I can see that both the Republicans and Democrats are playing the 'dance card' for Wall Street, but I think the most sickening thing about what is going on now, is that in the end, they are both playing on the same team, which means:
Main Street loses...........again, and Wall Street wins............again...I keep wondering why? Don't you?
In the end, we can blame the media, we can blame the gridlock in our system, and just say that the Republican party of 'No' is to blame, and for the most part, I admit they are, but can we at least admit, as the Democratic Party, the Party known as the 'Working Man's/Woman's Party' that this financial reform package, on both sides of the isles is a sham? Because it is, and so I want to open a discussion today about what this bill will actually do, what 'secret deals' are being done behind our backs, and where you stand, as a Democrat and an American.
Thanks to another truth teller (SageBrush Bob) I am starting this diary, again. Never be afraid to this great idiom: You can start your day all over again no matter what the time is: Listen and listen carefully if you dare to:
Let me ask you, what part of this video do you not agree with? Can we be honest now with each other? Stop pretending that Obama and Biden all of a sudden showed up for the Miners that died today, to 'weep' with their families, while expanding 'Drill Baby Drill' as 42,000 gallons of oil an hour are ruining the Gulf Sea Beds, all the sea life, the food for fisherman and families, and we still hold dear to not hold our government...no matter what or who are leaders are..because they are 'so called' Democrats?
I guess if I wrote a diary with the words fuck you, fuck everything fuck fuck fuck, like Shiz did the other day it might get some attention for the point I am trying to make. Wake up people....we are being 'had'...do you get that at all?
First of all, I would ask that you stop saying: that you can do nothing about this. That is false. You can and you will if you want change. Let's start this debate on the right note: We are the change. Do you believe that? If not, then you are in the wrong diary.
I never thought the day would come when I would long for Woodward and Bernstein, but here it is. You say: Well, things have changed..now the media is in control...now we do not have a say...now the two party system is no longer viable, but does that give us just another excuse to 'give up' and not face reality, when so many others are fighting for the very life of our Democracy?
I think not.
What would you, personally, like to see happen as a result of this Financial Reform Bill?
Be specific. Please stop with the excuses. We do not have time for that anymore. Let's all put our cards on the table, ok?
How do you think we can make this happen? Do you believe the President Obama is supportive of real change and accountability? If not, please voice your concerns....if so...voice your support, but please consider the outcome of your willingness 'to make compromises' to 'just get a deal' and ultimately what that 'deal' will cost Americans, and more importantly, what it has already cost.
I've watched over the past 18 months as so many brilliant commentators and experts keep pointing out the same issues time and time again, such as William K. Black, Simon Johnson, Joe Stiglitz, Elizabeth Warren, and even former and present day members of the Federal Reserve, which is all falling on deaf ears, and I keep wondering, where is our President? He has truly surrounded himself with the 'golden boys of Wall Street,' Geithner and Summers who are adverse to breaking up the Banks, and are adverse to strict oversight and transparency of derivatives, yet President Obama comes out and simply makes 'pretty speeches' while behind the scenes there are deals being 'done' that you and I apparently have no say in. It's all Cris Dodd's fault? I think not, do you think the President does not meet with Senator Dodd? Do you really think that?
I ask you, who's side is the President on? Do you know? Do you care? Does it matter to you?
Take a moment to review: ("William Black Warns That Financial Reform Bill Won't Stop the Wall Street Crime Wave," Dan Froomkin, HuffPo, April 21, 2010)
How many warnings do we need? How many 'rationalizations' will it take before we are finally able to understand the seriousness of where American has come to? Janet Tavakoli has it exactly spot on:
I urge the President to play the race card--the human race card. The Founding Fathers sought to protect the Republic from this tyranny of private interests. This was meant to be a place where all members of the human race have a fair opportunity to thrive. These show trials and faux 'investigations" distract us from the real job of reform and protect Wall Street's interests. It's time to bring back Black--or regulators like him--and truly give us our "Pecora" moment.
Here it is plain and simple people: There is FRAUD being allowed to take place by our government and by the President Obama and AG Eric Holder and the Department of Justice.
You can deny it if you want to, but that is simply not the case. Every single fact that is out there, will prove it otherwise.
Failed Regulators Are Still in Charge
Our financial "investigations" aim to miss. First, the media writes breathless articles portraying Washington's financial "investigators" as "tough." Each new commission is billed as our "Pecora" moment. The "investigators" hire teams of staffers who badger people like me for charity with insightful questions like: "What's a CDO?" Treasury, Federal Reserve, and Wall Street notables loudly complain about "unfair" and "harsh" investigators. Then everyone marches to the Hill where the committee pelts Wall Street executives with verbal marshmallows. Here are just four examples:
The FCIC: Phil Angelides, Chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, had Robert Rubin, Citigroup's former senior advisor (also former Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton, and former Co-Chair of Goldman Sachs), and Chuck Prince, former CEO of Citigroup, in the palm of his hand. He failed to question them about Citigroup's sales of complex CDOs and a $200 million loan to the failed Bear Stearns hedge funds, even though it was public information and a classic situation for securities fraud. The SEC: The SEC filed a recent complaint of alleged fraud in a civil lawsuit against Goldman Sachs. The complaint did not mention that Goldman may have used the subprime mortgage-linked security at issue to unload other complex bonds it created. The complaint strikes me as an SEC publicity stunt. Wall Street banks had deep ties (and often ownership) with corrupt mortgage lenders and created phony securities that funded loan fraud. Corrupt finance--enabled by the SEC's multi-year failures--amplified the problem. The SEC (rating agencies, and more) behaved as collaborators, and now they seem to want credit for bringing one seemingly incomplete complaint against a sapling, while the forest fire rages on.
For more on this 'truth telling article see:'
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Strange thing is, I keep waiting for that 'one moment in time,' like Watergate, where 'Deep Throat' finally came forward, and the damn to break, where one decent single American will come forward and lead us all out of this 'madness' and 'chaos' and pretension that we are not on the complete abyss of finally being forced into a corner to decide right from wrong in our nation.
We try so hard to make it more than this, but that is simply not the case. We keep blaming it on the media, and on politics, but that is not the case. We have come to this place in our nation, where we must decide from this point on:
Do we allow President Obama and the Department of Justice to simply ignore the FRAUD and CROOKS that have taken over our nation, or do we stand up and fight for what is right?
Do we keep blaming it on the Republicans, when they are 'protecting' the same people that Senator Dodd, Timothy Geithner, Larry Summers and Ben Bernanke are protecting?
What happened to transparency? What happened to a nation of 'Laws' not of men?
We cannot keep blaming this situation on our two party system any longer, because both parties are hiding the 'nation wide cover up' that William K. Black and others have had the courage to stand up to.
The big mystery for the moment is how come a few good men of stature in important places have not stepped forward to say the right thing or do the right deed. How come no US congressperson challenged the knavish behavior of Republicans who condone malicious idiocy that they know to be false like the so-called "birther" activity. How come no putative "progressive" has called the Democrats on their disingenuous failure to call illegal immigrants what they are. How come no state attorney general has filed charges against TBTF bank misconduct even if the US attorney general lies in state over at the US DOJ. How come no political figure of any stripe has called for the resignation of Summers, Rubin, Gensler and other Goldman Sachs "sleepers" infesting high levels of government. How come Dylan Ratigan is the only visible figure in any major newsroom willing to identify the precise nature of the meta-swindle.
When this sucker goes down, our primary task will be reorganizing American life on a much more local and de-complexified basis. It's a very big assignment and especially daunting against a possible background of political disorder. The losses will be epic and the changes severe, but it doesn't have to mean the end of recognizably American culture. There will be very little money around, and it may end up being a certificate backed by gold issued by a bank other than the Federal Reserve. Or maybe we'll just be swapping stuff for the makings of dinner.
So many forces are roiling around 'out there' now that it's hard to believe that the authorities in government and banking can keep the illusion of normality going a whole lot longer. The possible litigation against Goldman Sachs-style frauds by a thousand aggrieved victims is enough to paralyze the system. Meanwhile, trillions in credit default swaps are ticking away like dirty bombs. Greece is going down, with Portugal, Spain, Ireland, and the UK standing by to go next. Nobody can pay their bills. Before long, the old folks won't get their checks. Then the poor folks. Lately, I wonder if there will even be an election six months from now.
http://kunstler.com/...
Sometimes, I think the 'real' problem is that we are so busy 'protecting' our particular 'political parties interest' that we forgot how to be Americans, and to be courageous enough like William K. Black to just speak the truth, and demand that our leaders, actually 'Lead' us back to a state of sanity.
This includes: The rule of law, this includes, holding those accountable that led us to this place, to demand that our 'Leaders' stand up for the tried and true 'protections' of the first 17 pages of the Glass-Steagall Act, for demanding transparent derivative trades in our markets, for demanding that those that have 'committed fraud' whatever their 'contributions' to the White House of either party, be held accountable, and for all of us to:
Stop blaming this on the media.........stop blaming it on either party, and start demanding change and sanity again.
That is why, it is called: The Rule of Law. Laws are exactly what have kept all 'civilizations' intact and sane for thousands and thousands of years.
Without them, we are lost, we are left open to the hands of the very Robber Barons that fought tooth and nail to make certain that the very heart and soul of the Democratic Party...the Unions..would never survive to have a decent home, a decent wage, a chance at the American dream.
Do you have any stories of your parents or your grand parents that died in those struggles? I do.
Let's share them again. Let's remember again...
Because whether or not you may not realize it now, we are right back where we started in when the Unions of this country first came into being.
Man, when perfected, is the best of animals, but when separated from law and justice, he is the worst of all.
Aristotle
Criminals do not die by the hands of the law; they die by the hands of other men.
George Bernard Shaw
The good of the people is the chief law.
Cicero
Just a reminder, as a fellow Democrat...don't forget where we came from:
"Rally and March WITH AFL-CIO PRESIDENT RICHARD TRUMKA — NEW YORK CITY— FINANCIAL DISTRICT," the flier says.
"Wall Street tanked America’s economy ... We’re 11 million jobs in the hole, and it’s time for Wall Street to pay up to create them. Join AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and thousands of union and community activists from across the country in the heart of the financial district on April 29th to MAKE WALL STREET PAY."
I welcome all thoughts and views on this debate....but I would ask you to view the present day argument, that addresses this single issue:
Where is Rico?
Where are the Hand cuffs?
Where is the FRAUD being addressed?
Where is the Real Reform in this 'secret bill' that so few of us know about, and who, is going to make out in the end?
Where does President Obama 'really' stand on these issues?
Do you know?
I don't.
Thanks.