On Financial Regulatory Reform Efforts, Circa April 20, 2010

There is a common thread that underlies this effort, in which an industry that led our economy to the brink of collapse can push back against attempts to reform it, and the healthcare effort, in which private interests heavily and effectively opposed reform (as they had successfully done for the better part of a century). That common component is a broken election and campaign finance system. Until ordinary citizens are on a more equal footing with large corporations and banks in their practical ability to influence elections and garner political access, we will always be hindered in obtaining even obviously necessary reforms.