This week we spoke about how fixing trade and the tax code would lead to jobs.  Today’s it’s all about banking.  The best way I can describe our banking sector right now is it’s like a leaf blower.

Follow me on this one — the system can either inject capital and spread it around through lending, which when done right creates jobs… Or it can suck all the money out.

Right now we’re stuck in that reverse position where banks are taking the money out of play.  We gave away the farm and got no changes in the way banks do business.

President Bush did whatever he needed to pass the problem on to Barack Obama…and President Obama doubled down on the Bush plan, leaving banking and Wall Street to go on as if nothing happened.  The President, Treasury Secretary Geithner and Fed Reserve Chairman Bernanke threw more of our cash at the big banks to keep them afloat by printing money they didn’t have.

But that’s like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in it! Because current banking, and for that matter, trade law, makes it more profitable for banks to engage in financial speculation, loan the money right back to our own government, or take it overseas than it does to focus on domestic lending.

In order to reverse the blower, we need to debate laws that encourage banks to lend, as opposed to speculate and extract…so that money is spread around to job creators who actually produce ideas and hire workers.