You Were Not Allowed to Know That Bankers Can Be Jailed

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

By Joe Clifford

The 2008 financial crises and meltdown occurred because large banks were speculating in fraudulent risky loans that failed. When the meltdown occurred, banks turned to the federal government, who immediately bought into the idea that banks were too large to fail, and taxpayers subsidized banks to the tune of trillions of dollars. No one really knows how much the bailout cost, but here is partial list of banks you generously helped out:

Citigroup - $2.513 trillion
Morgan Stanley - $2.041 trillion
Merrill Lynch - $1.949 trillion
Bank of America - $1.344 trillion
Barclays PLC - $868 billion
Bear Sterns - $853 billion
Goldman Sachs - $814 billion
Royal Bank of Scotland - $541 billion
JP Morgan Chase - $391 billion
Deutsche Bank - $354 billion
UBS - $287 billion
Credit Suisse - $262 billion
Lehman Brothers - $183 billion
Bank of Scotland - $181 billion
BNP Paribas - $175 billion
Wells Fargo - $159 billion
Dexia - $159 billion
Wachovia - $142 billion
Dresdner Bank - $135 billion
Societe Generale - $124 billion
"All Other Borrowers" - $2.639 trillion

Taxpayers were not consulted or asked their opinion; it was an example of how fast government can respond to the moneyed class. Even though it was disclosed that banks were lying and speculating in fraudulent loans, including money laundering to drug cartels, no one was indicted or found guilty of any criminal charges, while millions of citizens were ruined. Banks, who had committed a variety of felonies, simply turned to the government and asked with their checkbook, how much do you want to keep our executives out of jail? The government responded by a fine on banks, which amounts to nothing because banks simply pass the fine on to consumers, who pay yet again.

Corporate media has deliberately not informed the US public of how other countries, namely Iceland, faced their crises. If you were told, you might demand we act like Iceland, but if you don’t know about Iceland, you will not demand. Iceland was one of the hardest hit by the bank collapse, but they, unlike us, handled things differently. The first major difference is that Iceland decided since banks speculated and made stupid loans, it was not the responsibility of the taxpayers to bail out irresponsible banks for their stupidity, and therefore decided to allow large banks to fail. The financial world predicted this would cause irreversible difficulty for Iceland, and financiers argued Iceland would never recover from their defiance, but citizens persisted. Despite the warnings, the Icelandic people on two occasions were allowed to vote and decide if they wanted to bail out banks or let them fail. Great pressure was put on the voters by the financial sector, but citizens held fast and democratically voted to let banks fail. We, on the other hand were not given the luxury of a democratic vote; the money was simply taken from taxpayers and handed to banks. The American public, who naively think they have democracy, were not allowed to vote on whether they wanted to bail out large banks; it was just a done deal....

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article44139.htm

[metroins]

1. Is this debt reflected in our federal debt?

Because I don't see where this 10 trillion or so falls into our current 19 trillion.

[KoKo]

5. The 12.8 Trillion Dollar Financial Scam – PBS And Bloomberg Report (VIDEO)

The 12.8 Trillion Dollar Financial Scam – PBS And Bloomberg Report (VIDEO)

According to a team at Bloomberg News, at one point last year the U.S. had lent, spent or guaranteed as much as $12.8 trillion to rescue the economy. The Bloomberg reporters have been following that money. Alison Stewart spoke with one, Bob Ivry, to talk about the true cost to the taxpayer of the Wall Street bailout. Most of this is UN-accounted for and the private Federal Reserve won’t tell.


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http://collectivelyconscious.net/videos/the-12-8-trillion-dollar-financial-scam-pbs-and-bloomberg-report/

[leanforward]

2. My thinking on this has evolved.

I've picked up on what Iceland has done. Several years ago Romney said "corporations are people too". Then I read about Icelands approach. Now, full circle, I think those individuals hiding behind the corporate shield should go to jail. They encouraged bad decision making. Don't let any corporate official off easy, unless, it is ten years to nine years.

I agree, 100 percent, that corporate influence on our elected officials is criminal. Our Senators and Congressional Representatives are our representatives, not that of the corporations. Should the elected officials go to jail, too?

I believe in the free market system. And in the last 20-30 years, the corporations have increased the cost of government (privatization) by the usual 20 percent profit to the owners/share holders. Why not keep those same dollars local, regional, or statewide.

[Flying Squirrel]

4. Why shouldn't elected officials go to jail?

Are they above the law?

[leanforward]

3. National Debt

With respect to our national debt. The GOP could not run a hot dog stand. Every family budget knows you don't take a lower paying job without cutting expenses. Too me, the GOP cut the revenue stream, thinking an increase in debt would force other program cuts. Did not happen. What is sad, is the current budget has an interest debt service component. Increase the interest payments, you are reducing funds available for anything else. Then Bush prosecuted the Iraq war entirely off budget.

President Obama brought that war on budget. Hence, we're facing the current deficit. No entity cuts the revenue stream and expects to balance anything.