I don't really know with Brown anymore. Sometimes his policy statements sound vaguely sensible, but I'm not so easily charmed by talk alone.

I cynically expect this to just be an attempt to diffuse Clegg. At the leaders debate Clegg put forward the populist notion of putting an extra tax on the banks, I assume in part to claw back some of the money tax payers lost in the bailout, but also because their profits are so vast it's unclean.

Attacking the banking system right now would be a wise move for any politician, but do we really trust any of them to be serious about it once elected?

It's almost like sharks smelling bloody chum in the water.

As soon as the SEC started probing Goldman, everyone and their donkey seems ready to jump on the bandwagon. It's like, all of a sudden, you can see the lightbulbs going on over politician's heads ("you mean they really aren't invincible after all?!? Wow! Whoda thunk it? Hmmm...I can really make some hay from this one, especially with elections around the corner....").

Well, it may be a decade late and a few trillion dollars short, but good for them, sez I. Bring it. I want orange jumpsuits, frog-marches, and clattering chains. I want weeping execs and empty corner-offices. I want JUSTICE.

I doubt we're going to see anything resembling true financial reform, but any step in the right direction is welcome, IMHO.

[edit on 4/19/10 by silent thunder]