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Corrupt Government Officials Should Be In Jail … Alongside Corrupt Banksters
Wall Street fraud caused the Great Depression and the current financial crisis. Top economists and financial experts agree that our economy will never recover unless Wall Street fraud is prosecuted.
Yet the government has more or less made it official policy not to prosecute fraud, and instead to do everything necessary to cover up for Wall Street. For example, the Obama administration is prosecuting fewer financial crimes than under Reagan or either Bush.
For example, we pointed out in 2010:
The government’s entire strategy now – as during the S&L crisis – is to cover up how bad things are.
But it is not only a matter of covering up fraud that has already happened. The government also created an environment which greatly encouraged fraud.
Here are just a few of many potential examples:
- The government-sponsored rating agencies committed massive fraud (and see this)
- The Treasury department allowed banks to “cook their books”
- Regulators knew of and allowed the use of debt-hiding accounting tricks by the big banks
- Tim Geithner was complicit in Lehman’s accounting fraud, (and see this), and pushed to pay AIG’s CDS counterparties at full value, and then to keep the deal secret. And as Robert Reich notes, Geithner was “very much in the center of the action” regarding the secret bail out of Bear Stearns without Congressional approval. William Black points out: “Mr. Geithner, as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since October 2003, was one of those senior regulators who failed to take any effective regulatory action to prevent the crisis, but instead covered up its depth”
- The former chief accountant for the SEC says that Bernanke and Paulson broke the law and should be prosecuted
- Freddie and Fannie helped to create the epidemic of mortgage fraud
- The government knew about mortgage fraud a long time ago. For example, the FBI warned of an “epidemic” of mortgage fraud in 2004. However, the FBI, DOJ and other government agencies then stood down and did nothing. See this and this. For example, the Federal Reserve turned its cheek and allowed massive fraud, and the SEC has repeatedly ignored accounting fraud. Indeed, Alan Greenspan took the position that fraud could never happen
- Paulson and Bernanke falsely stated that the big banks receiving Tarp money were healthy, when they were not
- Arguably, both the Bush and Obama administrations broke the law by refusing to close insolvent banks
- Congress may have covered up illegal tax breaks for the big banks
Economist James K. Galbraith wrote in the introduction to his father, John Kenneth Galbraith’s, definitive study of the Great Depression, The Great Crash, 1929:
The main relevance of The Great Crash, 1929 to the great crisis of 2008 is surely here. In both cases, the government knew what it should do. Both times, it declined to do it. In the summer of 1929 a few stern words from on high, a rise in the discount rate, a tough investigation into the pyramid schemes of the day, and the house of cards on Wall Street would have tumbled before its fall destroyed the whole economy. In 2004, the FBI warned publicly of “an epidemic of mortgage fraud.” But the government did nothing, and less than nothing, delivering instead low interest rates, deregulation and clear signals that laws would not be enforced. The signals were not subtle: on one occasion the director of the Office of Thrift Supervision came to a conference with copies of the Federal Register and a chainsaw. There followed every manner of scheme to fleece the unsuspecting ….
This was fraud, perpetrated in the first instance by the government on the population, and by the rich on the poor.
***
The government that permits this to happen is complicit in a vast crime.
In other words, the fraud started at the very top with Greenspan, Bush, Paulson, Negraponte, Bernanke, Geithner, Rubin, Summers and all of the rest of the boys.
As William Black told me today:
In criminology jargon: they created an intensely criminogenic environment.
The government’s special inspector general in charge of oversight of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (the “TARP” bank bailouts) – Neil M. Barofsky – said today:
It was a “message to the banks ‘if we commit fraud, we break the rules, don’t worry, we’re too big — they’ll never bring the appropriate steps against us,’” Barofsky says in an interview with The Daily Ticker. “And that is why we’ve had scandal after scandal after scandal.”
This was a “global conspiracy to fix one of the most important interest rates in the world,” Barofsky continues. “[Geithner] heard this information and looked the other way. Geithner and other regulators should be held accountable, they should be fired across the board. If they knew about an ongoing fraud, and they didn’t do anything about it, they don’t deserve to have their jobs. I hope we see people in handcuffs.“
Government regulators have become so corrupted and “captured” by those they regulate that Americans know that the cop is on the take. (Even top justice officials are incredibly cozy with Wall Street fraudsters.)
Institutional corruption is killing people’s trust in our government and our institutions, which is one of the reasons the economy is faltering again.
Indeed, polls show that very few Americans believe that the U.S. government has the “consent of the governed”, a higher percentage of Americans liked King George during the Revolutionary War than like Congress today, and people are publicly discussing whether it’s a good or bad idea to “hang bankers”.
I noted 7 years ago:
I am NOT calling for the overthrow of the government. In fact, I am calling for the reinstatement of our government. I am calling for an end to lawless dictatorship and a return to the rule of law. Rather than trying to subvert the constitution, I am calling for its enforcement.
***
The best way to avoid all types of revolution would be for the government to start following the rule of law. I passionately hope it will do so.
While conservatives tend to view government as the problem, and liberals tend to view corporations as the problem, the real problem is the malignant, symbiotic relationship between corrupt officials and criminal corporate leaders. Without the cancerous relationship, neither side could cause so much damage. If America returns to the rule of law, we might have a fighting chance.
The justice system may be the only thing which stands between peace and violence. All of those who benefited from Wall Street fraud must be prosecuted ... including corrupt government officials who aided and abetted their crimes, helped cover them up, or have blocked prosecution.
Iceland should be a role model:
Iceland has prosecuted the fraudster bank heads (and here and here) and their former prime minister, and their economy is recovering nicely… because trust is being restored in the financial system.
Indeed, even evangelical leader Pat Robertson agrees:
Pat Robertson discussed the banking crisis and glowingly spoke about how Iceland jailed many of the bankers who devastated their nation’s economy by taking out fraudulent loans. Robertson hailed the Nordic nation for its actions and said that Americans should deal with the financial crisis in the same way.
***
“They are putting people in jail. Prime ministers are being indicted. They are going after banks. The people said the banks are ripping us off. We don’t like what they did, and they brought our country to ruin. Suddenly, Iceland is turning around and they look like a big success story!”
***
“We could start putting all of those bankers in jail. There was not one banker prosecuted and so many people were lying, and so-called “no-doc loans” and liars’ loans, and none of them have been held accountable.
***
Iceland is leading the way and their GDP is growing, and all of a sudden, they were in a terrible mess, terrible mess, and look what is happening!”
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It is not simple Physics. The Laws of Physics cannot be broken. It is the fact that:
Power + Human Nature tends towards greater and greater Evil if not opposed vigorously by We The People.
We The People have been very, very derelict in carrying out our Responsibilities (such an anachronistic concept after over one-hundred years of Public School Indoctrination and Propaganda broadcast by the corrupt Main Stream Media) as American Citizens.
i wanna get olivia....'liva. wanna get.... olivia'liva
beeeyatches!
Nobody in the Fed or Treasury will go to jail or get sued because they have sovereign immunity.
With that kind of protection from prosecution...why not break the law 24/7 right? I know I would.
A commenter on Puplava's show pointed out that the statute of limitations is running out for the crimes of 2008. Soon it will be illegal to even charge someone for their actions.
Every man has his price.
At this point - even some sacrificial lambs would be a nice change of pace...
Corzine needs to be one of them.
Angelo needs to be one of them.
S&P and all of the other rats need to go to jail.
And then the real fun starts.
Institutional corruption is killing people’s trust in our government and our institutions, which is one of the reasons the economy is faltering again.
Bingo and why QE3 QE4 and other bullshit kick the can half ass attempts to save the economy will fail.
This is one of best posts on ZH ever and this paragraph in particular
David Stockman: "The Capital Markets Are Simply A Branch Casino Of The Central Bank"
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/david-stockman-capital-markets-are-simply-branch-casino-central-bank#comment-2647577
Alex: That's a pretty stark picture. So as an individual investor, what are we to do? How do we protect ourselves in this type of situation? Should I be owning bonds and staying out of stocks? Should I be owning stocks?
David: No, I would stay out of any security markets. These are unsafe markets at any speed. It's all tied together. As I was saying when the great margin call comes and they start selling the Treasury bond, they'll take everything else with it. Real estate is priced off Treasuries. Mortgaged-backed securities are priced off Treasuries. Corporates are priced off Treasuries. Junk bonds are priced off Treasuries. Everything. The stock market will go into a panic. We don't know when the timing will come – we've never been in a world where there is $15 trillion worth of central-bank balance sheets, like we have today. The only thing I think you can conclude is preservation is the only thing you are about as an investor. Forget about yield. Forget about return. Just keep yourself liquid and preserve your capital, because you can't predict the day when, as I say, the great margin call in the sky comes down.
Always keep these two facts in mind: None of your capital is safe existing as ones and zeroes in a financial institutions' computing systems nor is it safe if it exists inside the bricks and mortar of anyplace under potential government control during one of those jaunty, fun-filled "banking holidays".
I dream about going on a bank holiday. Don't you, too? Such a fun and joyous holiday it will be when every ATM goes dark, every debit and credit card payment terminal will not work, and every bank, credit union and savings and loan door is locked "until further notice". It will take considerable time to physically seize the contents of everyone's safe deposit box.
Thanks, I had missed this...
Just keep yourself liquid and preserve your capital, because you can't predict the day when, as I say, the great margin call in the sky comes down.
and might i add; a place least affected...lean and light and nimble such as a packpack, become like a cougar go nocturnal - preferably alone, be the hunter not the hunted...survival (remember katrina).
it will the craziest human tragedy event of all time...
6.6 billion in varrying degrees of panic, more than half clueless.
JMFO
Institutional corruption is killing people’s trust in our government and our institutions
GOOD!!! They need to be abandoned!
If this is an opinion poll my vote is yes thankyou.
Your opinion poll is in November. You get to choose the color of your criminal.
I'm still a Ron Paul man, hoping he pulls a rabbit out of the hat.
But - if not - Gary Johnson, libertarian candidate, will be on the ballot OF ALL 50 STATES: http://www.lp.org/
What do y'all think of Gary?
I think we are way past the time of presidents.
You are better off with Buddy Roemer.
ROCKY ! ROCKY ! ROCKY ! ROCKY ! ROCKY ! ROCKY !
#1- he doesn't seem to want it. good sign.
#2- he's not the green"we need trains"woman.
#3 HE DOES HAVE SECRET UNDERWEAR.
#4 HE SAID HE WOULD ADVOCATE PROSICUTIONS.....let's make him.
How folksy!
Now...Since I'd generally be labelled a 'Libertarian' by the ignorant (even though I'm opposed to central government ... and opposed to such 'Libertarian' mantras as the strong defence policy, which is actually just a cover for a continued strong offensive military), what do I think of the Libertarian Party?
Trying to shepherd the disaffected on ZH behind [yet another!] false hope of a kartoon kandidate is disingenuous in the extreme, Georgie!
The central government ballot box is a total waste of time. Citizens should be lobbying their local and state "representatives" to disengage from the Central System and to re-negotiate a more sensible structure from the ground up.
Only local action can derail the NWO. Otherwise, focus on your family first ... fuck federal politics....
Ron Paul is 1 Libertarian in the House, I think there's a few more that came in as Tea Party reps in 2010.
Although, they had to sneak in using the the Republican label.
They are hopefully being watched closely by their constituents. The Tea Party is the Goldwater Republicans making a comeback. It will be tough for them to resist the overwhelming power and weath of the slimeballs that now call themselves republicans and democrats.
From the Libertarian party's platform http://www.lp.org/platform
3.1 National Defense
We support the maintenance of a sufficient military to defend the United States against aggression. The United States should both avoid entangling alliances and abandon its attempts to act as policeman for the world. We oppose any form of compulsory national service.
I would indeed agree that the ignorant would label you a Libertarian, since you clearly misrepresented their platform, and if you were indeed one, would not have done so.
LOL ... Ron Paul says he would cut the budget by $1 trillion in the first year. So, how much would he cut the Pentagon's budget in line with that overall reduction of 27% in the overall federal budget? Drumrollllll ... just 15%!
Is that what you call "maintenance of a sufficient military to defend the United States against aggression"?
ROFLMAO!
Just a few nukes (reducing the present number by 90% would still leave 600 nuclear warheads!) would be more than adequate to "deter aggression".
What's Johnson's actual "plan"? Gimme a link!
Platform ... schmatform....It's still smoke and mirrors.
Any candidate that is uncorruptable does not stand a chance. Sorry, but that is the reality of 2012.
George
Karl --irrationally hates gold-- D has given Gary Johnson a through vetting over a number of posts on his market-ticker site. (Yeah, I suffer through Karls opinionations because aside from that, he has many worthwhile contributions).
Bottom line is ... don't expect anyone getting handcuffed if Gary Johnson is president.
Basically, he sounds like mittens lite.
Ron Paul or bust unfortunately. I say that because, frankly ...Ron Paul isn't the most charismatic speaker. In todays world ... media "presence" is everything. Unfortunately.
Far as I can tell, a "reset" with all its helter-skelter implications, is likely necessary to shake the banking cartels grip on government.
... hoping he pulls a rabbit out of the hat....
excellent summation of yur position...when all else fails, resort to majic tricks.
El Ron was a false hope narrative candidate,,,moving those uneasy with the controlled collapse timeline into the confines of a political spectacle which siphoned off the time, money and energy of thousands who would otherwise have been forced to think in newer, more creative, and more radical ways about how to fight back...
then OWS siphoned off more energy into a sinkhole of controlled opposition dissipation of dissent and the disappointment of 'hopes'...further demoralizing potentially authentic opposition to the train wreck.
now yu George, have taken up the mantle of false hope pope, and from this pulpit preach the gospel of phony reform...blowing bubbles at a burning house while yur buddies look after yur rear here to keep any disruptive clarifcation of what yur really up to from breaking out over top of the soothing waves of yur message of reform, hope[ium] and return to the rule of law.
Johnson? I somehow doubt that there are many dopes left to successfully rope along through to Novembers final fantasy...seems that most Merikans are now pretty much bummed out bout everything and everyone, and the hopium pipe burned out - but ya, if there are any, suckas left, Johnson's the false hope favorite, for sure!
Game ON Georgie! (Yu better round up a better bunch o syncophantic supporters than yesterdays!...that Klown Posse was Pathetic! STICKY NOTE: maybe a call to Sandy could grease some wheels...,!?!??! And better remind the troops....resort to the vote button is much like serial self-love...indulgence in it in place of actual argument leads to inadequacy in social intercourse! Just look at yur lead off man, LOW PRO!
Amongst my friends, the electoral conversation goes like this: I hate Obama, and the country won't survive four more years of his rule. But, do I hate and fear Obama enough to vote for Romney, who has the same platform?
Eff it. I'm voting for Gary Johnson, who has an actual plan for our survival. Elsewise, it's all just guns and lawyers. I don't care which of these dem-rep A-holes will be my target.
Hey, it's our new troll JOYFUL, with his friend, doc_in_the_house! He's baaaaack! http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-07-25/former-citi-boss-reduce-...
thank yu for yur speedy response...
which once agin, is more a deposit than a riposte...it will be interesting to watch the slow mounting of yur discomforture as it sinks in that yur efforts to truncate opposition to the imposition of the sio-party line leave yurself in the spotlight...as embodying all yur attempted aspersions!...
but that may take some time...it's clear that a major effort will have to be mounted to stifle the authentic resistor voice...and that already, big blows have been struck to the agenda and the agents of the moneypower here. Yur frenzied efforts. and those of yur kolleagues. are the proof of that...
ZHer's are not nearly as naive as yu have taken them for. The careful reader, as opposed to the loud mouth shouter, will be able to see the transparency of yur pathetic effort...
in fact I believe yu to be a useful pivot point on which to place my presentation - as to the modus operandi of that power - for the edification of the same gallery yu are playing to!
Here be the triumvirate of techiques by which the sio-nazi faction in kontrol of every aspect of the Euromerik prison palace impose their hegemony:
a)when a message breaks through that disturbs the slumbers of the sheeple, activate the mind-controlled minions whose brainstems are remotely run via MK Ultra tech...set them on the 'problem' and try to kill the messenger before the message spreads. THIS IS YU!
b) take the situation under hand by being BOLD! - accuse the problem person of the very things that underlie yur own methods...put them on the defensive, make every effort to douse the flames via cheap slanders, rhetorical tricks, and when all else fails, flaming them to death. THIS IS YUR BIBBIBUDDIES~!
c)come up with new, kreative ways to keep the problem at least at bay by trying to force the discussion into areas that seem the proof of one's 'resistor' kredentials...all the while taking instructions from the higher ups as to how to improve yur dissimulationist scorecard. THIS IS GEORGE!
Thanks for comin out sucka...please continue to drop in...yur deposits are like high grade fuel for the fire lickin GW's feet!
tl/dr
Also too ad hominem...
Here's LowProfile trolling against silver ownership, folks: 2599322 (52 posts in a single thread! ... the very definition of trolling and forum manipulation)! Since accusations are being bandied about...Are you really FlakSheister's alter-ego? (he cracked 88 posts arguing for AGW in a single thread, so it wouldn't surprise me in the least!)
Take your projections somewhere else. The Yahoo Message Board is calling you back!
Pointing out that if there is a (IMO probable) recapitalization of the system using gold, that it is highly probable silver will be left in the dust (compared to gold) is trolling?
LULZ
i shall ask for forgivness for my thoughts - again...
on second thought, whom shall i ask this of, ah fuck it, just get the ________.
oh, thats right we are civalized by the almighty pen and cloak of law...
I have been a conservative since I started to vote.
I have been contributing to Soc. Sec. since I was 15.
The ONLY group that doesn't want to keep the money ($3.5TRILLION) they "borrowed" from my retirement funds is the Dems.
The tax they are "cutting" is Soc. Sec., there is a tax "cap" at $108K on paying into Soc. Sec.
They pay SS benefits to people who have NEVER paid into Soc. Sec.
AND
They have all the sheep thinking the problem with SS is the "baby boomers"retiring........that's what the surplus they "borrowed" was supposed to cover.....and why there is 4 workers paying for 1 retiree, instead of 17:1 like it used to be.
Smarten up!!!
ANY other program they steer you to will be pillaged/borrowed/procured before YOU can collect.
There are LOTS of other ENTITLEMENT programs that should be cut before I take a cut in SS, OR have to wait longer to collect. WHY???? Because I PAID INTO IT!
Cut someone who's getting a freebie.
You're off topic.
"They pay SS benefits to people who have NEVER paid into Soc. Sec."
really?--- last time i looked, you had to pay in a certain minimum number of quarters of employment to qualify. if you don't qualify-- no benefits.
If my income is below a certain level and I am working, I pay into Social Security and Medicare but I get it refunded back to me each year via the Earned Income Credit (EIC). Therefore, I get free Social Security and free Medicare Part A.
Rant over.
My point is, I don't have a realistic option.
Give it to the poor OR give it to corporate America.
Where is that "Middle Party"???
We are the middle party. We have been maneuvered into irrelevance by two parties intent on obfuscation of their motives.
The gaining and holding of power [over us]. This will take more than a referendum on one or another of two false choices.
Definition of MANEUVER 1. a: a military or naval movement b: an armed forces training exercise; especially: an extended and large-scale training exercise involving military and naval units separately or in combination —often used in plural 2. a procedure or method of working usually involving expert physical movement 3. a: evasive movement or shift of tactics b: an intended and controlled variation from a straight and level flight path in the operation of an airplane 4. a: an action taken to gain a tactical end b: an adroit and clever management of affairs often using trickery and deceptionWe are the Fucked Over and Unrepresented Middle party.
We had a couple of chances with Ross Perot and Ron Paul and we let the media herd the sheeple back into the 'only two party' meme.
So they (Dems/Reps) know they can fuck us right up the ass and we don't utter a sqeak....... so on it goes....... until it doesn't.........and a time will come
A time will come when cities/counties/states that have gone BK and can't pay the pensions of police and the Federal US can't pay pensions/benefits of servicemen/women..... a time will come when we'll all be on the same side.
Until then, resistance is NOT futile.
Thanks George, great article.
bingo ---or should I say ping-- when cops/military don't get their come-upance the SHsTF---and IOUs and devalued script will not get them back in line.
What do y'all think of Gary?
I'm sure he's miles ahead of the others, but the job he seeks involves running a massive barbaric beast.
I'm sure he's miles ahead of the others, but the job he seeks involves running a massive CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE.
Our founding fathers gave us the 2nd amendment, not with intent that we should just bear arms, but in order that we should use them to enforce the unwritten law of honest government
In fact, as I recall, but don't know just where one document states that it is the duty of the governed to overthrow a corrupt system. Can someone confirm that.
I'd also like to re-read the Ben Franklin statement the "those who give up their freedom in search of security, deserve neither". Am I way off base here?
Thanks
In fact, as I recall, but don't know just where one document states that it is the duty of the governed to overthrow a corrupt system. Can someone confirm that.
That was the Declaration of Independence. (Haven't the time to paste it, sorry.)
I'd also like to re-read the Ben Franklin statement the "those who give up their freedom in search of security, deserve neither".
He said several similar things, but that quote was from notes he wrote on the margin of his papers at one point, and it's worded a bit differently from the above.
I believe it is the responsibility of Congress, the SEC, the DOJ and the attorney general. Take your pick.
The FBI could also take a part in it. Why do you think Bush had Homeland Security. He did not trust others to watch what he did.
Why do you think Bush had Homeland Security. He did not trust others to watch what he did
C'mon, Rockers, you just made that up.