Bernie Sanders to the Rescue

Posted by ZP Heller, Brave New Foundation at 6:17 AM on February 26, 2009.

President Obama delivered a fantastic speech Tuesday night. It's tone alone will go a long way toward reassuring a nation mired in economic crisis.

And amazingly, there were many moments of bipartisan applause, like when Obama tackled corporate greed: "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."

This was music to my ears, but as Robert Scheer astutely pointed out at The Nation, the problem Obama had in discussing regulation to fix our financial woes is that many of his top economic advisors, including Lawrence Summers, were responsible for gutting the regulatory system that helped cause this mess in the first place.

Don't get me wrong, Obama's speech was strong, and hopefully it will symbolize a fundamental change in thinking from his economic team. But I'm just glad we have someone like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to help Obama make good on his demagoguery.

The independent senator from Vermont says we need a new Wall Street. He wants to confront the culture of greed head on, get rid of the CEOs of these corrupt financial institutions and establish a much stricter regulatory process.

Sanders has been a vocal critic of TARP spending from the beginning, and last month he called for the congressional TARP Oversight Panel to expand its focus and dig into the causes of the financial crisis, using subpoena power to expose the roots.

Sanders' vigilance and frankness, coupled with Obama's rhetoric Tuesday night, gives me hope.

Tagged as: economy, barack obama, bernie sanders, financial crisis

ZP Heller is the editorial director of Brave New Films. He has written for The American Prospect, AlterNet, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Huffington Post, covering everything from politics to pop culture.