Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week
Raúl Carrillo at Other Words writes—We Need a Public Option for Banking:
The pandemic has shown that we need a public option for basic banking services.
Legal scholars Morgan Ricks, John Crawford, and Lev Menand have called for the Federal Reserve System to directly offer accounts to all U.S. citizens, residents, and small businesses. Today, only privileged banks and governmental entities are allowed to have these high-interest, low-fee accounts.
But the Fed could easily offer the same option to everyone, and provide better consumer safeguards than Wall Street, as well as higher interest, faster payments, and complete deposit protection. As a recent New York Times editorial endorsing FedAccounts for getting out stimulus payments put it: “Stop Dawdling. People Need Money.”
The Fed could also work with the U.S. Postal Service to broaden its reach—strengthening our postal system at a time when it is facing continued attacks from predators.
As the Roosevelt Institute, a think tank, has shown, “Fed Accounts For All” could make sending money as easy as transferring funds through Venmo or Paypal—but with Fed Accounts For All, everyone could do it, without relying on Wall Street (or Silicon Valley).
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“If you owe your bank a hundred pounds, you have a problem. But if you owe a million, it has.” ~~John Maynard Keynes
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At Daily Kos on this date in 2007—KY-Sen: Mitch never met finer man than indicted Guv:
So you're a power broker in your state. THE power broker. Your party's governor is scandal plagued, under indictment, and sports approval ratings that rival George Bush's. So you gin up a primary challenger, let's call her "Anne Northup". She's a former congresswoman, still fairly popular, and relatively clean from an ethics standpoint. She barely gets 30 percent of the vote as your indicted governor romps to an easy victory.
Supporters of this indicted governor, let's call him "Ernie Fletcher", are feeling frisky. You've been exposed as the proverbial emperor with no clothes. Your "machine" is out of gas. And, in a fit of pique, they start revving up a potential primary challenger. Oh, did I mention you're a Senator? And not just any senator, but the leader of your party?
What to you do?
Apparently you get down on your knees.
“I’ve never met a finer man than our governor, Ernie Fletcher,” said [Mitch] McConnell. “I’m proud of Ernie Fletcher. I’m proud of Glenna Fletcher. And I’m proud of the image they present for our state.”
Most voters in Kentucky, unfortunately for the whole corrupt lot of them, aren't as proud of Fletcher's incompetence and corruption as McConnell.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Friday brings no relief. In the Trump era, it never really has. Minneapolis update, including the "president's" latest threats and his escalating war with Twitter. @Darwin_Darko brings us insight on Biden's Breakfast Club interview. More PPE pirating.
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