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Study Finds That Of All Factors Determining The "Bailoutability" Of Crappy Banks, Ties To The Federal Reserve Are Most Critical
Adam Smith, Charles Darwin and George Washington are not only rolling in their graves, they are dancing the macarena. A new study by the UMich School of Business has found what everyone has known since the crisis began, if not centuries prior: that the biggest, crappiest banks were guaranteed to get more bailout funding the more political ties they had (and more kickbacks they had offered). Is this sufficient to claim that capitalism in its purest sense has been corrupted beyond repair, courtesy of political intervention and constant pandering? Probably not, but it sure makes a damn good argument. In any case, the data is sufficient for all bears to start keeping a track of which banks are increasing their lobbying efforts and funding: those are the ones where the greatest weakness is likely still to be uncovered (if it hasn't already). And while the political relationship probably is not a big surprise to any realistic readers, another finding of the study makes a solid case for abolition of the "apolitical" Federal Reserve:
A new study by Ross professors Ran Duchin and Denis Sosyura found that
banks with connections to members of congressional finance committees
and banks whose executives served on Federal Reserve boards were more
likely to receive funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the
federal government's program to purchase assets and equity from
financial institutions to strengthen its financial sector.
The unsupervised Federal Reserve gets to make or break banks, presumably under the gun of its one and only master, Goldman Sachs, which has already destroyed its major historical competitors: Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers. This is a sufficient condition to not only audit the central bank but to immediately seek its abolition, and also to commence anti-trust proceedings against Goldman Sachs which is not only a monopoly, but by extension has veto power over the very regulatory mechanism that is supposed to keep it "fair and honest." The system is truly broken.
More findings from the study:
Further, their research shows that TARP investment amounts were
positively related to banks' political contributions and lobbying
expenditures, and that, overall, the effect of political influence was
strongest for poorly performing banks.
Can someone reminds us what the core premise of capitalism is again, and why we pretend to live in anything other than a hard core socialist society?
One of the professors of the study had this to say:
"Our results show that political connections play an important role in
a firm's access to capital. The effects of political ties on federal capital investment
are strongest for companies with weaker fundamentals, lower liquidity
and poorer performance — which suggests that political ties shift
capital allocation towards underperforming institutions."
The US financial system now need a new four letter acronym: everyone knows TBTF. We hereby annoint the Too Blatantly Briby To Fail (TB2TF) category of financial institutions. We posit that in 5 years there will be two banks in the former group: JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, while every single other bank will make up the latter.
Among the specific data findings:
The researchers used four variables to measure political influence: 1)
seats held by bank executives on the board of directors at any of the
12 Federal Reserve banks or their branches (the Federal Reserve is
involved in the initial review of CPP applications from the majority of
qualified banks); 2) banks with headquarters located in the district of
a U.S. House member serving on the Congressional Committee on Financial
Services or its subcommittees on Financial Institutions and Capital
Markets (which played a major role in the development of TARP and its
amendments); 3) banks' campaign contributions to congressional
candidates; and 4) banks' lobbying expenditures.They found that a board seat at a Federal Reserve Bank was
associated with a 31 percent increase in the likelihood of receiving
CPP funds, while a bank's connection to a House member on key finance
committees was associated with a 26 percent increase, controlling for
other bank characteristics such as size and various financial
indicators.
The last data point is truly troubling: while it is one thing to pander to corrupt politicians, at least when their transgressions are made public they can and will be booted out. Yet what checks and balances exist to punish current and former Fed staffers who endorse near-bankrupt companies, in self-evident conflict of interest acts, for enhanced survival? As the Fed is accountable to nothing and nobody, save Goldman Sachs, one can argue that Goldman decides the fate of the very core of the US financial system: which firms get the thumbs up and down treatment. This is an unbelievalbe travesty of both the constitutional and the tenets of capitalism and must be rectified immediately. It certainly helps that the president, being a Constitutional law professor, will surely get right on it.
"Our findings also suggest that qualified financial institutions were
more likely to receive an investment from CPP if they were bigger and
had lower earnings and lower capital," said Duchin, U-M assistant
professor of finance. "This is consistent with an investment strategy
seeking to support systematically important institutions experiencing
financial distress."
If this study's finding are confirmed and repeated independently by other research teams, it is safe to say that any pretense America has to being an efficient capitalism system (where those who can no longer compete, disappear) can be used to wipe the nation's collective backside. Between this, and a choice of US dollars and Treasuries, Cottonelle is starting to see some serious competition.
h/t Geoffrey Batt
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Rewarding failure is our new ethos. It won't end well, the best we can hope for is that it ends rather quickly.
Hmmm.
Would you say rewarding failure or rewarding lobbying and political connections?
Small businesses failed and one could easily argue that they weren't rewarded because they have neither lobbyists or political connections.
Skill means nothing when you have a rich daddy and rich friends.
Yes, the politically connected get rewarded for failure, others simply fail.
It isn't enough that they get to print money via fractional reserve money they still can't run their business. It isn't enough that the Fed controls their cost of goods (interest on deposit and short term funding) manipulating it lower when they have trouble... they still can't run a profitable business. It isn't enough that the government injects $1 TRILLION dollars ($5,000 for every man woman and child in USA) they still can't make it. It isn't enough that the FED buys up all the worthless mortgage securities for whatever price is asked... there are still having troubles.
Yet this whole time their CEO's and employees are among the highest paid in the country. WHAT THE FUCK... WHAT THE FUCK... YES I'M PISSED... AREN'T YOU??????
As a nation we the masses are lucky our herdsmen think we are a totally pathetic sheeple bunch of morons who believe everything they tell us. The day we come to question our pathetic existence will be the end of us.
It wont end well, SO END IT
Order of Business:
STATE RECALL TO REPLACE CORRUPT CONGRESS
***SEND IN THE MARINES***
LOCK DOWN GOLDMAN, JPM, and THE FED
RECLAIM GOLD AND SILVER ASSETS FRAUDULENTLY ACQUIRED BY THESE INSTITUTIONS.
ELECT A PRESIDENT WITH A US BIRTH CERTIFICATE
STOP ALL FOREIGN AID, UN AND IMF SUPPORT
TREASURY WILL ISSUE ALL NEW MONEY TO US CITIZENS, FOREIGN HOLDERS OF FED BACKED DEBT SETTLE WITH INTERNATIONAL BANKS AT FINANCIAL CRIMES TRIBUNAL
...well its a start, quit mincing and get it moving!
Working paper, it may take years.
http://webuser.bus.umich.edu/duchin/TARP%20Investments.pdf
Like Spitzer et al said, release the emails now,
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/opinion/20partnoy.html?_r=4
At least Cottonelle has utility value.
+++
Charmin too.
He who has the Gold makes the rules. The oldest tricks are still the best tricks.
Merry Christmas CD...x
fav russian proverb: He who pay's, picks the music...
The political capital ratio is clearly most important for judging a bank's risk of failure.
One. Big. Circlejerk.
That's one way for UMich to get some shut the fuck up money...
Hey, shouldn't the ZH Santa be holding bars of Gold? What's up with the fiat?
Maybe like this Chumbawamba Snowman:
http://i50.tinypic.com/241l5lj.jpg
Nice.
SYSTEM FAILURE
Yes, and I am confused...the U of Mich is ruled by gobs of ex-Goldman boys...you know making up all those dependable 'reports' the the Government and Wall Street dance to. Now, why would 'they' come up with a report like this, unless it got out the door without "proper review" by by the NY and DC supervisors?
This essential formula has been applied over every segment of society, not just the crossroads of commerce.
My investment research will now be primarily weighted toward political connections.
Current strategy will be the pharma and medical insurance companies. Come up with the ones that have the best political connections. Long them, short the sector.
Must read btw:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870439830457459813044016495...
Here is a relevant story that pretty much confirms what you are saying.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121609815
hum...that a bit like being a "long" working capital partner with drug gangs, who pay off the local police (who arrest granny for growing a bit of medical pot in her backyard, you know "short the sector"). It is a good idea, but somehow don't you think they will know you are coming and play against you in a heart beat and leave you on the street with the rest of us?
Am I going to have to call for matching chrome bracelets on members of CONgress and/or FED? Where are the damn cops?
For cryin out loud, I'm concerned and being questioned by the IRS about a little deduction I took for 08'. Yet in Washington the crooks roam the hallways in broad daylight, BAU with a wink and nod.
Where are the cops?
You and I, my friend, we are the cops along with every tax-paying citizen of the US.
...Perhaps Rusty still wants to subscribe to my newsletter.
Come on EVERYBODY lets not let this Health care Bill pass without a fight, get your heads out of Christmas for 2 minutes and call/E-mail your Senators.
The trouble is, they aren't "our" Senators... We're going to have to vote them out, first by knocking them out in the primaries with grassroots candidates WE select.
In another study by the same university, "The sun will most likely rise tomorrow".
Neither study comes as a surprise...
Fie and wrath on those that still think the Fed is "unpolitical."
As a quasi-governmental, quasi-private (quasi-modo?) institution, isn't the Fed doing exactly what it's supposed to be doing? OK, the "Congressional mandate" they talk about of inflation control and full employment kind of sucks. But maybe they are fulfilling the private-side mandate really well! Whatever that is...
I hate big banks as much as the next guy and have not read the study, but it smacks of suffering from a lurking variable. Unfortunately, academic economists are not the sharpest knives in the drawer, so they might not think of that. (Apologies to academic economists who are reading this. You must be the Black Swans!)
Win for Tyler and ZH.Epic.
I believe the premise made by the author to be pointed in the wrong direction, but not entirely incorrect.
Ties to the Fed = A higher chance that a well connected entity receives Bernie bucks and survival.
Only somewhat correct. The Fed is actually just an intermediary for those that actually own this country; lock, stock, and barrell.
The more share of the Fed one has, the more insurance, profit, and Bernie buck wealth.
A bailout is just desserts for having a share of the oligarchy.
Ties to the Fed = Ownership of America
We are essentially permanently indentured servants, living on varying stipends, and imprisoning ourselves in a company store from sea to shining to sea.
There is absolutely not one, good, reason why the people of this country should allow our monetary policy to be "hacked" by private interested parties acting for their own profit and interest, god damnit.
Monetary policy by and for the people. Now.
+++ Well Said!
It is a shame that # of shares in the New York Fed and other district branches isn't available for the analysis. How can the institution in charge of printing money be more secretative than a public corporation?
Yes I'm PISSED... and calling my senators every day to remind them they should not confirm Bernanke. I WANT AN INTELLECTUAL REVOLUTION!
"There is absolutely not one, good, reason why the people of this country should allow our monetary policy to be "hacked" by private interested parties acting for their own profit and interest, god damnit.
And if it were only that monetary policy that has been hacked. The outcome of the "insurance/drug care" debate should make clear as hell who's hacked policy in health and human services. And did you know that there is a law - yes, actually, a law, an AIPAC sponsored law - mandating America's commitment to maintaining Israel’s qualitative military edge in the Middle East and one that requires the president to report to Congress periodically on the steps taken to insure this advantage!
One of the greatest dividends of this financial crisis has been its force in confronting the American people with both their slavery and the theft of their democracy. In my view, righting these wrongs will be achieved only through mass demonstrations and strikes. The corruption is so egregious in Washington as to preclude parliamentary remedies.
What is that law called and when was it passed? Curious.
Rick64,
My knowledge of this law comes from Glenn Greenwald at Salon. You'll find referrence to it about half way through this recent article of his:
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2009/12/21/terrorism/i...
thanks
Mass strike! Agreed.
or...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCbfMkh940Q
Leave it to some college profs to tell us what we already know!
Its obvious, the UMich must be short on money. Simply trying to compete (outbid) against wall street for money. It appears UMich has become jealous due to thier dwendling funding verses banks and have changed the rules. They have chosen slandering them instead. I am watching the events unfold...to?
This country is owned by an organized crime syndicate and as Lucky Luciano could tell you, it's not called La Cosa Nostra, Mafia, The Mob or anything like that. It's called the Federal Reserve. It's "families" consist of the banks known as the "Primary Dealers." Sure, sometimes they have to "go to the mattresses" and there are casualties like Lehman Bros. and Bear Stearns but, these guys own and run the country. I don't need professors Ran Duchin and Denis Sosyura to tell me that. I've understood it all for decades.
I find it truly ironic that our first black president passes legislation that makes us instant "Slaves"...
milbank, you are one hundred percent on target. please help to educate those who don't understand. information and public activism can make a difference if we reach critical mass. we are a long way from where we need to be but are much farther than we were several months ago.
White House direct feed to MSNBC....:-((((
http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2009/12/msnbc-libtalker-morning-joe-team-takes.html
Thank you AngryVoter but, you're not fully grasping what I said means. It means there is nothing you can do about it. "activism can make a difference if we reach critical mass" is true but, it's never going to happen and the only result that would matter is total destruction of the government of the United States as we know it. You call yourself "AngryVoter," you also have to accept that there is no one you will ever be able to vote for for federal office, outside of the couple of "outlier" types who manage to get in, who isn't already in the pockets of this organized crime syndicate known as the Federal Reserve before you get to vote for them. Doesn't matter which party. They can't run without the money and support of the syndicate.
In their pockets "like so many nickels and dimes" as Sollozzo said of Don Corleone's politicians and judges in "The Godfather." The "two party system" is a false choice. The only areas where there is real difference is where "the syndicate" has no skin in the game like civil rights, abortion rights and other purely social issues.
Like I said in my earlier post, they own the country. You can't beat them.
They got sloppy with greed and messed up a bit. Now they are pulling out the muscle to put things back together without giving up anything. All that is happening just makes it easier to see what is and has always been so about America, it's "two party" political system and it's "free-market capitalism."
The only real difference between us and the old Soviet Union is we have more stuff. More stuff to amuse us and mollify us. That's now going to change.
The standard of living for this country has for forty years now, been based on borrowed money. Debt. The Syndicate is doing the "Big Sweep" right now, the big transfer of money from the many to the few before the next phase of our country's economic saga kicks in. That's the part where our standard of living drops to meet the standard of living of the rest of the world. It's part of the One World Order. Another aspect to understand, the standard of living for this country grew as long as we weren't allowing foreign competition in, once that happened and the car companies in Detroit had to compete with the car companies of other countries with lower standards of living, lower pay and lower priced vehicles well. . . you saw what happened to them. The auto industry is just a microcosm of the United States versus the world as a whole. The whole country in varying degrees is going to turn into Detroit over the next decade or so as our standard of living deleverages to meet the competition's.
Soon, the arrests will come - if they have not already started. This is not paranoia - Stalin nearly perfected the system - if only he had the surveillance capabilities that now exist to predict behavior. There is a reason the wording of the 2nd Amendment finds itself among the other rights of the individual - and the wording 'shall not be infringed' was considered to be definitive. Yet we bicker back and forth over what the founding father's intended - were they redundant when it came to this portion of the Constitution regarding legislative powers?
In my view it is that a citizen is able to defend their rights, at all costs. The rest are not citizens, but slaves to the bidding of a corrupted state.
The current administration still fully supports the complete stripping of personal rights, including habeus corpus, if you are determined to be an 'enemy combatant'.
One effectively becomes, as Orwell explained in one uncomplicated term, an 'unperson' - you cease to exist:
http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/supremes-suspected-enemy-combatan...
Rights cannot be given, only taken, away. Here is how they are protected, in order of ascending effectiveness.
At some point, going over and over political talk and reasoning is mental masturbation. Ask yourself why Posse Comitatus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posse_Comitatus_Act) has been violated recently and repeatedly?
http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/23256.html
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=25749
http://www.cnsnews.com/Public/Content/Article.aspx?rsrcid=45206
When would it ever be prudent to suspend the Constitution in order to save it?
(A special thank you to Thomas Jefferson and his always dissenting fellows, the Anti-Federalists)
Current "events" prove the Founders still on track as usual:
"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people's liberty teeth and keystone under independence. From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences and tendencies prove that to ensure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable. The very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good." -- George Washington, Commanding General of the Continental Army, Father of Our Country and First President of the United States in a speech to Congress, January 7, 1790
I do understand and agree with a lot of your post. I do however believe that there are real forces of change at work that we haven't seen before. The internet allows a site like ZeroHedge to exist. There is no reason that ZeroHedge cannot be more read then the WSJ. Goldman Sachs is reading it. CNBC is reading it. Gerald Celente (future trends predictor with strong track record) is predicting a third party will emerge in strength in 2010. It is just time. The financial crisis, unprecedented corrupt government actions, blatant disregard for the populous, the internet, social networking, ZeroHedge. These are all little pieces that are falling into place creating the environment for a real third party of real power to emerge quickly.
I don't want to be crass, but you remind of the many people I work with in large corporations that bitch about the politics. I remind that we all as a whole are responsible for it so if we don't like it we should change. It is hugely ironic (and supports your thesis) that everyone thinks Dilbert is funny but than goes to work and continues propogate that world.
When you talk to people almost everyone agrees that they don't trust nor identify with either party. But then they say but "we have to pick the better of the two evils". Bullshit only because that is what the few controlling the parties want. We need people to understand just how widespread the desire is for change and convince them that a vote for a third party candidate is not a wasted vote. This wasted vote mentality has slowed real change in this country for decades.
The internet provides a low cost medium for like minded individuals to unite share ideas in a way that wasn't available a decade ago. Like I said I understand your positions but I believe like the lungs provide a fertile environment for H1N1, our current state has provide the perfect incubator for a real intellectual revolution. We just have to all quit saying there is nothing we can do.
There is bitching about mainstream politics (Hannity, Maddow...Rush, Olbermann), and then there's bitching about the essence of liberty getting pushed off a plank, i.e. actual violations of the Constitution vs. Washington freakshow machinations. The media tramples and distorts as well all know - and our fellow countrymen can no longer tell the difference; nor do they 'care'. So to them, all politics is just bitching. Worse than sad.
To digalert - Just tell those IRS agents you used the same accounting software that Timmy G does and thus you want the same penalty. Oh, wait, he didn't get a penalty. Your second option is to say you were preparing your resume for a csar position in the whitehouse as you knew when you filed that Hopey was going to win.
sorry, that's czar - with a 'z' as in zero hedge, not 's' as in the slimeballs in office.
well at least light bulbs are starting to go on in some quarters....the fascist totalitarian cia-fed power matrix has operated a politburo based economy for decades causing all depressions since its inception.....and the fractional money system caused the ones prior to that....all in all very handy work for the minions of mammon.....
the only minor defect in the above analysis is in identifying the real power source.....truly gs is an intimate of the inner circle but gs is merely the conduit through which the rockefeller / rothschild axis of evil exerts power, aided and abetted by the bush crime syndicate....
don't hold your breath waiting for rockefeller appointed president barry soetoro to get on to anything.....his kenyan birth makes him a great sock puppet for r/r and mouthpiece for the british monarchy.....
the same den of vipers who murdered kennedy are the same who destroyed the wtc and now the american economy....
Heh. I had a chart that plotted bailout proceeds as a function of campaign contributions and correlation coefficient was about 0.8. Lately, I use as much FEC data as I do SEC data to determine which turd will get polished next.
I hope Grayson or somebody grills Bernanke on these findings. This needs to go mainstream because it confirms what people have been saying since Bear Stearnes failed.
the can of whoop a$$ once opened, cannot be closed. let the mob wars begin.
Of course this could be saying that Fed Board members (and those who aspire to do so) make crappy bank execs whose poor management would lead to a need for a bailout.
Your read is probably the right one, but neither speaks well for the banks, the Fed, or the economy
I do not know quite how to explain this more clearly, abolish the Federal Reserve Bank cartel (money oligopoly) and let's get our president's faces off those silly debt notes.
I'm shocked, SHOCKED, to find that gambling is going on in here.
Your winnings, Sir.
ooooh, thankyouverymuch. (Harrumph.) EVERYBODY OUT AT ONCE!!
Classic!!
The most creatively woven script of one-liners EVer.
Let's let the computers tell me what is happening with my money. In the information age, let's get to the information.
Talk about free markets, visibility to all, and we modify the US Constitution to provision personal data to be an individual right to protect citizens from the market.
and Hank Paulson got the immunity from prosecution flag when he was down on his knees , beggin for the bailout....crystal clear now...
There is a hard truth that the Federal Reserve performs an important function.
For you younger pups, that means now that we know where the cracks are in our monetary system, let's step back and fix them.
Easiest way to gain confidence? Let the masses in and the free market to apply, but for goodness sakes, kick the politicians out.
Disclaimer: Very long the dollar.
Important function? Hahahackhackha!
Hey, old man, you stepped on a crack! No, really, let us pups gather round and have a listen to your solutions.
Oh heck, the rest of your post is contradictory to your first line, what gives ole geezer?
END THE FED
Nah, it makes perfect sense. Central banking is good when it works, but when it was hijacked (in the 1960's) by the Jewish mafia it opened the door to train wreck after train wreck.
Wake up, the model is sound, the people that run your money are anti-United States which should make every citizen sick.
Ill bet you haven't noticed that this same society is looting your future. If I were young again, I would be absolutely furious and in people's faces. Now, we're just a bunch of cowards that don't know any better and look the other way.
I wonder what Rahm Emmanual has next in store for the common debt slave...
The model is sound like communism is sound - human nature will ensure it's demise. Wait, since when is counterfeiting sound?
I tried this for a while but the world is too small of a place. They'll either think you need your meds or they call the police. And we all know how much the police like to reason with angry people that are probably off their meds.
Rich Jews? Come on, you can be more creative than that. Leave them out of this - this goes back further than that anyway - and you don't wanna know what these creeps do in their free time.
You mean Harvey Blankfein, Rob Rubin, and Hank Greenberg/Ben Mosche received free billions from the government because they knew summers/orszag/emmanuel/feldman/barofsky/berhake/axelrod/bair/shapiro/cass sumstein? You must be kidding. How could this be?
The Federal Reserve Note needs abolished.
The United States Note needs to come back into play (arguably with the abolishment of the Fed as a potential dollar devaluation strategy).
Put the Federal Reserve back in charge of filling the drinking fountains at the Treasury.
ZH is starting to sound like some wacko 9/11 truther site:
"…under the gun of its one and only master, Goldman Sachs…", "…the Fed is accountable to nothing and nobody, save Goldman Sachs...".
Does anyone actually believe this crap?
You're right, they have a lot of masters, none of them you or me
Epic Fail.
Abolish the Fed.
Goldman is the ultimate bucket shop.
Surely the political developments of 2009 underscore what’s happening here. Obama’s administration starts the year so packed with Goldman guys Taibbi says it’s like a backstage party on the show “Bob Rubin: This Is Your Life.”
As Obama spreads jet fuel around the world, citizens, small businesses and little banks begin to capsize while anybody on the Fed’s rolodex (not Ken Lewis) parties and takes a victory lap.
Money is meant to be the servant of politics and economics. Instead it has become a weapon in the hands of the Fed. And Americans, no longer with political representation in Congress, are powerless to protect thermselves while the wealth of the nation concentrates in the hands of a few men.
America’s great strength was in her individual freedom. That freedom has been swamped by an international banking mafia. America’s individual free enterprise must be restored.
It is relatively easy for a collective group to pit itself against the individual and win. And that is exactly what has happened in America, to “this republic if you can keep it” cum a banking cartel oligarchy.
America’s economic miracle grew from the soil of individualism—taking root on the primary importance of the individual, from self-reliance and personal independence. America rooted her limited government in “freedom from government regulation in the pursuit of a person's economic goals, from a doctrine holding that the interests of the individual should take precedence over the interests of the state.”
Seemingly invulnerable, America’s individualism was also her Achilles heel. At the peak of her power, an international banking cartel coming from the Rothschild nucleus moved to her shores, pitting its prowess against the lone individual, picking each off one by one financially, until, finally, today it rules and impoverishes the nation through government control and edict.
In short, America’s natural wealth has been trumped by the unnatural medium invented to exchange that wealth— by the fiat money itself. That is, until the people awaken and realize it is only paper.
So...big banks appeared in American spontaneously in the 1950s ?
Look I realize that the American education system has robbed you of any ability to appreciate history and whatnot but it would be nice if you conspiracy fellas wouldnt just go out of your way to rape history so blatantly...
What a cheap swipe...and fail! From whence didst thou whip out that date? If you had paid attention, in whichever school you seemingly attended (my punctuation isn't perfect, but yours?), you might have gleaned a little bit of awareness that history is a repetition of conspiracy for power. Nothing new - no space aliens in the sky, anon jerkoff.
really...where did you get 1950 from?
America's constitution has been usurped, but only because the greater part of the American people consented to it. They did so with the promise of stuff, lots and lots of stuff. The accumulation of stuff was more important to them than the rights won for them by their forefathers, who paid with their blood. So less of the oligarchs took our country away from us, no friend we gave it to them, never forget it.
The seven men who journeyed to Jekyll Island in Georgia, shades drawn on the train and using first names only so as not to accidentally reveal each other's identity, represented one-fourth of the total wealth of the entire world. Where was the choice on that horrible project—the Fed--that they conceived and clandestinely forced upon America on Christmas Eve 1913? Which brings us to Christmas Eve 2009 with the vote on what eventually may be nation-crippling universal health care, sped through Congress with the least amount of public information on the details so that Obama can mention it in his State of the Union message in January. Did the majority of Americans who now oppose this plan (if it were a vote it would be a landslide loss) have a choice?
I think it’s misleading to reason that Americans have selected the cultural changes and the government policies that we’re now saddled with.
The key sticking point is that America's political developments are managed from top down, unlike the grassroots town hall arenas that our Founders originally favored. Americans do not select their leaders, they do not vote whether to wage war, they don’t vote for social policies as sweeping as Social Security and healthcare, and they don’t vote for economic policy. Instead they are only asked to choose between the tough policies handed down to them from the Establishment.
What kind of choice can be made between the programs of the two major political parties, the advertisements of which provide only lies. One party says that we need to mobilize to fight Iran now before it’s too late; the other party says its health care will be revenue neutral. When an independent tries to enter the primary system, even with millions of dollar of his own money, he is smeared, blocked from debates, joked about, and marginalized in every state. The media, always on board with the political establishment, can hardly bring itself to mention his name.
It would be one thing to have political parties based on multiple choice, but the people frankly are given no party choices. How can anyone say that the majority of people have selected this culture and this government and these economic leaders? You can’t say that. Because of these developments, the one choice that does present itself is not multiple choice, but the system--yes or no. In other words, the system either is reformed or it must be replaced. The latter was the Founders' choice.
Sticky this post and put it in the time capsule. Later generations will need to know what life was life before the "re-alignment."
If a service economy based on pretense and pandering collapses in the night, does anyone care?
Our government has been captured by the Banking Cartel--
The longer this administration allows itself to be led around by the nuts by the lobbyist army, the sooner they will be voted out.
This is obvious by now to even the most ardent, donut plowing American Idol Fans!!
And I voted for this tool of Corporate Capitalism!!
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
BOYCOTT the big banks and brokers!!
Isnt it clear that the government has ZERO intentions of protecting the taxpayer that isnt in the 1% of elites in this country??
Give your money to a company that has earned your business and your trust!! FU@# the Financial Oligarchy!
Actually, you bring up the simplest and most powerful solution.
Get your money out of failed institutions, and don't do business with those that mingle with government life support.
This is the ONLY way the common man can strike back -- starve the beast. After all, what function is a bank doing anyway paying 0.1% interest in the front door while making loans at 6% out the back? None.
There are plenty of small banks that want your business and don't look for Uncle Sam and his circus of thieves for handouts.
Shut up, quit bitching, and do it. Sadly, I'd wager that the vast majority of "financial whiz kids" on this forum won't because they lack the brains and the balls!
Is it just me, or does this seem like FRONT PAGE NEWS MATERIAL???
Where is the New York Times? Where is the Journal?
If anyone has contacts there, please inundate their inbox with this study. This goes straight to the heart of power and corruption in America.
You heard Cramer's psychic. The FDIC is going to Nazi into solvent banks and close them and force them to sell to insolvent huge banks.
It's already coming out that maybe WaMu wasn't so bad after all. But they got fed to bigger cheaters and bigger liers with worse balance sheet. I can't find the link though.
Quotes from Mike Stathis’ The Biggest Banking Heist in World History: Washington Mutual
October 1, 2009
…Last year, on October 7th, I sent the SEC a (rushed) formal complaint highlighting my concerns regarding insider trading and other illegal activities associated with WaMu…
…In this complaint, I discussed how the banking cartel took WaMu down illegally and (most likely) conspired via naked short sales, knowing that one of the members of this cartel would be able to buy up their assets at pennies on the dollar.
As it turned out, the WaMu asset “giveaway” for less than $2 billion to JP Morgan represented the second banking heist JP Morgan negotiated from the FDIC in six months. Strangely, these also happened to be the top two banking heists ever.
…As you might recall, I was the first person in the world (as far as I know) to report on the forced bailout (disguised as a buyout) of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America. My article “Bailouts Disguised as Buyouts” was released within days of the September 2008 deal announcement, just a couple of weeks prior to the WaMu seizure. http://www.avaresearch.com/article_details-86.html
…Remember, several days prior to the seizure of WaMu, the OTS stated that after their in-depth review, the thrift had no need to raise further capital at least throughout 2008. In large part this was due to the $7 billion loan made by Texas Pacific Group in the spring.
…So I wrote up a brief summary of my findings in a complaint to the SEC which included what I believed to be clear signs of massive insider trading. When I looked at the chart, it was obvious insider trading had occurred in a massive scale. But I knew there was much more to this. I knew it was even larger than the Bear Stearns heist.
After all, the initial naked short ban list in July 2008 left out the three financial firms in most danger of collapse at the time – Washington Mutual (WM), Wachovia (WB), and E-Trade Financial (ETFC).
For the rest of the story:
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article13894.html
Mike Stathis is the Managing Principal of Apex Venture Advisors, a business and investment intelligence firm serving the needs of venture firms, corporations and hedge funds on a variety of projects. Mike's work in the private markets includes valuation analysis, deal structuring, and business strategy.
Please give me degree of significance of the statistical results - i am highly sceptical
Sorry this is quite frankly a but dumb. It doesn't take a bunch of business school running fancy probit models PhDs to figure this one out
All other things equal, who will need the most bailout money: bigger banks or small ones? Answer: the biggest banks.
All other things equal: who is likely to have more political influence: a large global bank with a trillion of assets or a community lender based in Wichita or someplace like that - no offence? Answer: the large bank.
Therefore: the results of this study do not prove any kind of bias, conspiracy or malfeasance per se, its just pure logic. They confirm the obvious. Big banks have more power and have more problems when they go under.
Is this an argument to limit TBTF ? Maybe. But there are other considerations and its not that simple. (I know what will follow this comment, the cursing, the populist rage, send in the army, bla bla bla).
So how did they get TBTF?
Repeal of Glass-Steagall <check>
Increase leverage limits <check>
SEC/Banking Regulators look the other way <check>
You are overlooking how they gained so much power and were able to build themselves into TBTF. They took on risk and shifted the losses to the public while keeping profits.
All of this was done "because" they had so much influence. Now, in their arrogance, they flip-off the people and Congress by raising fees and interest rates -- in addition to bail-out money.
Sorry, history is littered with conspiracies. (some failed and some ongoing)
BANANA REPUBLIC
200 pages...good reading for a snow day.
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/reserve.htm
The four branches of government....
Executive, legislative, judicial, Goldman Sachs.
If I may:
Banking-Military-Industrial Complex with (1 + 535 + 9) puppets.
the fed is the 4th branch...
Stick CDS and other OTC derivatives on an exchange and lets have at em. But no we can't because folks would then know the extent of actual losses and the whole system would collapse. Lets make the banks publish honest balance sheets and value their assets at something approaching reality. But no we can't, coz then everyone would realize that all the banks are insolvent and the whole system would collapse. Lets deal with health and social security in a realistic manner, lets admit that we don't have $100 trillion dollars stuffed down the back of the sofa and lets tell folks to start saving NOW for a future free of the government teat. But no we can't, because then the people would understand that they'd been slaving their whole lives, paying taxes for nothing except endless war and enriching pigmen oligarchs. They'd revolt for sure and the whole system would collapse.
They lie to us constantly, and what's more they admit they're lying but only a very few really care, hell I'm not sure if I do anymore.
As for the 'shocking' coincidence that money borrowed by the government was being funneled to the banks who paid the biggest bribes or had the closest connections to the Fed, well if that surprises you then you genuinely need help. I can think of another correlation between those who received the most in TARP and the Fed's (unconstitutional) exchanging of wage slave's sweat for garbage, but I wouldn't want to be painted as a hater of the sons of Israel, because I'm really not, like I said I just don't care.
The Federal Reserve is a criminal organization, Satanic in its origin and operation. They are continuously shoveling money into the banks and lining their own pockets. They must be audited and then abolished. At the least, I want cameras on those mother-fuckers 24-7.
YOU NEED TO PROVIDE LINK TO TOTAL DOCUMENT
The Fed is a Fascist [Satanic] Cartel [Church]
http://www.thedailybell.com/681/Nelson-Hultberg-The-Fed-is-a-Fascist-Cartel.html
i would just like to note that using darwin in this implies that what he suggested should be applied to cultural/social incarnations. if you'd like to go the social darwin route then at least credit the person responsible for it, good or bad that it may be, herbert spencer.