Anyone who thinks Obama is in bed with Wall Street is kidding themselves...

Obama really needs to have a Wall Streeter working for him. He missed out on so many good deals. He should have sold C at $5. He (or we) own 34%. Now we will be out at $3+.

We are forcing Wall Street to pay back TARP. We are giving away our leverage. We then, after giving away leverage, ask WS to lend to those who need it. Well they can't lend. They just bought off the Fed so they can pay the going rate for talent. They have to. GS paid off first because they never needed TARP in the first place. Now they can poach talent and own the best in the world. Everybody else needs to pay up or be pariahs. Everybody else need the same talent.

I like Obama but he is really naive when it comes to how things work. He wants to be a populist and everybody hates wall street. He needs big banks to lend. But he is restricting their ability to lend. They must use all available capital to pay back TARP.

Sigh.

He will never see the light on the natural gas issue... He is smart, but not that smart... Maybe he will learn.