Experience should teach us wisdom. Most of the difficulties our
Government now encounters and most of the dangers which impend over our
Union have sprung from an abandonment of the legitimate objects of
Government by our national legislation, and the adoption of such
principles as are embodied in this act. Many of our rich men have not been
content with equal protection and equal benefits, but have besought us to
make them richer by act of Congress. By attempting to gratify their
desires we have in the results of our legislation arrayed section against
section, interest against interest, and man against man, in a fearful
commotion which threatens to shake the foundations of our Union. It is
time to pause in our career to review our principles, and if possible
revive that devoted patriotism and spirit of compromise which
distinguished the sages of the Revolution and the fathers of our Union. If
we can not at once, in justice to interests vested under improvident
legislation, make our Government what it ought to be, we can at least take
a stand against all new grants of monopolies and exclusive privileges,
against any prostitution of our Government to the advancement of the few
at the expense of the many, and in favor of compromise and gradual reform
in our code of laws and system of political economy." Andrew Jackson
"Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days." - James 5:1-3

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Davos bankers to lobby against Obama reforms

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jan/25/davos-bankers-lobby-obama/print

World Economic Forum starts on Wednesday just days after US president announced wide-ranging clampdown on the banking industry
Katie Allen
guardian.co.uk,
25 January 2010

Davos, a Swiss ski resort, is heavily fortified during the annual World Economic Forum. Photograph: Christian Hartmann/Reuters

Banking chiefs will head to Davos this week where they are expected to use the Swiss ski resort's annual economics jamboree to quietly lobby against Barack Obama's proposed clampdown on risk-taking and mergers.

The top management of several of the world's biggest investment banks will attend the World Economic Forum's meeting, which kicks off on Wednesday and coincides with the banking sector's bonus season. It comes just days after the US president unveiled plans for the most stringent rules on financial institutions for decades as he seeks to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis that prompted costly government bailouts of banks.

In the UK, City minister Lord Myners has called for an independent review of the investment banking industry and the "greed is good" culture that he says has permeated many areas of society.

Bank chiefs braving the public spotlight at the glitzy Davos resort – who will include Citigroup's Vikram Pandit and Bank of America's Brian Moynihan – will put their own case to regulators while also networking with clients and colleagues.

Their focus will largely be on Obama's proposals for stopping banks from taking risky bets with their own capital to make money on the financial markets – a practice known as "proprietary trading".

According to a report in this morning's Financial Times, some senior bankers will argue that banks' proprietary activity was not a key source of the credit crisis – and so should not be stamped out.

Fresh from winning the battle for Cadbury, Kraft chairman Irene Rosenfeld will also be in Davos rubbing shoulders with regulators and ministers, including business secretary Lord Mandelson.

Mandelson last week washed his hands of responsibility for Cadbury's £11.9bn takeover by the American conglomerate, insisting it was a decision for shareholders.
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