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[–] 6 points 5 days ago (4 children)

I thought Bush signed the TARP law to give bailouts and Obama signed Dodd Frank that cut the amount of the bailout.

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  • [–] 9 points 4 days ago (3 children)

    I also thought the Obama bailouts were largely if not completely repaid with interest, albeit with interest rates that were close to zero at the time.

    Also Dodd-Frank was a good law and gave us the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Which until Trump and Doge killed it, was actually putting a small dent in financial crimes and credit card predators.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 days ago (2 children)

    I don't know the total amount repaid. AI suggested all but $15B, out of $426B paid out from the treasury. Also other guy said Clinton signed glass-steagall, minor note: he repealed* it.

    Obama was far better than Trump and Bush, but I think he dropped the ball on that one, and on Russia's annexation of Crimea. He was in a strong position to empower the people, but he kinda left the door open for authoritarianism.

    Was it the best decision to continue Bush era policy, hang millions of families out to dry, deny accountability, and allow neoliberals to pursue their mythical infinite growth? Just... bygones?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 day ago (1 child)

    I agree that the ballots should have focused on fixing the inequality and should have fucked the billionaires who caused these problems.

    Ukraine was trickier at that time though. They were still uncertain who was going to run Ukraine. Poroshenko was a bit questionable but at least started to defend Ukraine, but had serious problems with corruption too if I recall. Zelenskyy wasn’t in power yet and propping up the wrong guy was risky.

    The problem is that the Obama team never seemed to think Trump had a chance and figured Clinton would be able to work on all the problems it was in the middle of. That was the biggest mistake of his presidency IMO. that and allowing McConnell to steal the Supreme Court

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  • [–] 1 point 1 day ago

    The only things Russia exports more than oil products are propaganda and corruption.

    Many formerly Russian-occupied countries spent a few generations under a system that's run as a mafia rather than a government. Estonia is a great example of resisting that culture and rebuilding quickly after re-independence. Ukraine is also culturally distinct from Russia, but Russia entrenched itself much deeper in Ukraine, because i) the land is richer, ii) the population is larger, and iii) Kyiv is 'their' place of origin.

    It was much harder for Ukraine to sever the ties. Estonia had the non-violent singing revolution, while Ukraine had the bloody Euromaidan, which resulted directly in the 2014 invasion. Corruption is still an issue (and not unique to Ukraine), but at least their government listens to their people now.

    Ugh, McConnell... (shakes fist gerontocratically)... I need a drink 🥃

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