Lobbyists, Bankers, Accountability, and Change We Believe In?

Markus — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 01:38:20 EST

The recent appointment of Mark Patterson, a recent Goldman Sachs lobbyist, as Mr. Geithner's Chief of Staff is leaving me scratching my head about whether Mr. Obama's White House thinks we're all chumps, incredibly trusting, willing to suspend our disbelief, or just don't care. And that on the heels of appointing Mr. Geithner, who is himself a former Bank Executive, as Treasury Secretary. I was under the impression that Obama had promised us to close the revolving door -- am I mistaken? It might be one thing to stomach this incongruence (not to say hypocrisy) under normal circumstances, but at a time when the banking industry has essentially played a central role in dragging us into the quicksand, this is too much. We have to break the banking industry's iron grip on our government, but this sure doesn't seem like the way to go about it. Barack, what gives?

Opposition to telecom immunity is crucial

Markus — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:28:55 EDT

I've been a Barack Obama supporter since the start of the presidential primary, and although I am still somewhat hopeful about what an Obama presidency might mean for this country, I am dismayed by Barack's apparent dithering on the pending FISA amendment. I believe that ANY concession to the illegal and utterly ill-advised course of the Bush administration will take us in the wrong direction, and giving immunity to companies or individuals who may have aided this course in a criminal manner is simply unthinkable. It would set a very dangerous precedent (when too many have been set already). One of the very things we need to do in order to put our country back on the right course is to hold people accountable for breaking the law and violating the constitution - without this, we're not left with much.

Mr. Obama, please keep our hope alive and show real leadership by opposing ANY form of FISA amendment that grants immunity for breaking the law or that permits any type of warrantless survellance.

Markus Kolb's Blog

Lobbyists, Bankers, Accountability, and Change We Believe In?

Opposition to telecom immunity is crucial