Bankers – A book you can read by its cover

[TatonkaJames]

Bankers – A book you can read by its cover

Watching the senate hearings on toxic mortgage securities and years of bank deregulation, executives who defrauded their clients and caused the financial crisis in this country are more transparent than you may believe. To put things in perspective, today according to Paul Krugman ninety three percent of these AAA sub-prime mortgages have now been downgraded to junk status for which we are now paying as these institutions continue to make billions in profits while we are being foreclosed on our homes and our pensions and savings have disappeared.
Just observing the four men sit at the table testifying each in their own way tells so much more than most of their avoidances at answering questions as most patriotic citizens would when testifying to congress.

Nearly every question asked is met with a look of wonderment at first as these men are asked to look at a particular page in a simple notebook of emails and information while they listen to members of the committee ask their questions and then like a little child ask, “What page was that?” These are men of high intellect who know better and may simply interrupt the Senator and ask where are you reading. After being admonished for stalling tactics and Carl Levin saying they will stay until all questions are answered, they continued with this tactic with smiles, almost as if they are saying this is a waste of their time. You can easily see the character of these men by their actions sitting behind the table where they are testifying.

Daniel Sparks, looking the most serious and trying to be accommodating is lies through his teeth as they all are. They can look so dumb at times trying to figure out a question asked of them, yet they give answers that no one, not even the committee members can understand they are so sophisticated and complex.
Joshua Birnbaum sits there stoically showing no regard for the institution they are in or for the members of the committee. When asked a question he dreadfully lifts the notebook with data in front of him and slowly looks for the page and email in question. This show of belligerence bares his character all too well.
Michael Swenson looks scared shit-less and is trying to answer questions without going against Goldman Sach’s lawyer instructions. I feel he is the only one with an iota of conscience.
Fabrice Tourre is playing the ignorant foreigner with his cute smile but he’s not fooling anyone either.

The testimony of these four men tell me we are a long way from being free from the enslavement of the bankers/owners of this nation. The truth will surface as to who is the true government of the people, the corporations or the representatives we elect to serve our concerns when this is concluded if no one is held accountable for the trillions of savings and pensions gone and wealth redistribution not even on the agenda for recovery. When asked in specific emails written by each of them, these men under oath say the business of selling toxic assets will be a disaster yet continued them for years betting on the middle class bailing them out shows their not stupid but simply greedy and evil knowing full well what was about to come down. And with what played out and how it affected millions of citizens, they are worse than terrorists; I would say traitors to be kind.

As they sit there emotionless with lifeless eyes, they are now begin the “give no answer” stage of their testimony as the questions are becoming more difficult. The committee has an agenda that is wise like lions in the jungle stalking their prey.
“I’m not aware of policies?” This is where they go too far. They aren’t aware of their company policies but can recite business transactions Stephen Hawkins would have trouble understanding. One surprising admittance was when asked if they had securities they knew were toxic but Goldman Sachs would make money and commissions by selling them to clients and backing them with insurance, betting against them succeeding, the answer they gave was yes! Seems they’re not ashamed of their business practices.

I’m also amazed at the committee members for not informing these four men they will be held in contempt for their non-answers. They hired a special prosecutor and spent millions to impeach President Clinton because he lied about having sex in the White House and over the question of the meaning of the word “is” for days but these guys are being given a free ride for almost destroying the country and world financial system! What’s worse are the lawyers sitting behind these four men testifying. They talk back and forth and laugh at questions and answers during testimony. Watching their lifeless eyes and stoic stares, they are only concerned that those under testimony whom they coached answer the way they were instructed. That in itself is probably a crime.

Asked about Stated Income Loans, this for me best sums up the hearing, stating they knew what they were doing was wrong and could cripple the nation but they continued this for years as the money rolled into their personal accounts, most likely offshore to avoid paying taxes. This being true, I believe the Bush Administration and those administrations before should be held accountable for allowing this and passing deregulations for most every industry.
A stated income loan is a mortgage where the lender does not verify the borrower's income by looking at their pay stubs, W-2 forms, income tax returns, or other records. Instead, borrowers are simply asked to state their income, and taken at their word. These loans are sometimes called "liar loans," *

These are diabolical men with intelligence far beyond what they are showing and know full well the consequences of what their actions were going to be but heartlessly continued for the greed of riches. And no one will be held accountable which is a sign of the failing of our democracy. Unless we break up these banking institutions and make it so they can fail without affecting the national or global economy, we will see this again as greed for money never vanishes you’ve lived the lifestyle and have no soul or conscience for the millions of people who have lost everything while they continue to make profits and big paychecks from these same practices. My opinion as to why this occurred is that the owners of this country knew the change coming with the election of President Obama was going to limit their profits as change and regulation returned, so they are gouging us as much as possible until reform is passed, not that that has stopped health insurers from hiking premiums as much as 100% leading me to believe most of our representatives are truly bought by these same institutions. America, where have you gone?
*Wikipedia

[change_notfinetuning]

1. Excellent post. All of a sudden, these self-proclaimed geniuses, who in their

own minds are so worth all of the millions they are paid, become blithering idiots who are barely sure of their name. The ploy was as obvious as it was disgusting. And yet, I don't expect any real substantive change.

[glitch]

2. They learned from the "best and brightest" of the Nixon-Reagan-Bush-Bush admins.

As long as it continues to work for them, they'll use it.