Finally, A Bill To RESTORE UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS To Millions

President Obama is still going ahead with lots of reforms. I have to say that I admire his guts. Obviously, there are many things that American citizens are still skeptical about, but he just bulldozes ahead if he thinks it's going to help. This unemployment benefit is one of those really important items. That should help out many thousands of people who are still out of work. This article from the Liberal Examiner examines his efforts

June

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Jobless benefit finally clears the Senate, no thanks to Republicans
July 20, 6:12 PMJacksonville Liberal ExaminerWendie Razon

Finally, a bill to restore unemployment benefits to millions who have been out of work for more than six months has cleared the Senate.

The 60-40 vote came moments after Carte Goodwin, a successor to late West Virginia Democrat Robert Byrd, was sworn in. Goodwin was the critical 60th vote needed to defeat a Republican filibuster that has led to 2.5 million people losing their unemployment.

"It shouldn't take a supermajority to help families afford the bare necessities while unemployment is rising," said Majority Leader Harry Reid after the vote. "It shouldn't take the slimmest of margins to do what is right."

Historically, Congress has never allowed federally-funded extended benefits to lapse when the national unemployment rate has been above 7.2 percent. The current rate is 9.5 percent, and that number is not likely to come down anytime soon.

Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins were the sole Republicans to join Democrats on the 60-40 roll call.

Obama blasted Republicans for halting unemployment checks for people unable to find work. "The same people who didn't have any problem spending hundreds of billions of dollars on tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans are now saying we shouldn't offer relief to middle class Americans," Obama said.

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Do you think the republicans really wanted to keep these benefits from the unemployed? I don't, but darn it, politics shouldn't be played at the expense of people who are out of work. What do you think?

June

Will The Wall Street Reform Law Be Bad For Businesses?

Doyle Mitchell, CEO of D.C.-based Industrial Bank, argues that the financial reform law will discourage lending. Do you really think that it will in the long run? After all, once the law is in effect and people know what to expect, it seems to me that everything will go back to business as usual. Especially if they start having more confidence in the financial system.

Here's an article I found with a similar viewpoint.

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Experts fear financial reform law will restrict credit to businesses
Washington Business Journal - by Bryant Ruiz Switzky

The landmark Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is meant to bring new stability to the financial system, but there’s not a lot of love for the legislation among local bankers, financial experts and business leaders, who say the law will reduce access to credit.

“The assumption lawmakers seem to have is that everybody in business is a crook, so we’re going to regulate you to death,” said Barbara Lang, CEO of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce. “It’s going to have a huge impact on businesses.”

Criticized by some as too weak, others as too far-reaching, the 2,300-page law, signed July 21 by President Barack Obama, is filled with new rules on everything from consumer mortgages to bank capital and liquidity to credit card swipe fees. The full impact of the law will take years to play out as federal agencies translate lawmakers’ language into actual regulations.

Whatever the outcome, it’s clear banks will have to spend a lot of money complying with the law — and they will no doubt pass those costs on to businesses and consumers. The net effect: It will probably be harder to get credit from a bank, and the cost of loans and other bank services will go up, experts say.

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Do you agree with this article? Please leave a comment if you do - or if you disagree.

June

Can Obama Really Reform Wall Street?

Barack Obama did indeed sign in a very comprehensive reform bill today - but will it really be enforced? Already the opposition are lining up to criticize the new law. I really hope that sometime soon we give this new president some credit. He really IS trying!

When I read this article this morning I once again thought, "Wow, he may not always be right, but he's not afraid to move forward on something he thinks is right"

What do you think? leave your comments below

June

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President Obama signs Wall Street reform bill

By Carrie Budoff Brown & Kendra Marr | 7/21/10 12:40 PM EDT

Almost two years after a near-collapse of the American economy, President Barack Obama signed into law a historic rewrite of the regulations governing the nation’s financial system, declaring the end to an era of antiquated rules that left Americans vulnerable.

Obama described the law as a triumph for consumers and a necessity for business, saying the financial system “only works – our markets are only free – when there are clear rules and basic safeguards that prevent abuse, that check excess, that ensure that it is more profitable to play by the rules than to game the system.”

“And that is what these reforms are designed to achieve: no more, no less,” Obama said during the ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Building “Because that is how we will ensure that our economy works for consumers, that it works for investors, that it works for financial institutions - that it works for all of us.”

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There are lots of opinions around about this new bill. Tell me what you think

June