Capitalism Is Actually Socialism For The Rich

"President Obama devoted part of his speech to Congress tonight to combating recent criticism after the rollout of changes to the financial bailout.

He began by restating the justification for the plan itself, saying "there will be no real recovery unless we clean up the credit crisis that has severely weakened our financial system."

"I want to speak plainly and candidly about this issue tonight, because every American should know that it directly affects you and your family's well-being," Mr. Obama said. "You should also know that the money you've deposited in banks across the country is safe; your insurance is secure; and you can rely on the continued operation of our financial system. That is not the source of concern."

But Mr. Obama also addressed critics of the plan to repeat his calls for accountability in the program.

"I intend to hold these banks fully accountable for the assistance they receive, and this time, they will have to clearly demonstrate how taxpayer dollars result in more lending for the American taxpayer. This time, CEOs won't be able to use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet. Those days are over," he said.

"So I know how unpopular it is to be seen as helping banks right now, especially when everyone is suffering in part from their bad decisions. I promise you – I get it.""*

[Guernicaman]

The worst part about that clip w/Pelosi is how she doesn't realize why she & the rest of the Democrats are losing & will continue to do so.

[snowbaordguru]

Even more to Jimmy's point, I literally laugh out loud whenever I think about the fact that we have to borrow money from a communist country (China) just to pay our Government bills and to keep it running. It's very embarrassing, and a direct result from cutting taxes post WW2. My parents vote Republican. Both are college educated and both are for the 'trickle down' theory. At Thanksgiving when we were talking politics I asked if they remembered their economics classes from college. They told me that they had never taken Econ in College, that it wasn't part of the gen eds. I felt like I finally understood their generation a little more.

[DungeonMasterElite]

Capitalism is for the greedy. Nobody is talking communism. We want a system that works for society as a whole. "Socialism"

[nonenope]

capitalism is superior to socialism in most cases
but currently we have crony capitalism (which is basically welfare for large corporations)

[Polarbear-zyvf]

That is because capitalism is not working for the young anymore. There is no getting ahead just by working hard like before anymore. Wages are so low that it makes it almost impossible to make it out on your own.

[bob_._.]

"The Economy" applies to corporations and the rich. The poor get screwed no matter the GDP numbers.

[miguellabrada]

What obama meant was that banks can lend out 10x more than what they have in cash. Its called fractional reserve banking. And it inherently wasn't a bad strategy the problem was that the banks never lent out the money. They just kept it. And there was NO provisions in the bailout that made them give out loans with that money.

[Edgar-Friendly]

People expected Obama to be FDR because the situation made it obvious that FDR was the way to go. We never got FDR and this is why we got Trump.

[NickRedstar]

It’s called fractional banking. The banks loan out money they don’t have in the form of debt.

[danielnormand]

Going to the left does not mean it can't be capitalism. You can have capitalism and help people at the same time.

[OriginalPulpTrash]

You are not wrong about the bank bail-out that happened nearly 10 years ago now. But to focus on this old decision by a previous administration, on the eve of THE WORST TAX CHANGE in modern American history, is simply irresponsible journalism. Mitch McConnell has successfully screwed this country by stealing a supreme court judge, and now successfully passed a tax plan that will enrich corporate America while at the same time exacerbate the growing inequality that is now a cultural norm.

Yes, it is clear you hate neoliberals, which is understandable, but what about the current administration? What about the poorly disguised fascism presented as economic nationalism? That seems more dangerous to me. If liberals and progressives don’t get on the same page we will have 4 more years of Trump/Pence. This moment in history will probably be remember as the era of Corporate Feudalism, ushered in by the left squabbling over which end of an egg you’re supposed to crack first when making an omelet, while the right killed the chicken.

[keriezy]

It is so frustrating watching this country fall apart. Greed is the root of all evil. I will join the fight.

[gustav]

Many people in the comments that haven't understood how real world capitalism works. No advanced economy has implemented free market economy. It seems to be a sensitive issue for some, but the US corporate sector has always relied heavily on government support, through loans, straight handouts, bailouts, research funding (huge one), tariffs against foreign competitors etc. Thd name of the game is socializing risks and costs, and privatizing the profits.

[IVIrHitMarKerZ]

A quick google search will explain what that multiplier is "The money multiplier is the amount of money that banks generate with each dollar of reserves. Reserves is the amount of deposits that the Federal Reserve requires banks to hold and not lend. Banking reserves is the ratio of reserves to the total amount of deposits". So basically money in the banks can generate growth, but giving all the money straight to the people wont generate anything. The more money the banks can generate, the higher the interest rates on your bank deposit account. Therefore the people will earn some money from the banks holding the money.

[cabc]

I am no friend of bank bailouts and capitalism. But truth being said, Obama is correct, just search "Money creation" in Wikipedia and the section on re-lending and learn. This is a technical thing in the capitalist system.

[JMosUndefeated]

Why are you talking about Obama 8 years ago? How does that help us now? That is history lets talk about changing the system, current strategies.

[Unzinkable]

Not only did the banks get to foreclose and then sell the homes, they also got a payout from insurance they made those foreclosed homeowners purchase on the loans. That's double bang for your buck.

[marxman]

When the government does something, thats not automatically socialism. Have you guys ever heard of "state capitalism"? Well thats what this is, when the government bails out Wall Street instead of poor people, thats state capitalism, not socialism. Capitalism is the problem, not socialism.

Its not like "government = socialism / no government = capitalism", thats not how it works...Socialism is workers owning the means of production, thats it really. If the state owns the means of production, but the state belongs to corporations, well then corporations still own the means of production regardless of what the state is doing. If the state owns the means of production but is a state that is entirely ran by the workers democratically, well then that can indeed be called socialism.

[HotIcebergs]

Maybe its because banks can loan money that doesn't exist yet.

[emperoralvis]

Sorry, did you mean *corporatism* is socialism for the rich?

Besides, Obama bailed out the auto industry in 2009 so he's not opposed to socialism for rich people.