The goodness of their hearts

You know, when Matt Taibbi said that Obama's financial and economic policy had been "hijacked by sniveling, low-rent shitheads", it was hard to believe. I mean they all wear such nice suits and have such large bank accounts. Surely it was hijacked by high-rent shitheads. But to the degree we're squabbling over the level of shitheadedness, we are in agreement: they're shitheads. So that's why it was nice to see Senior White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers make that case so eloquently this weekend.

Summers defended Obama's attempts to persuade banks to increase lending.

"The country did incredible things for the banking industry. Those things had to be done to save the economy, but no major bank would be intact, in a position to pay bonuses, if that extraordinary support had not been provided. The bankers need to recognize that. They need to recognize that they've got obligations to the country after all that's been done for them, and there is a lot more they can do, and President Obama is going to be talking with them about what they can do to support enhanced lending to customers across the country. We were there for them."

Dear sweet fucking baby Jesus, that's the way we're going to get credit flowing, taxpayer funded bonuses curbed, and better regulations and oversight? Obama's going to go jawbone with them and they'll do it out of a sense of duty and obligation because "we were there for them"? A sense of duty wasn't enough for them not to set everyone's money of fire and gamble with the world's financial stability, why would it compel them to act rationally now, especially when "they got theirs..." and we're clearly in the "...so fuck everyone else" phase. "We" are going to be there for them the next time they do this, by which I mean "you" and all your Wall Street buddies in government.

So that's the big plan for trying to make sure that this doesn't happen again: hoping that Wall Street wants to change things out of the goodness of it's heart. Actually, now that I've seen the lengths that our elected betters will go to kill meaningful regulatory reform of Wall Street and the difficulty of getting good legislation through the House and Senate, perhaps wishing that banks and financial giants have a change of heart is the most viable course of action. I guess it's the season for miracles.