Will Public Outrage Finally Force The President To Prosecute Outlaw Bankers?

[FreakinDJ]

Will Public Outrage Finally Force The President To Prosecute Outlaw Bankers?
By Richard RJ Eskow

The President has adopted the language of the 99 percent, and it's paying off for him. He's surged from a position slightly behind Mitt Romney in last month's CNN polling to a 52 percent-45 percent lead against the Republican this week. While other factors were involved, his new rhetoric about income inequality and forcing everybody to "play by the same rules" resonated especially well with voters who have seen their government enforce one rule of conduct for Wall Street and another for the rest of us.

Unfortunately, his Administration hasn’t backed up that rhetoric with action. It has steadfastly refused to investigate and prosecute the bank crimes who brought this economy to its knees. So have the chief law enforcement officials for most states. Instead they’re trying to cut sweetheart deals that would let crooked bankers go with a slap on the wrist.

more at link
http://crooksandliars.com/richard-rj-eskow/will-public-outrage-finally-force

[valerief]

1. I think talk is all we'll get. nt

[rucky]

2. Eric Holder's too busy busting MMJ clinics.

But it's a nice thought.

[teddy51]

3. Maybe he could take a look at Bush/Cheney while he is at it! Won't hold my breath

on any prosecutions though.

[orpupilofnature57]

5. Impeachment Should have been on the table.Enablers

put us where we are not the Villians ,they're doing what we expect of them.

[msongs]

6. obama's got his own war crimes, bush will never be prosecuted nt

[UnrepentantLiberal]

4. No.

[abelenkpe]

7. I wish

People have been outraged for awhile though

[LadyHawkAZ]

8. No.

[emilyg]

9. No.

[postulater]

10. NFW

[MannyGoldstein]

11. First off, they're "very savvy businessmen", not "Outlaw Bankers"

Second, the answer is no.

[ProSense]

13. No,

First off, they're "very savvy businessmen", not "Outlaw Bankers"

...they were greedy bankers aided by the repeal of Glass-Steagall.

It's interesting that everyone can understand that repealing Glass-Steagall was a huge mistake, and yet it escapes so many people that eliminating the law that made many of these crimes illegal had consequences.

Between 1999 and 2009, there was no Glass-Steagall.

[JDPriestly]

14. With or without Glass-Steagall, fraud is a crime, especially securities fraud.

And without fraud, there would have been no housing bubble, far fewer subprime mortgages and a healthier economy.

You are drinking the Obama Kool-Aid on this one.

Houses were way overvalued by some of the appraisers. Some of the borrowers were encouraged by mortgage sales officers to lie on their mortgage application forms. Then the derivatives with these fraudulent, overvalued mortgages were bundled into derivatives that were in their turn over-rated. At each juncture there was fraud and other illegal activity.

White collar crime is tough to prosecute not because it does not exist, but because the criminals hire large numbers of the top lawyers in the country to fight the rap.

But it is sickening to see kids sent to prison for stealing cars (a crime which obviously deserves punishment) and see the sophisticated mobsters on Wall Street get by with the scam they pulled off.

A good lawyer would go after these guys, conduct discovery and find the evidence to convict. It's a matter of having the courage and the will to pick up somebody a lot richer than you are. It can be done. It has been done. Will and courage -- that's what it takes.

Do you seriously think that a jury in the US would fail to convict a broker, banker or hedge fund manager who participated in the fraud that caused the mess we are in? I bet not.

The government should start with little mortgage salesmen -- and those who fraudulently signed deeds and then work their way up to the top guys. That is how white collar crime should be prosecuted. The government does it with drug cases all the time. The Justice Dept. is just too chicken to go after the bigwigs on Wall Street.

They go after all kinds of other fraud, but they are scared of Wall Street. It is a political decision.

[MannyGoldstein]

16. When was Glass-Steagall reinstated?

Someone needs to tell BoA, because they just moved trillions in exploding derivativesfrom their investment bank arm to their depository bank. Under the reinstated Glass-Steagall, BoA is going to jail.

[FreakinDJ]

17. More than 1,000 bankers were convicted in the Savings & Loan scandal for crimes

There is widely documented fraud involving false title documents submitted in foreclosure proceedings; several big banks have already admitted to illegally foreclosing on military families,and investigations show that nearly 5,000 military families may have been illegally evicted

[treestar]

12. Could you be more specific?

What crimes? Who is there probable cause to go against? This would have to be a legal procedure. If they were guilty of any crime, chances are there would be some cases against them.

The housing bubble may have been a bad thing, but it may not be criminal acts. Or even civil ones. It could be the market swings and people making bad loan decisions on both sides.

[shanti]

15. in a word, no. n/t