My comments on W's speech today:

1, "I've come to the financial capital of the world to speak of a serious challenge to our financial markets and to the confidence on which they rest". W is not President of the world, he is President of the USA. New York is not the world financial capital. Is he perhaps forgetting London? Tokyo?

2. "At this moment, America's greatest economic need is higher ethical standards, standards enforced by strict laws and upheld by responsible business leaders" . How about if he starts with the Vice President? What was his role in the whole Enron debacle?

3. "After all, American technology is the most advanced in the world" No it isn't. Have you checked out what the Japanese are up to?

4. "We're reorganizing the federal government to protect the homeland." Every time I hear him say "homeland", I get shivers down my spine. It is too close to the word "Heimat" - which means "Homeland" and was the word the Nazi's capitalized on to create a feeling of solidarity so strong amongst the "ethnic Germans" that it turned into a deathly level of nationalism.

5. "We can be confident because we're pursuing pro-growth reforms in Washington, D.C. Last year we passed the biggest tax cut in a generation, which encouraged job creation and boosted consumer spending at just the right time. For the sake of long-term growth, I'm asking Congress to make the tax reductions permanent. " but what about the debt? How are we going to pay down the debt? And Medicare? Social Security? Where is the money for these things going to come from? Why doesn't he think the rich should pay their fair share of taxes? Those who benefit most from this tax cut are the people whose greed has gotten so out of hand that he felt the need to address Wall Street today in the first place. Programs like this made these CEOs believe they are safe in their fraud, and supports their desire to amass huge sums of money at any cost.

6.. "The vast majority of businessmen and -women are honest. They do right by their employees and their shareholders. They do not cut ethical corners, and their work helps create an economy which is the envy of the world." Bullshit. How would you know anyhow? This is your first full-time job.

7. "To many corporations seem disconnected from the values of our country." - BS again, Herr President. Capitalism (which by the way, I am not against) breeds greed. The incentive programs laid out for CEOs in this country are money in the form of fat bonuses, incredible stock options and other financial perks. Those currently getting busted have many peers among them who have yet to be discovered. They are only human: if you wave the tantalizing carrot in front of their noses for long enough, they are going to bite. So you see, they are very much in line with the values our country holds. Perhaps it is time to change or refine some of those values?

8. "In the long run, there is no capitalism without conscience; there is no wealth without character" Then we aren't really capitalists here in the US? ' cuz last time I checked, those without character and conscience are doing pretty well out there in the world. Only a select few sloppy capitalists have been caught doing anything wrong.

9. " These include requirements that independent directors compose a majority of the company's board; that all members of audit, nominating and compensation committees be independent; and that all stock option plans be approved by the shareholders" Find the person who formulated this idea and give him a gold star. This is one of the only things in this speech that makes any sense. Pull off this plan and I might even refer to you by your proper title.

10. The real meat of this speech comes after the 20 minutes of propaganda, and I am shocked that it came out of W's mouth. He wants to give the SEC real auditing power, he wants to strip those who get caught defrauding stockholders of all (s)he gained from fraud, and he wants to prevent them from being corporate leaders ever again. AND he wants to create equity in stock holdings between the management and the plebs, and have stock analysts be truly independent from big buisness - no incentives for the analysts, and no holding stock in companies you recommend. I have no idea how he things the SEC will enforce some of this, but bravo, W!

11. He loses me at the end though. He says things like "I challenge every CEO in America to describe in the company's annual report, prominently and in plain English, details of his or her compensation package, including salary and bonus and benefits. And the CEO, in that report, should also explain why his or her compensation package is in the best interests of the company he serves." Like anyone making $20 million a year is really going to take you up on this. How are you going to enforce transparency with a "challenge"? This ain't 13th century France.

The end. I didn't get to see this speech delivered, so I don't know how silly he sounded today. But really, for once, although his speech is full of the usual bullshit, I think he is really planning on doing something worthwhile. I never thought that W. would catch my attention. Let's see how long he can keep it.