The Point: The End of The American Dream?!

[WhoIsNumberNone]

We start our segment on an Onion clip joking about the end of the "American Dream." But, is there any amount of truth to the satire? What is "the American Dream," and has its meaning changed over time? How so? What does it mean to people of different gender, race, or socioeconomic background, and is it all a myth we buy into? Or something that can be achieved?

This and much more will be discussed this week on The Point!

Host: Ana Kasparian

Panel:
Kelly Carlin- Writer/ Host
Ryan Singer - Comic
Fred Karger - Political Consultant

[midnight]

1. When Glass–Steagall Act was repealed greed went of the hinges...

"Sooner or later, perhaps starting with the next serious economic downturn," he wrote, "the US will have to confront one of the great challenges of our times: how does a sovereign nation govern itself effectively when politics are national and business is global?"

Consumer protection advocate Ralph Nader, meanwhile, was far more succinct in his skepticism. "We will look back at this and wonder how the country was so asleep," he said at the time. "It's just a nightmare."

When the Senate voted to pass Gramm-Leach-Bliley by a vote of 90-8, it reversed what was, for more than six decades, a framework that had governed the functions and reach of the nation's largest banks. No longer limited by laws and regulations commercial and investment banks could now merge. Many had already begun the process, including, among others, J.P. Morgan and Citicorp. The new law allowed it to be permanent. The updated ground rules were low on oversight and heavy on risky ventures. Historically in the business of mortgages and credit cards, banks now would sell insurance and stock.

Nevertheless, the bill did not lack champions, many of whom declared that the original legislation -- forged during the Great Depression -- was both antiquated and cumbersome for the banking industry. Congress had tried 11 times to repeal Glass-Steagall. The twelfth was the charm."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/11/glass-steagall-act-the-se_n_201557.html