Money Facts Archive Get the real facts that will shape your future by having them delivered to your Inbox!

Yesterday (September 13, 2009), CNNMoney.com senior writer Jennifer Liberto wrote a special report entitled: "Fixing the financial rules: Slow going - A year after the big panic, Obama is still pushing for new oversight. Some fear an improving economy and health care focus may further slow momentum."

http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/13/news/economy/
Obama_regulatory_reform/?postversion=2009091320

After reading the above article which explains, in part, that economic recovery may be getting in the way of improved financial-oversight initiatives, please take a moment to read the RBT Commentary written in February, 2009 (reprinted below):

How Long Can You Wait?
By Robert B. Tobiasz

"There is no longer time to see if the government bailout problems will work. The problems facing President Obama and his Administration are many, complex and daunting.

Here are just a few examples:

- 3.6 million jobs lost since the start of the recession in December, 2007 with half of those losses coming in the last 3 months. The actual unemployment rate is now 18% as opposed to the reported 7.6%;

- massive foreclosures on real estate, especially single family homes, such that 19 million U.S. homes were empty by the end of 2008;

- a collapsing stock market which left pension plans at the largest companies under-funded by over $400 billion at the end of 2008;

- a financial system on the brink of collapse as evidenced by the bankruptcy or major solvency problems of large, well-known financial institutions such as Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Washington Mutual, Wachovia, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bank of America, Citigroup, AIG, and JPMorgan Chase;

- serious budget shortfalls in 46 of the 50 states which will necessitate personnel layoffs, cost cutting measures of various sorts, and possible bankruptcy;

- a continued military presence in Iraq for at least 16 more months and an increasing military presence in Afghanistan, both of which will require tremendous costs in human life and dollars.

The government programs required to address these and many, many other problems in such areas as energy, education, infrastructure, health care, social security, Medicare, other entitlement programs, etc. will require a huge dollar investment (that dollar investment is currently $9.7 trillion and counting) and it may be years (not months) before any significant positive results are seen..."

In any event, this talk about an improving economy and recovery is absolute nonsense; especially with the spin that the improving economy is somehow preventing meaningful financial oversight reforms from taking place.

Not only is time running out for millions of Americans, but the worst of the "big panic" is not even here yet - because there is ZERO momentum with respect to any meaningful financial oversight of Uncle Sam's spending habits.

- Ed Smith, Publisher
The EHS Letter Manual