Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog [11],
Is there any hope that we might actually elect a president with the mandate and courage to take down Wall Street instead of kissing its rear end in humiliating obeisance?
The 2016 presidential election may be far away to those obsessed with the news cycle, but it's not too early to express one single hope: that we finally elect a president who doesn't kiss Wall Street's rear end every single day for four/eight years running. It's not difficult, folks; it's either/or. Either the President is willing to take down Wall Street or he/she is kissing Wall Street's rear end. There is no middle ground.
Either the next president issues an executive order (or whatever it takes) to enact these four administrative rules, or he/she is kissing Wall Street's rear end every single day of his/her administration.
1. Every position in any tradable security or financial instrument must be held for a minimum of one minute.
2. A transaction fee payable to the U.S. Treasury will be levied on every order when placed, regardless of whether it executes or not or if it is cancelled, of all tradable securities and financial instruments, including those privately exchanged: $1 for every transaction of less than $100,000 in value, $10 for every trade over $100,000 but less than $1 million, $100 for every trade over $1 million but less than $10 million, and $1,000 for every trade over $10 million.
3. All tradable securities and financial instruments must be marked to market at the close of every trading day. This includes derivatives, credit default swaps, mortgage-backed securities, etc.
4. All transactions must be transacted on public exchanges with a transparent bid/ask.
Order the F.B.I., SEC and other law enforcement agencies of the Federal government to prioritize enforcement of all existing securities and banking regulations.
Just four easy-to-understand simple rules. Without these rules, Wall Street remains the Monster Id of American ambition, a vast legal looting machine parasitically sucking the U.S. economy dry and distorting not just financial markets but the political process and the incentives and values that motivate every participant.
Here's a brief history of the past two presidencies. The chickens finally came home to roost for Wall Street and the banks in 2008, and President Bush had a golden, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to expose Wall Street and the banks to real capitalism, i.e. you're insolvent, you go bust, your assets are auctioned off.
Instead, he obediently bent down and kissed Wall Street's rear end, approving trillions of dollars of taxpayer-funded bailouts. Oh dearie-dear, the ATMs might not work? Really? Then why does the FDIC have the power to take over busted banks and keep them operating while their assets are liquidated in an orderly fashion?
It was never about debt-serfs not being able to get cash from ATMs. It was always about saving the gargantuan fortunes of financier skimmers, scammers, parasites and predators.
President Obama entered office with a mandate to take down Wall Street and the Too Big to Fail banks. He also refused to expose Wall Street and the banks to real capitalism. He too has bent down and kissed Wall Street's rear end every day of his presidency.
It's not complicated, people. Either enact these four simple rules or remain on your knees kissing Wall Street's rear end. Either the parasites and predators have a free hand, and the incentives for corruption and legal looting remain firmly in place, or Wall Street is taken down by enforcing four simple rules--rules that have no impact on legitimate, productive companies and investors in those companies. These four rules would only impact financier skimmers, scammers, parasites and predators.
Is there any hope that we might actually elect a president with the mandate and courage to take down Wall Street instead of kissing its rear end in humiliating obeisance? The only way such a miracle could occur is if the voters demand it. Sadly, most voters are as morally blind as the people they elect; either they're complicit in the rigged casino (i.e. they're hoping to share in the spoils via their pension, IRA, 401K, etc.) or the corruption and rot has seeped so deep that the nation's moral compass is spinning aimlessly.