Financial Reform just Passed!

Progress is being made.

Nice one Obama!

Funny detail though: The financial sector as a whole spend around $600 million on lobbyists to prevent this from happening... Really... wtp?

Sorry if this will derail the thread. PM/Visitor message me if it will cause drama. Why has Obama's approval ratings fallen so much? I'm a huge slowpoke when it comes to political matters.

On topic: Sounds good.

Mind linking more info?

Mind linking more info?

As far as I know, it literally just happened, so there isn't any full detail story on it yet.

Why has Obama's approval ratings fallen so much?

This is the only thing the $600 million dollars from the financial sector have achieved...

Example:
Imagine if southperry.net would have $600 million budget to promote itself as one of the BEST gaming sites of the internet.

Think about what that would mean for the "approval ratings" of this site worldwide... Too bad sp.net doesn't have $600 million though...

More info:
http://money.cnn.com/2010/07/15/news/eco.../index.htm

great, more involvement from the federal government. yay. lets hope people will not give them too much leeway, and keep them all under heavy scrutiny.

"On Thursday, the United States Senate approved the financial overhaul package in a 60-39 vote. The bill is now awaiting President Barack Obama's signature. This bill is the second major domestic policy victory for Obama, after his revamp of the health care system.
Obama is expected to sign the legislation into law next week, and the focus now switches to how the new regulations will be implemented in the coming weeks and months. The legislation will give financial regulators significant discretion in shaping the rules.
The legislation also puts faith in regulators to spot developing problems in the financial system, and gives them the authority to act to attempt to prevent another financial crisis. The bill calls for banks to hold more money in their reserves to prepare for bad economic situations, but the details of how this will be done are also up to regulators."

great, more involvement from the federal government. yay. lets hope people will not give them too much leeway, and keep them all under heavy scrutiny.

"Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone. "
-Keynes

The financial sector had its chance, they screwed up, this happens. Regulation is another one of those things that gets bungled in bureaucracy but is a good idea on paper. It'd be nice if government could live by the proverb that "an imperfect, but well-executed plan is better than a perfect plan, poorly executed." It's watered down and will no doubt have loopholes to be inevitably found and exploited. Still, it's a step in a direction other than backwards. I'll take it.

Edit (further thoughts on intervention): Corporations should never have been treated as individuals and given rights as such. Government stepping in to that sector doesn't scare me, it's that 1984 seems to be getting used as a fast-track guidebook on how to spy on citizens and siphon away privacy and freedom that scares me when it comes to intervention.

Why has Obama's approval ratings fallen so much?

Here's a damn fine graph of approval ratings since Truman: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/d...05-31.html
Obama's down to something like 45% approval right now, but that's not particularly bad or unusual. He's got the oil spill, 2 wars he didn't start but still hasn't (can't easily) finished, 10% unemployment, the whole financial debacle, sensationalist cable media, and a lack of an aggressive PR team working against him. He's accomplished an impressive amount, but he's had a miserable time having it properly marketed to the lowest common denominator.

I am not too optimistic about this bill. There are seems to be no strong regulations imposed on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two major entities responsible for fueling the housing crisis. Without their subprime lending activities reigned in, I fear this bill will fall short in preventing future housing crises and bailouts.