1. Shirley Sherrod and race today: Shirley Sherrod was fired from her Dept. of Agriculture job earlier this week after a video of her speaking at an NAACP conference was released. The segment that everyone initially focused on has Sherrod saying that many many years ago she helped a white farmer less than she could have because he was acting "superior" to her. She got fired, the NAACP and the White House, among others, condemned her actions, and then...OMG, someone watched the whole tape. Her speech goes on to say that she learned from her relationship with the white farmer. They apparently worked out their differences (he went on record yesterday vouching for Sherrod's excellent work to support his farm) and she wrapped her story by saying "That's when it was revealed to me that the job is about poor, versus those who have. And not so much about white -- it is about white and black, but it's not -- you know, it opened my eyes." The NAACP, the White House, and others then apologized/backpedaled, and as of today Sherrod has been offered a new Dept. of Ag. job but reportedly "is not sure" about taking it. In the meantime, the whole issue is spurring lots of talk about race and the issues around even mentioning race in the political arena.
2. Financial Reform = Law. Yesterday President Obama signed the Financial Reform bill into law. The bill, which of course is weaker than most Progressives would have liked, is still a huge and historic step toward re-regulating Wall Street. Among other things, it:
- established a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to get your back against abusive mortgage and credit card practices.
- created a new council of regulators that will require banks to prepare for and prevent financial crises better in the future.
- limits Wall Street "betting" on hedge funds.
- forces derivatives trading (one of the main factors in the 08-09 meltdown) to be more open and regulated.
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