and many other factors including the pressure of public opinion.
There are many ways to reform the economy. The president has the authority to use many methods other than an antitrust lawsuit or a court order.
In 2008, troubled banks were forced into deals that they would not have agreed to, had they been in better financial state.
The auto industry was virtually reorganized around that time and not by an Act of Congress. Legislation that is needed can be passed after deals have been negotiated.
So, it all depends. Negotiation might work better than passing laws or filing lawsuits. And incentives can be provided.
The point of doing all this is, in my view, not so much to punish bad players, but to prevent an economic crisis of the kind that we saw in 2008 in the future.
Certainly, some of the reforms Bernie is proposing require congressional action. But not all of them. His proposals are, in my opinion, well thought out.
I think his goal, as I understand it from his speech, is to reform and improve the flexibility in the economy, broaden the constituencies that have economic power, provide incentives (and maybe even require) that more of the credit be given to small businesses on America's Main Street and less to foreign investment and the conglomerates.
One thing that Bernie mentioned in passing and that I think should be changed is the right of parties to impose confidentiality agreements on employees and others (opponents in litigation for example) that prohibit a person from reporting or discussing possible violations of law in public. This is tricky, and I don't know exactly how a law could be written that would protect legitimate trade secrets of proprietary information but permit whistleblowers or people who question the practices of say, their employer, when they speak out about what appears to be possible wrongdoing. Very tricky, but it is time that we end the practice of allowing employers and others to violate laws and silence those who know of the violations of law.
I think Bernie is on the right track. Remember. He was the mayor of a city, Burlingon, Vt. and did a lot of good things in that capacity. Of course, there are always situations that don't turn out as a leader would like, but Bernie was successful enough in an executive position to get re-elected several times and then to get elected to the House and eventually the Senate. He is not a novice at the business of politics. He knows how to work with people who don't agree with him. He is realistic about his boundaries.
I think actually, because of his basically reasonable personality and his sharp mind, he will be better, easier for Wall Street to work with than Hillary would be. He is just smarter. Street-smart. Not just book smart. I think that is true with regard to our military also. If I were in any position in the military or in the financial sector, I would want the president who could most easily understand my point of view and discuss issues rationally. I think that person is Bernie. I think he is a deep thinker who will, however, consider new ideas. He is also a man of moral principle. You can listen to his ideas, and you can trace his conclusions, his specific stances on issues, right back to a value system that he presents and articulates well. It is easy to discuss issues with someone and even to change the opinion through discussion of someone who refers to values in making decisions as opposed to someone who thinks always and foremost about how an idea can be sold or is being sold. I think Hillary decides what she thinks based on what will sell, what people want to her to say, what is politically expedient at the moment. I do not trust that at all. That is why we are in the quagmire in Iraq. Because a lot of people in the Bush administration and in Congress voted for the war based on political expediency and not based on information or reason.
I'm not a socialist although I lived in European countries for some years and understand the social programs Bernie wants to sponsor. But I am not particularly ideologically committed to socialism. To the contrary. I like the creativity of capitalism. I do not want too much government interference in business. On the other hand, the lack of diversity of products in our stores, at least for people in my income level, reminds me a bit of the monotony of the offerings in stores in Eastern Europe when I visited there during the Communist era. We have too few choices in our commerce and the quality of affordable goods nowadays is really bad. That's my opinion. How is that possible in a capitalist country?
Back to the topic at hand. I support Bernie because I think that, of the candidates, he is the most reasonable and intelligent.
For example, I like the idea that rating agencies should be non-profits. The income of the CEO or head of a rating agency should not depend on a relationship of pay for outcome by the rated institution, whether a bank or an insurance company or anything else. The rating agency needs to be independent enough to be able to render an objective valuation.
I like the idea of breaking up banks like Chase, Bof A, etc. I trust credit unions. Mine pays a better interest rate than any of the big banks in addition to being more responsive within my community.
I like the idea that we have banking for small accounts and paycheck cashing in post offices. Used to have that in some European countries. We have a lot of payday lending companies in my neighborhood (not a ritzy area), and poor people are losing their shirts to those places. We can do better.
The big banks actually make savers pay to keep their money in the big bank if the account is too small. I am offended by that. Banks get a lot of breaks from the government. They should be required to help small savers because it is the right thing to do for our society.
Bernie's comments about the cost of credit are also very wise in my opinion. People should be discouraged from borrowing and not repaying within a pretty short time.
The level of personal debt in our country is terrible. I agree with raising the minimum wage to a livable wage. We have done that here in Los Angeles. People who work hard should be able to live in decent housing and not have to sleep in their cars or buy food with food stamps.
It is shocking to see people have to buy food with food stamps in my local grocery. That is very demeaning to those who have to do it. I know that from personal experience years ago when we had great financial difficulty.
It's partly a matter of living in the real world and having compassion for others. Bernie does both. He lives in the real world, and he has tremendous compassion for others.
Fell the Bern! Because that is what this election is about for me.
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