What's missing from finance reform?

[WhiskeyGirl]

Here are a few things that come to mind -

COMMON SENSE 'TRANSFER FEE' LIMITS

IIRC, in other countries the transfer fee for credit/debit card transactions is limited by law.  In some places it's as low as .3% or less than one percent.

What does the big bank network in the US charge?  8-10%

Isn't there a point at which the big bank network is making too much on financial transactions?

Is the transfer fee paid everytime someone uses a food stamp card?  Rent and other expenses are paid electronically?  The more folks on welfare, the more money big banks make?

A few banks control the network and set the fees.

Why do Americans pay such high fees compared to other nations?

I would imagine big retailers like Walmart can negotiate a good discount.  Why aren't fair prices available to everyone?  The small business on Main Street?

I read a few months ago that some small business sign up with foreign banks to process their credit card transactions.  Why can't they use a local bank?  Why can't the local banks get the same fair deal as the foreign banks?

[WhiskeyGirl]

ROBUST, COMPREHENSIVE AUDIT OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE

When was the last time this beast got audited?  Never?

What's the worst thing that could happen if taxpayers knew where all their money was going?  Where it went for the last hundred or so years?

Does the Federal Reserve work for Wall Street?  Main Street?  What secrets are in the books? 

Why isn't Obama asking the Federal Reserve for transparency?

A nation of people in slavery to the whims of the central bank - time to audit and abolish the Federal Reserve System?

[WhiskeyGirl]

What secrets are lurking at the Fed?

"At a time when our entire financial system almost collapsed, we cannot let the Fed operate in secrecy any longer," Mr. Sanders said. "The American people have a right to know."

But Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, while insisting on a commitment to "openness" at the Fed, said in a letter to Congress the Sanders measure would "seriously threaten monetary policy independence, increase inflation fears and market interest rates, and damage economic stability and job creation."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704370704575228164133105390.html?mod=WSJ_business_EconomyNewsBucket

Why would open and honest communication "seriously threaten monetary policy independence, increase inflation fears and market interest rates, and damage economic stability and job creation."?

What's hiding in those books?

[WhiskeyGirl]

Federal Reserve officials view Greece’s financial woes as largely a European problem, but there are levers they can pull if the fallout spreads deeper into other markets.

During the financial crisis, the Fed created swap lines with foreign central banks to funnel hundreds of billions of dollars overseas to foreign banks in need of U.S. dollars when money markets froze.

If European banks become short of dollars as they were during the crisis, the Fed could reopen those swap lines, in which the Fed would ship dollars to the European Central Bank, Swiss National Bank or Bank of England, which in turn would lend out those dollars to local banks. This is a possibility because European banks need dollar funding to finance dollar-based assets. Fed officials believe they face little risk with the swap lines because its counterparty is foreign central banks. Still, they are controversial - lawmakers have demanded more disclosure from the Fed on the details of its overseas swap loans.

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/05/06/fed-option-for-europe-crisis-swap-lines/

Where is the oversight?  Why didn't Congress just say NO to this use of American money?

European nations can't print their own money, so the Fed does it for them?  Americans get stuck with this debt, and none of the benefits? 

No free villa in Spain for you and me?  No jobs for Americans?  Just Obamacare and a declining nation overrun with foreign economic terrorists?

[WhiskeyGirl]

ENDING TOO BIG TO FAIL

Can't break up big banks because they won't be competitive?  What about all those small banks on Main Street?  What can government do to help them?

How about eliminating the free/cheap money big banks seem to suck up?  How many big banks get secret deals at the Federal Reserve?

Why should taxpayer money be used for any of these entities?

Why aren't these mega banks using and losing their own money?  The money of management?

I would imagine that pegging bank size to GDP will encourage all kind of accounting tricks to ensure that the biggest banks continue to privatize profits and socialize losses.

my opinions

[WhiskeyGirl]

FINANCIAL FIREWALLS

All this connectedness doesn't seem to be working for Main Street.  If Greece catches a cold, America shouldn't get pneumonia.

If America sneezes, others should not get the chills.  How excited is China to join the big boy network?

You can't drive someone else car, you can only drive your own.

Why are the big banks trying to manipulate everyone?

Nothing for Main Street, riches (and bonuses) beyond your imagination for the big banks and job rotation.

my opinions