Banks ‘Too Big to Fail’ Have Grown Even Bigger

Behemoths Born of the Bailout Reduce Consumer Choice, Tempt Corporate Moral Hazard

"There's been a significant consolidation among the big banks, and it's kind of hollowing out the banking system," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Economy.com. "You'll be left with very large institutions and small ones that fill in the cracks. But it'll be difficult for the mid-tier institutions to thrive."

"The oligopoly has tightened," he added.

t r u t h o u t | Health Industry Donates Heavily to Blue Dog Democrats' Campaigns

"As the Obama administration and Democrats wrangled over health care overhaul efforts during the first half of the year, the Democratic Party's Blue Dog political-action committee was receiving more than half of its $1.1 million in campaign contributions from the pharmaceutical, health care and health insurance industries, according to watchdog organizations."
t r u t h o u t | Health Industry Donates Heavily to Blue Dog Democrats' Campaigns

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Alexander Cockburn: Teddy Kennedy the Hollow Champion

Cockburn in true form:
"To this day there are deluded souls who argue that Jack was going to pull US troops out of Vietnam and that is why he was killed; that Bobby, who worked for Roy Cohn and supervised a "Murder Inc" in the Caribbean, was really and truly on the side of the angels; that Ted was the mighty champion of the working people, even though he helped deliver them into the inferno of neoliberalism."
Alexander Cockburn: Teddy Kennedy the Hollow Champion

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t r u t h o u t | Iraqi Refugees Find US Life Not What They Expected

t r u t h o u t | Iraqi Refugees Find US Life Not What They Expected

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t r u t h o u t | Protesters Want UC Berkeley Law Professor Yoo Fired

t r u t h o u t | Protesters Want UC Berkeley Law Professor Yoo Fired

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t r u t h o u t | Obama: Encouraged on Mideast Peace

t r u t h o u t | Obama: Encouraged on Mideast Peace

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Maddow: Public Option Dying Because Of Dems' Political Collapse (VIDEO)

Maddow: Public Option Dying Because Of Dems' Political Collapse (VIDEO)

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Even if Obama actually wanted to extend the right to health care to all Americans (as opposed to simply lining the pockets of his campaign contributors), aren't there real limits to what any chief executive can do - no matter how charismatic or ambitious- in the face of an entrenched bureaucracy? What Maddow and others seem to miss (or are not allowed to say on television) is that the system is incapable of meaningful reform.

My view is that LBJ only got what he got because he knew how to work the system and was willing concede foreign policy in exchange for the domestic legislation he wanted.