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What happened to the monopoly laws? Doesn't concentration of the banking industry constitute a monopoly? Why don't we break them up like we did big three telephone companies, ATT, ITT and GTE in the seventies?

If you’re going to deal in yellow journalism about the so called “government takeover of healthcare”, perhaps at least acknowledging that there are western countries with public health insurance for all (e.g. France and Germany) that also have private insurers providing coverage for what the government does not cover would make the claim sound a little less sensationalistic. Unless baseless sensationalism is the goal, that is.

Jgarbuz from Queens: very well stated. And when you try to limit growth you end up with poor societies. Look at East Germany

History has demonstrated that wealth will ALWAYS concentrate in the hands of the few, an elite if you will, whether it was in feudal times, aristocratic times, communist times, or present day democratic capitalist times. How could one have kept down the Medicis, or Rockefeller, Bill Gates, or the present founders of Google?

While I am not a proponent of the philosophy of Ayn Rand, and do believe that some common sense regulation, such as the Glass-Spiegel Act were necessary to keep the "Ubermenschen" from running rampant, the reality is that those with the greatest natural capabilities and cunning will always be the Lords of the Land regardless of what system one chooses to impose on them.

I also agree with Beatrice from Westport. It's not that Republicans are against socialism; they just believe in "Privatize profits, but socialize losses," which means their policies are predatory on the American people.

We would lose our position in the world if we limit growth. How about some tough questions Brian.

What else do we do here beside provide health care?

Everything else is made in China.

senator sanders is breath of fresh air, it is so rare to get a veritable view from a political representative. why is there such a great ideological gap in the senate as to what's good for the country even after such blatantly catastrophic, criminal wall street behaviour?

There used to be a rationale by the executives of the large financial institutions that there is a need for larger scale. I never understood why this is this need - possibly for mergers and aquisitions financing?
For all these mergers of the financial institutions where have clients/customers benefited? We haven't received better interest rates on savings/CDs. Interest rates on credit cards are high and mortgage rates are low for now if you can get a mortgage.

The glass-steagal repeal argument is appealing but I don't actually see much evidence at all that it was part of the problem, its certainly not "fairly obvious".

The banks that withstood the crisis were BOA, JP, etc. Not GS, etc.

I want to move to Vermont now.

To Mark: And we do mean little.

Remember the center is the mediocre. Nothing happens in the center. Gray is dull and boring and uneventful. The center is the problem, things aren't for the most part, as the mediocre likes to think, gray this is black and white (to stick to the color scheme) and that's where ideas are born and succeed, the gray is just that, gray and stagnant and dull and leaves us much to be desired. It's the black and the white that bring about change.

Banks have our money and with that money they purchase government.

PERIOD

good luck to your guest

Too big to fail == got a bailout. The price of being bailed out should be being broken into smaller companies that COULD be allowed to fail without damaging the economy, and enjoined from recombining for five years.

Bernie Sanders is a great man. It's tempting to move to Vermont so I can vote for him!

Doesn't TOO BIG TO FAIL, meaning govt. bailout,contradict the free-market doctrine?
In other words, "GVT, don't interfere with us, except to bail us out"".

The Federal Govt. is an institution that's too big to fail. Any ideas here Bernie??

Is Bernie okay with the big companies moving their headquarters to other countries, so they can compete with big companies around the world? And have them pay taxes in those other countries?

We don't need to evaluate "too big to fail". Apoplectic Ben Bernanke, Timothy Geithner and the Wall Street behemoths themselves have self-identified. If they think they HAD to have billions for 'the good of the nation', then they have told us that they claim objective status as "too big to fail".

You can recognize an institution too big to fail by the peanuts on its breath. (li'l joke ha ha)

Complex, interconnected institutions? Ever hear of the Internet? Maybe we can make new connections, make something more like an American Grameen Bank (I know one exists already). Why can't local banks partner in a way that doesn't produce a tottering, top-heavy corporate structure? Do some good for America, not just the corporate logo.

All Parsons is talking about is large corporate transactions - M&A, restructurings, etc. - that doesn't help anybody but the few executives who shuffle the structures, lay off or outsource the little guys, then pocket their cut and put out a Press Release.

How dare you even have any defense of these institutions! It's time for change and we can survive with a regulated economy very well. Maybe your recorded voice person and his other billionaire cronies can't but the other 99% of the world can do so very well.