In 2010, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act to regulate the banksters on Wall Street, who crashed our economy in 2008, and many people believe the law doesn't go far enough. But Republican lawmakers have spent the past two years working to undercut and water-down the legislation, and Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama thinks the banksters shouldn't be burdened with those pesky regulations at all.

Instead of working to prevent Wall Street's high-stakes betting from causing another economic disaster, Sen. Shelby plans to introduce legislation that would require a cost-benefit analysis on any new financial regulations before they can be enacted. This is more than just the typical watering-down of legislation we see from Republicans...this is an attempt to block Wall Street regulation all together, and an effort to put bankster greed ahead of the needs of our nation. According to Shelby, “if a regulation's cost outweighs its benefits, it should be thrown out.”

Wouldn't it have been great if Wall Street had done a societal cost-benefit analysis before gambling with our economy? Or if they had to prove that their greed couldn't take down our entire financial system again. Seems to me like Wall Street, which hit a record high yesterday, is doing just fine under the current regulations.

The Dodd-Frank Act doesn't go far enough. It's time to strengthen regulations, and implement a financial transaction tax to make Wall Street banksters pay for the risky bets they make with our economy.

-Thom

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Tuesday's Daily Stack

Hour One: Conservatives DO love Big Government...
- Steve Deace, Nationally syndicated conservative talk radio host

Article: "GOP Lawmaker: We Must Make It Harder To Divorce Or Teenage Girls Will Be ‘More Promiscuous’" by Annie-Rose Strasser.

Movie: "Boyz n the Hood".

Article: "Dow Reaches Record High, Spurred by Fed and Profits" by Peter Eavis.

Video: ""Join the Party!" " by Mrs. Betty Bowers.

Article: "Alleged prostitute recants story about sex with Sen. Menendez" by Ezra Fieser.

Book: "Conversations With God : An Uncommon Dialogue (Book 1)" by Neale Donald Walsch.

Hour Two: Why has the dollar depreciated so much since the 70's?
- Dr. L. Randall Wray, "Modern Money Theory".

Book: "Modern Money Theory: A Primer on Macroeconomics for Sovereign Monetary Systems" by L. Randall Wray, "Modern Money Theory".

Book: "The General Theory Of Employment, Interest, And Money" by John Maynard Keynes.

Book: "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations", Adam Smith, 1776.

Book: "A Treatise on Money: The Pure Theory of Money and The Applied Theory of Money.", John Maynard Keynes.

Speech: "First State of the Union Address" by George W. Bush, 2001. "Many of you have talked about the need to pay down our national debt. I listened, and I agree."

Article: "Report on Manufactures" by Alexander Hamilton "The terms “general welfare” were doubtless intended to signify more than was expressed or imported in those which preceded".

Article: "Venezuela's Hugo Chavez dies from cancer" by Andrew Cawthorne and Daniel Wallis.

Article: "Paul Krugman: Joe Scarborough Bested Me" by TPM.

The good: Rolling Jubilee: "Occupy Wall Street Has Raised Enough Money To Abolish $11,236,570 Of Personal Debt" by Zaid Jilani.

The bad: "Ex-DEA Heads: Feds Should Nullify State Pot Laws" by Michael Tarm.

The very, very ugly: "GOP Congress Hacks De-funding ACORN -- As If It Still Exists" by karoli.

Article: "Most Red States Take More Money From Washington Than They Put In" by Dave Gilson, Feb. 16, 2012.

Article: "Delays Grow for Travelers to Tomatoes as U.S. Cuts Hours" by Todd Shields & Jeff Plungis.

Article: "Jobless benefits to drop in Georgia and South Carolina" by Kirk Brown.

Article: "Texas House opposes Medicaid expansion" by Chris Tomlinson, Will Weissert.

Article: "Detroit to get emergency manager" by Danielle Raykhinshteyn.

Article: "Could Mitt Romney Become Savior Of Detroit?" by Carol Cain.

Article: "Man Reportedly Fakes Kidnapping to Avoid Girlfriend’s Wrath" by Kevin Dolak.

Hour Two: 10 years since the invasion of Iraq...mission accomplished?
- Douglas Feith, Hudson Institute, Center for National Security Strategies, "War and Decision: Inside the Pentagon at the Dawn of the War on Terrorism"

Hour Three: In for Thom this hour, Dr. Mike Newcomb of 1480AM KPHX, Phoenix, AZ - The Mike Newcomb Show"

And, the best of the rest of the news and your calls right here on...

The Thom Hartmann Program...your media support group for "we the people"...

We'll have the latest on the sequester and what Congress is doing about it...

Plus, Ring of Fire Radio host Mike Papantonio sounds off about the lack of action from Republicans...

And, my favorite segment of the week...Geeky Science!

All this plus the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...