THE OBNOXIOUS CROWD MARCHES ON, AS WE PAY - AT 11:04 A.M. ET:  Something else that will, justifiably, be used by those who want to bring down the market system.  Who needs foreign enemies when we have these clowns?  From The New York Times:

Even as the economy continues to struggle, much of Wall Street is minting money — and looking forward again to hefty bonuses.

Many Americans wonder how this can possibly be. How can some banks be prospering so soon after a financial collapse, even as legions of people worry about losing their jobs and their homes?

It may come as a surprise that one of the most powerful forces driving the resurgence on Wall Street is not the banks but Washington. Many of the steps that policy makers took last year to stabilize the financial system — reducing interest rates to near zero, bolstering big banks with taxpayer money, guaranteeing billions of dollars of financial institutions’ debts — helped set the stage for this new era of Wall Street wealth.

Churchill said that democracy was the worst system in the world, except for all the others.  Well, capitalism is the worst economic system in the world, except for all the others.  This scheming on Wall Street, by the very people who helped create the economic crisis, is one of the things that can easily lead to a destruction of economic freedom.

Titans like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase are making fortunes in hot areas like trading stocks and bonds, rather than in the ho-hum business of lending people money. They also are profiting by taking risks that weaker rivals are unable or unwilling to shoulder — a benefit of less competition after the failure of some investment firms last year.

So even as big banks fight efforts in Congress to subject their industry to greater regulation — and to impose some restrictions on executive pay — Wall Street has Washington to thank in part for its latest bonanza.

COMMENT:  Yup.  Washington has the solution to every problem, doesn't it?  Business is booming on Wall Street.  Just off Wall Street, where people struggle to keep retail stores open, business is awful.

The "Obama recovery" seems, thus far, to be limited to those who need it the least.  But those campaign contributions and thousand-dollar-a-plate dinners will keep flowing.

Not good for our American future.

October 17, 2009