Did anyone else see this last week? Amazing that no one in the hierarchy of the banking industry was prosecuted and indicted for the fraud that caused the mortgage meltdown of '08.
In an update Lanny Breuer abruptly resigned after the program aired and the DOJ described the Frontline episode as a "hit piece" threatening never to cooperate with news stories in the future.
Amazing that no one in the hierarchy of the banking industry was prosecuted and indicted for the fraud that caused the mortgage meltdown of '08.
It's really not that amazing once you realize that banks and corporations own and control the U.S. government. Sure, once in a while they will offer up a low-level underling to be sacrificed on the altar of justice to keep up the appearance that the government is acting as a watchdog over the banking and financial industries, but in general, the government functions as an administrative layer and enforcement arm below the banks and corporations. High-level insiders are immune to prosecution.
By the way, I think this is one of the reasons why we are all of a sudden seeing a desperate push by the U.S. government for tighter gun control. The size and scope of the fraud we've witnessed over the last five years is too large for them to hide. The public is rapidly starting to figure out how the system truly works, and once this understanding reaches a critical mass, it will be impossible for them to implement gun control without an open descent into tyranny/martial law.
It's really not that amazing once you realize that banks and corporations own and control the U.S. government. Sure, once in a while they will offer up a low-level underling to be sacrificed on the altar of justice to keep up the appearance that the government is acting as a watchdog over the banking and financial industries, but in general, the government functions as an administrative layer and enforcement arm below the banks and corporations. High-level insiders are immune to prosecution.
By the way, I think this is one of the reasons why we are all of a sudden seeing a desperate push by the U.S. government for tighter gun control. The size and scope of the fraud we've witnessed over the last five years is too large for them to hide. The public is rapidly starting to figure out how the system truly works, and once this understanding reaches a critical mass, it will be impossible for them to implement gun control without an open descent into tyranny/martial law.
The genie is out of the bottle, so to speak.
Remember the Ole saying for the Gators "speed kills" well "money kills". I said it from the beginning, those bailouts were bad news.
It's really not that amazing once you realize that banks and corporations own and control the U.S. government.
Curious words from an "anarchist" who wants to dissolve the US government and switch to a pure "free market" economy. As if corporations and banks would somehow magically go away.
Oh well. Stupid is as stupid does as Forest Gump would say.
As far as the topic itself goes--there should have definitely been more investigation and prosecution regarding this scandal...but the problem is: there's so much blame to go around, whom do you adequately point the finger at?
The CEO who enjoyed record profits, while knowingly playing loose with the rules? The politicians--who "persuaded" the banks to ease up on minimum qualification standards to increase home ownership? The average homeowners themselves--who lied on the loan applications by overstating their income to qualify for loans they should have never been qualified for?
IMO, that's why we haven't seen mass prosecutions in this affair: because it's impossible to point one's finger at any single sector involved in this--as everyone shared part of the blame. I've no doubt that had any serious attempt been made to prosecute the CEOs of the banks, they'd fire right back with politicians who'd given them tax breaks and other incentives to qualify homeowners with these sweetheart deals beyond what they should have qualified for.
They also don't get in trouble for laundering illegal money for cartels and the like.
Legalize crooks like tow trucks.
Not true. Speak with some of the AML compliance officers who have to go through quarterly audits and deal with the threat of MRAs, fines, and C&D orders from the OCC and other agencies and you'll change your tune. I work with them on a daily basis and manage one of the primary AML due diligence apps for one of the 5 largest banks in the US. The banking industry spends millions if not billions on AML every year. Also remember that for the big banks, the US isn't the only government they have to answer to. You've got to be pretty smart to launder money through a big bank these days.
The problem was greed within a broken system that was exploitable. The thing that should make people mad if they were actually laying attention is that in most if these cases they didn't have to break the law to do this stuff, because they got the laws passed that allowed it to happen. People should be yelling about corruption and not criminals.
Autocorrect will be the death of us all, as they say.
As far as "stupid" goes--I've no doubt that you'll find something to amuse us with in short order. Your posts tend to be stupid funny, as the saying goes.
bailing out all these failed banks and companies---possibly the worst economic decision in US history---the bailouts were for political payoff purposes only.
In short, the smart, aggressive crooks outwitted the lazy, inept Feds who usually can indict and convict ham sandwiches.
They made millions for themselves while losing billions for others, and continue to laugh up their Armani sleeves when not occasionally still checking over their shoulder for the cops who never came.
What a life.
__________________
On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.
As long as people view profit in monetary terms this type of thing will NEVER end.
To be fair, I don't think that's exclusively what happened.
For the bankers and the CEOs who got rich off the mortgage bubble, sure--the profit for them was in monetary terms.
For the politicians who "encouraged" the banks to qualify more people for home ownership, monetary profit only tells half the story. Sure, federal, state, and county governments all temporarily benefited from higher taxes from people with larger homes...but the surge in home ownership across the population spectrum was also a point of pride for politicians on both sides of the aisle. And, when the bubble burst, it also gave politicians a chance to "do something" for the people with the various Making Home Affordable programs out there.
For average homeowners (many of whom were grotesquely irresponsible in signing off on paperwork they should have had no business signing), they benefited from increased prestige in owning a home--or owning a bigger one.
PBS Frontline: The Untouchables
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