Main Street applauds President Obama's tough talk to Wall Street bigs
BY Glenn Blain
DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU
Friday, April 23rd 2010, 4:00 AM
ALTAMONT, N.Y. - Main Street had a message for President Obama on Thursday: Go get 'em!
In this small, working-class village 20 miles west of Albany, people had little sympathy for big-money executives - and agreed it was time to crack down on Wall Street.
"The system has been faulty for a long, long time," said Anne Best, 52, as she tended to a garden in the village square.
"The major corporations and smaller ones have to learn to empower people, not cutting them off at the knees just to make a profit."
Marsha Mills, 65, said she agreed with the arguments of Gov. Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg that Wall Street is vital to the state's economy. But its activities, she argued, are too hard to follow.
"From what I'm hearing, a lot of it sounds like a lot of gambling," Mills said as she left the Home Front Cafe on Main St.
"They are betting on this and they are betting on that and a lot of us common folk really don't understand what's going on."
Altamont, like many small towns, has suffered from the economic meltdown - it's unemployment rate has shot up 3% to 7.2%.
"The CEOs are making millions of dollars while we are all hurting," said George Kendall, 75, another lunch customer at the Home Front, where walls are decorated with World War II memorabilia.
"There's got to be some equality there somewhere," Mills said.
Still, some in Altamont yesterday expressed concern that too much regulation could be damaging to the economy.
"Obviously, things aren't going the way they should be going," said John Dawson, 57, of nearby Rotterdam. "But sometimes you can have too many controls and regulations."
gblain@nydailynews.com
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/04/23/2010-04-23_regular_folks_like_the_big_stick.html
BY Glenn Blain
DAILY NEWS ALBANY BUREAU
Friday, April 23rd 2010, 4:00 AM
ALTAMONT, N.Y. - Main Street had a message for President Obama on Thursday: Go get 'em!
In this small, working-class village 20 miles west of Albany, people had little sympathy for big-money executives - and agreed it was time to crack down on Wall Street.
"The system has been faulty for a long, long time," said Anne Best, 52, as she tended to a garden in the village square.
"The major corporations and smaller ones have to learn to empower people, not cutting them off at the knees just to make a profit."
Marsha Mills, 65, said she agreed with the arguments of Gov. Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg that Wall Street is vital to the state's economy. But its activities, she argued, are too hard to follow.
"From what I'm hearing, a lot of it sounds like a lot of gambling," Mills said as she left the Home Front Cafe on Main St.
"They are betting on this and they are betting on that and a lot of us common folk really don't understand what's going on."
Altamont, like many small towns, has suffered from the economic meltdown - it's unemployment rate has shot up 3% to 7.2%.
"The CEOs are making millions of dollars while we are all hurting," said George Kendall, 75, another lunch customer at the Home Front, where walls are decorated with World War II memorabilia.
"There's got to be some equality there somewhere," Mills said.
Still, some in Altamont yesterday expressed concern that too much regulation could be damaging to the economy.
"Obviously, things aren't going the way they should be going," said John Dawson, 57, of nearby Rotterdam. "But sometimes you can have too many controls and regulations."
gblain@nydailynews.com
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2010/04/23/2010-04-23_regular_folks_like_the_big_stick.html
