Arianna appeared on ABC's "This Week" Sunday as part of a roundtable with George Will, Kate Zernike, and Jonathan Karl.
During the discussion, Arianna and Will sparred over bank lending and Wall Street reform. "Somebody I was talking to over the week -- people in business, venture capital -- were asking 'Why doesn't the government do more to force banks to lend, to do more to make it easier for people to actually go out there and show some kind of consumer activity,'" host Christiane Amanpour said.
"Well maybe if the government did less, period, people would me more inclined to lend money," Will replied. "The banks aren't hoarding the money because they're in a pout. They're not hoarding the money because they're mad at somebody. They're hoarding money because they can't find lenders who think they can borrow it and make money."
"No, that's not true," Arianna responded. "The banks are getting almost zero-percent interest rate loans from the Fed and they are spending it to make a lot of profit in derivatives trading and all the things that got us into this trouble in the first place. And this administration and this Congress still has not passed an end to Too Big To Fail, still has not reinstated Glass-Steagall. So even though people may not be able to give you all these details, they know that the system has not been fixed, that financial reform is full of loopholes, and that the system is not fair, basically, for them as they're seeing their lives falling apart."
WATCH:
In the Green Room, following the roundtable, the panel was asked whether Obama's push on the economy this past week accomplished anything.
"Well, he changed the rhetoric," Arianna replied. "But he needs to do a few things that go beyond the rhetoric. I think nominating Elizabeth Warren to run the Consumer Protection Bureau would be something that would show the middle class, who he talked a lot about this week, that he really means it, that he's willing to put a champion for the middle class in a place of power. He can't do anything much in Congress, so he might as well do some things that are in his control."
WATCH: (the question on the economy comes at the 1:40 mark)
And who created this bubble to begin with? The Fed.
Why do these people continue to so grossly misjudge the situation, and support the very people who are sucking them dry? For the same reason people play the lottery. The myth of the American Dream has been pummeled into their heads from birth. No matter how unlikely, these people still support the right of the obscenely wealthy to exist, because they imagine themselves there one day. Winning the lottery is a statistical unreality, yet one out of every three people in the US think that winning the lottery is the only way to become financially secure in their life.
In any other culture, in any other time, if 10% of the population owned 71% of the wealth and the top 1% owned 38%, and the bottom 40% owned less than 1% of the nation's wealth, there would be a revolution. Period.
Just the facts: Larry Summers created 'too big to fail' pushing for repeal of Glass Steagull, admits to speaking with Rubin often, was Secretary Rubin's enforcer under Clinton and with Rubin and Greenspan got Congress to vote to stop Brooksley Born from regulating derivatives in the Clinton years. Born was stopped then because Bankers called Treasury to get this woman off their backs.
Think Wall Street is already calling Treasury to get Warren off their backs? Let's not forget that Geithner was mentored by Rubin who left Treasury and joined Citibank's top management. Senator Dodd, he removed the Amendment restricting pay for institutions that received TARP funds after Treasury lobbied him to do so.
George, financial reform further legalized ‘too big to fail’ and when the Middle Class goes from endangered to extinct, what will you say? It was their own fault because they didn’t spend what little they had left to support the global economy so that’s why they became extinct! George, people can’t make money here because they are undercut by the international corporations who go to low labor countries and import it back to increase their profits.
Perhaps that is because the laissez-faire economists have dominated the school textbooks and political discussions for so long?
Let me guess: Timmy, Larry, Ben & O don't want anyone with integrity on their team.
EW will call them out, and they know it.
If government were not to be involved at all, I guess that also means that those subsidies, and tax cuts they get - shouldn't had been given either. I am not "against" helping business - I am against helping only the businesses that don't need it, or produce goods and services here in the US. Some of that overseas business is okay. In fact we do need some of that, but those who use it to keep the cost of producing materials down do so for a purpose, but the end result is often the higher profit margin for the company, and it does not often get passed down to investors or the existing labor force here in America. Some of those materials/goods - are defective as well. We send way too much of our business across abroad. And these our the companies that also get the help. Our smaller businesses need more help. They also hire, and are more likely to hire here. George is not 100% correct.
If you are poor, you have lost ground steadily since the 1980s.
If you are middle class, you have lost ground since 1980.
If you are rich you have gained ground steadily since 1980.
Precent of total national Income going to a specific group:
Poor: Decreased by 16%
Middle Class: Decreased by 20%
Rich: Increased by 15%
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/inequality/index.html
Nothing can be more clear than the Democratic Party's desire to hold you down from success and independent financial security.
STOP EXAGGERATING & DOWNRIGHT LYING!!!!!!
Eek out a better life style? Eekk really? The typical business has a profit of under 10% so in order for them to net $250,000 they have to gross $2,500,000. That is not exactly what I call a small up and comer.
PS Warren Buffet says that he only pays 17% taxes while his secretary pays twice that amount. He says the rich are taxed too little.
i strongly disagreed once with AH along with many other HP readers; probably concerning al gore or afghanistan
george will is out of touch with todays america and part of some "old guard"
Their politicians seem to see the future more clearly than ours.