A few days ago the bluest of all states - MA, elected a republican senator from the same district where Ted Kennedy, the torchbearer of democrats, served for more than 4 decades. Presumably and ironically, the cause of his life, healthcare, was the reason of the democrat's loss. I personally think it had to do with complacency of the democratic candidate as well as general economic situation which is causing an anti-incumbency wave. Anyway, seems like people are interpreting this as a mandate against the current direction towards healthcare overhaul.
Two even more important pieces of news arrived today. Obama finally took a step towards restricting moral hazard in big banks in US. The current financial crisis caused irresponsible and failing bets by the bankers to be awarded with more public money. To avoid such a scenario again, big banks that have tentacles in all parts of the economy and that survive on deposits will not be allowed to make risky investments. I dont know how they will determine whats risky and how will they ensure that banks are not doing what they are not supposed to do. After all, some of the smartest brains are in the banking industry. In any case, Obama's words are just a rhetoric at this stage and the steps from bill to law wont be a cakewalk. Which brings me to the other piece of news - Supreme court ruled today that McCain-Feingold bill is unconstitutional and it violates the first amendment i.e. big corporates and unions cant be stopped from contributing any amount of money towards their causes for elections. Banks, Insurance and Real Estate lobby spent $2.5 trillion between 1998-2006, which is the largest among all lobbies. Healthcare lobby spent around $2.2 trillion in the same time and is the 2nd largest lobby. The lobbies for auto, energy (which includes oil), defense etc. which are routinely chastised in the media for being influential spend much lesser than these two. With no restriction on contributions, will banks allow restrictions on themselves? Will the politicians hazard their careers and act on the morals?
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