Today on CBS Sunday Morning there were two remarkable stories that tie in nicely to the true spirit of Memorial Day. Yes, its about hot dogs, the shore, baseball, and Indy....but its deeper meaning is to remember those who have sacrificed much.
The first video is about Iraq War vet Brendan Marrocco, badly wounded and rehabbing at Walter Reade. Take a look at it, and you'll see a courageous young guy who regards himself The Luckiest Soldier Alive.
The second is about Wayne Van Doren and the tradition of his family....traversing the state of Ohio and planting more than 1200 flags on the graves of military veterans, from the American Revolution to Iraq and Afghanistan. Three generations of Van Dorens are involved. The segment is titled Lest We Forget.
For months now Main Street has been railing against Wall Street. The little guys who saw their life savings and stock portfolios tank in the Crash of '08 know how it happened.
The big questions were (1) Who was going to be held accountable? (2) Will the government step in and do something to force accountability? (3)And finally, why has it taken so darn long?
September 2008 -- Hit by the financial downturn, Goldman becomes a bank holding company so it can access federal funds more easily.
October 2008 -- Goldman receives a $10-billion taxpayer bailout from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program.
June 2009 -- Goldman pays back the TARP money plus 23% interest.
November -- Blankfein says in an interview that he is doing "God's work."
January -- Goldman announces a record quarterly profit of
$4.9 billion.
April -- The Securities and Exchange Commission sues Goldman and Tourre, alleging fraud in the marketing of the firm's ABACUS 2007-AC1 securities.
Now to explain it in terms even a five year old could understand- but apparently at least one United States Senator doesn't- here's Rachel Maddow with guest Eugene Robinson.
Are you still a little fuzzy as to why this is important?
OK....check out this video, from the CBS EVENING NEWS with Katie Couric.
We've seen action taken by the SEC in this matter, and as shown in the first video with Rachel Maddow, no matter how serious the situation is, and how injurious such activities such as those Goldman Sachs is accused of were to investors in the United States and worldwide, the Republican leadership in the Senate is against further regulation of Wall Street. As shown all 41 Senate Republicans have lined up against reform.
While the GOP'ers in the Senate were galvanizing against reform on the very day the SEC brought action against Goldman Sachs, the President of the United States sent the following email to millions of voters across the United States.
It has now been well over a year since the near collapse of our entire financial system that cost the nation more than 8 million jobs. To this day, hard-working families struggle to make ends meet.
We've made strides -- businesses are starting to hire, Americans are finding jobs, and neighbors who had given up looking are returning to the job market with new hope. But the flaws in our financial system that led to this crisis remain unresolved.
Wall Street titans still recklessly speculate with borrowed money. Big banks and credit card companies stack the deck to earn millions while far too many middle-class families, who have done everything right, can barely pay their bills or save for a better future.
We cannot delay action any longer. It is time to hold the big banks accountable to the people they serve, establish the strongest consumer protections in our nation's history -- and ensure that taxpayers will never again be forced to bail out big banks because they are "too big to fail."
That is what Wall Street reform will achieve, why I am so committed to making it happen, and why I'm asking for your help today.
Please stand with me to show your support for Wall Street reform.
We know that without enforceable, commonsense rules to check abuse and protect families, markets are not truly free. Wall Street reform will foster a strong and vibrant financial sector so that businesses can get loans; families can afford mortgages; entrepreneurs can find the capital to start a new company, sell a new product, or offer a new service.
Consumer financial protections are currently spread across seven different government agencies. Wall Street reform will create one single Consumer Financial Protection Agency -- tasked with preventing predatory practices and making sure you get the clear information, not fine print, needed to avoid ballooning mortgage payments or credit card rate hikes.
Reform will provide crucial new oversight, give shareholders a say on salaries and bonuses, and create new tools to break up failing financial firms so that taxpayers aren't forced into another unfair bailout. And reform will keep our economy secure by ensuring that no single firm can bring down the whole financial system.
With so much at stake, it is not surprising that allies of the big banks and Wall Street lenders have already launched a multi-million-dollar ad campaign to fight these changes. Arm-twisting lobbyists are already storming Capitol Hill, seeking to undermine the strong bipartisan foundation of reform with loopholes and exemptions for the most egregious abusers of consumers.
I won't accept anything short of the full protection that our citizens deserve and our economy needs. It's a fight worth having, and it is a fight we can win -- if we stand up and speak out together.
So I'm asking you to join me, starting today, by adding your name as a strong supporter of Wall Street reform:
There is a new ( but familiar) question that each Republican Senator has to ask themselves. Twenty years from now when history looks back on the cries from Main Street America for Wall Street Reform, where will you be remembered; siding with the fat cats , or doing right for the little guys who lost everything but their today and probably their future as well?
When I first heard the news of a "Draft Mellencamp" movement regarding the soon to be open United States Senate seat held by Democrat Evan Bayh, I thought it was a mere trial balloon being floated by some who find the idea appealing. But then I thought about it for awhile...can there be a candidate anywhere in America who cares more about the working poor, displaced, and dispossessed? A guy who would and could run on his own agenda and gain grass roots support from Independents in a nominally conservative state in the American Heartland? A maverick who is more "mavericky" than certain self proclaimed mavericks?
And to those who are going to yell "just shut up and sing"....the usual right wing gasbags....its too late for that- the genie as long escaped the bottle. Performers and media types have been running and winning (or being appointed to) political office for decades now- think Shirley Temple, George Murphy, Clint Eastwood, Fred Thompson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and yes, Sarah Palin are among that list.
But how can I forget a man named Reagan? And those are just the Republicans who were once made a living on film and/or television screens.
So why not John Mellencamp for US Senate?
Heck, had he known about this twenty-five years ago he might have kept the aborted stage name of John Cougar...it was easier to remember, and would have made for better bumper stickers.
Vice President Joe Biden is interviewed by CBS EARLY SHOW host Harry Smith in this in depth 21:17 video clip. The Vice President talks about his stimulus plan, the state of the economy and job loss and creation, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, his relationship with President Obama, and the former Vice President, Dick Cheney.
One of the most revealing aspects of this interview is Biden's assessment of Washington, in his words, being "broken" and "dysfunctional", and that this is the worst he's seen it in his time in public service.
This is n interview worth watching in its unedited form, unfiltered.
The CBS News series "Where America Stands" takes a look at what has happened to manufacturing jobs in America, and what can be done about it. The Untied States used to be a nation of builders and people who work with their hands, and now those jobs are being exported overseas. Americans are in danger of becoming a people who import more manufactured goods than they make themselves.
A couple of hours ago Mike Francesa of WFAN (New York) interviewed the host of Face The Nation, Bob Schieffer.
This was truly one of the more fascinating radio interviews I've ever heard. Mr. Schieffer was in Miami for CBS's Super Bowl coverage, and will be interviewing NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Sunday along with play by play man Jim Nance.
When the talk came to Schieffer's career, it became spellbinding. Among the subjects he talked about were the nature of news media today, the toxic politics we live with now, his favorite public figures, his relationship with the late Walter Cronkite, and the first time he saw Lyndon Baines Johnson.
But the most interesting topic of all had to do with the events of November 22, 1963- the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Its the story of the young print reporter, Bob Schieffer and a phone call he got that day from a woman.
I won't spoil the story for you....
Click here for the recorded audio of the interview.
Be sure to mute the music playlist located in the left hand margin.
Amazing stuff...this guy really has become kind of a national treasure.
