Oh please. (A) The government did not have the legal authority to break up the banks.
FDR faced a crisis of failing banks. He declared a bank holiday by executive fiat and let it be known that the banks would not be re-opened until they were sound and regulations were in place to insure they remained sound. The legislation sailed right through Congress. On this there was and is similarity between then and now.
There was and is great public anger at the big banks. The TARP, all of the trash the Fed has taken onto its books and throwing the full faith and credit under obligations such as Freddie and Fanny, Citi and AIG, etc. that total $13 trillion or more, many of which, arguably, are the result of un-prosecuted fraud, are a large part of the reason the public is concerned about Federal debt and obligations. And all of this was done without extracting any concessions from the banks.
To me, hamstringing economic and social policy by giving the big banks unlimited, unconditional support scarcely qualifies as "deftly propping up the banks". Instead, it leads people to wonder for whom he is working and undermines his administration's support from moderates and independents while alienating many of those who were genuine supporters.
Somewhere, in this thread I believe, you noted that you have been accused of being an Obamabot. Were you bragging or complaining? Or a little of both? Continual disparagement of opponents with terms such as "delusional", phrases such as "Oh please" and accusations of following various right wing memes, as though we could not possibly have come to that conclusion on our own I find annoying but unworthy of routine response and at least as objectionable as my referring to Obama's putative Idol status. It is better to counter the substance of the argument, as I try to remind myself. I too am often tempted to pick up the rhetorical sledge hammer, as, like yourself, I feel strongly about current events. But we have different focuses, histories and personal styles, though we are both concerned about the future of the country. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
Um, no, by act of Congress. En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma
The Emergency Banking Act was introduced on March 9, 1933, to a joint session of Congress and was passed the same evening amid an atmosphere of chaos and uncertainty as over 100 new Democratic members of Congress swept into power determined to take radical steps to address banking failures and other economic malaise. The sense of urgency was such that the act was passed with only a single copy available on the floor and most legislators voted on it without reading it.
