THE ISSUE: Pres. Obama’s Cooper Union speech calling for greater regulation of Wall Street.
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Let’s give credit where credit is due: President Obama’s Wall Street initiative is a necessary, positive reform, but the devil is in the details (“Don’t Kill the Golden Goose,” Editorial, April 22).
Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand must make certain that the derivatives market stays in New York and doesn’t wind up in the president’s home city of Chicago.
New York is the financial capital of the world. Any part of Obama’s reform that changes that status is unacceptable.
Patricia O’Hanlon
The Bronx
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If the executive branch seeks and gets new authority to unilaterally seize Wall Street firms, it should also be banned from receiving campaign contributions from any firm it oversees. Otherwise, this bill is an invitation to graft and just creates another protection racket.
R. Gleaves
Astoria
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The golden goose you want to protect laid a scrambled egg that spread economic ruin throughout the entire financial world.
It’s better to call it a sacred cow. The major banks and Wall Street just want to protect their unregulated deal-makings and shenanigans that provide them with untold billions at the expense of the public.
Nat Helfand
Monroe Township, NJ
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The real culprits who are to blame for our economic mess are the politicians. The big brokerage and banking institutions could not have done anything without the prior approval of Washington.
The answer to the problem on Wall Street is simple: Let the free market solve the problem. Separate the big investment banks from the lending institutions whose business is to service their depositors and make secured loans every day.
Let the FDIC insure the banks and let Wall Street bankers and their investors take any risk they want. Buyer, beware.
Stephen Koan
Teaneck, NJ
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The Post’s view, that what’s good for Wall Street is good for the rest of the nation, is short-sighted and erroneous.
Wall Street is not solely to blame for the 2008 crisis, but its recklessness vastly exacerbated the sub-prime mess.
It’s clear that the lack of adequate regulation and oversight prevalent during the Bush years led to the abandoning of the financial institutions’ sense of responsible investing in favor of “anything goes.”
The entire world was wounded by Wall Street’s misdeeds and wants no repeat.
Steven Chinn
Manhattan
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The Democrats talk about making Wall Street accountable, but when will they start making their cash cows, the unions, accountable? I’m not sure there’s a more corrupt collection of organizations in this country than the labor unions.
S. Lara
Manhattan
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You write that “regulation is driven by partisan hysteria.” Undoubtedly, partisan must be code for Democratic.
You must remember that the golden egg was good for a few, but, for many other Americans, only a big, rotten egg was hatched.
Gail Long
Manhattan
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Obama wants to control every aspect of American lives. When does this man start acting like a president and doing his job?
A year and a half into his presidency and he’s still on the campaign trail, pushing unpopular bills down everyone’s throats.
Obama is more concerned about Wall Street than Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. Somebody should wake him up.
Joe DePascale
Brooklyn
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“Don’t Kill the Golden Goose” is proof that The Post, your cohort mayor and the rest of the billionaire elite are trying to drive what’s left of the middle class out of New York City.
According to most of your other editorials, a civil servant making $60,000 a year with a minuscule pension is robbing the city blind and must be eradicated. But the billionaires, who are really ripping off the public and government with their insider trading, manipulation and fraud, should get a free ride.
James Panzo
Brooklyn
