really up sets me, especially foreign money changers.
At the risk of feeling the wrath here im simply going to stop talking, you shouldn't post messages out of emotion i realize but i just had to get some stuff off my chest.

[Vidar]

56. If Obama doesn't start listening, he'll become known as the new Hoover.

[Northwind]

58. Knee jerks

How many people in this thread knocked themselves out when their jerking knee smacked in the chin?

Fact: If Obama, or ANY President, agreed to an international regulatory body overseeing the US financial sector (at least one not entirely controlled by US interests), he would be voted out at the next election, guaranteed.

[SpartanDem]

60. This is what happens

far too often on DU people just read headline and react with out bother understand the full context of the story. Althought some blame goes to the NYT for such a poor headline. Like other have said this unless you want Obama to lose in 2012 agreeing to international oversight of the U.S markets is a bad idea. The administration just last week proposed it new rules for the US market.

[Zhade]

65. This IS what happens -- when promises are broken, extortionists rewarded and war criminals walk.

NT!

[Kaleko]

69. Knee-jerking is THE most favored discipline

in the DU special Olympics. It's fun to watch once you get over your exasperation with the most jerky participants.

Just lean back and enjoy the knee-jerking competitions on any thread with an ambiguous headline. Like this one.
It's better than Letterman - and with no commercial interruptions, woot!

[bvar22]

59. There is an absolute NEED for Global Banking Regulation.

Two HUGE benefits:

1) Strict acccounting would close offshore tax havens.

2) This would be the VERY BEST way to combat global terrorism.
These organizations (AlQaeda) are funded through International Banking.
Cut off the funding = Kill the Beast.

[sarcasmo]

61. I am calling for a new party. The Workers Party, or just Workers Party.

Government is voted in by the people but clearly works for Bankers, Corporations and Wall Street.

[Zhade]

62. " he urged world leaders to focus on solutions rather than on placing blame" Just like war crimes.

He's not doing what I voted him in to do.

Do your fucking job, Obama.

[ProudDad]

68. Pres. O f*cked up

His appointments in "commerce" and "treasury" are OBSCENE!!!!

I didn't expect him to start out as FDR but this it way too much.

Propping up a dead economic system...pretty weenie Barack...