Like so many other Americans, I've pretty much stopped buying newspapers. I get most of my news online because it's quicker, more accurate, and generally goes into a whole more depth.
But you know what would get me to buy your newspapers again? Stories about how predatory banksters stole my money. Not just the $700 billion in TARP money, but the over $8 TRILLION that's been either donated or guaranteed to these vultures (fromNomi Prins, the REAL bailout numbers). From the SEC's civil suit against Goldman Sachs to Lehman Bros' 105 repos and the "fraud-o-rama" that is Citigroup, as well as the rest of the predatory banksters, we now have ample evidence of the pivotal role that fraud played in blowing up our economy (additional links here and here).
THAT'S a story that I want to know a whole lot more about. Because when someone steals over $8 trillion of my money, EVERYTHING about that crime is very important to me. Until we start seeing nightly perp walks and multiple 30-year sentences raining down like candy on these vultures, I want every scrap of information about these parasites dug up and dragged out into the public marketplace.
And that's where you come in. The "wheels of justice" are grinding wayyyyyy too slowly for us. You know what would get me to buy your newspapers again? If I knew that you had a team of bulldogs that you had unleashed against these predators, and that the fruits of what they dredged up would be on display -- in dramatic, gripping, riveting detail, easily understandable and thorougly illustrated -- on the pages of my daily newspaper.
What you -- and we -- need are some forensic auditors. A team of forensic auditors, not just one or two but 25, 50 or even 100 of them. Funded by a consortium of newspapers like the one set up in 2000 to investigate the election back in 2000. Because, in case you hadn't noticed, crime sells -- and we want to know what happened to our money.
Seniors want to know why they have to go back to work. Baby boomers want to know why they can't retire at 55 or 60 or 75 like they planned. They want to know why the house they'd worked for for 20 or 30 years just got stolen out from under their noses by predatory lending practices. And they want to know what happened to their money.
Gen-X and Y-ers want to know why they mortgaged their future with huge, crushing college debt. Debts that are so high and so onerous that now they have no hope of finding a job that will allow them to pay them off anytime soon during this or their (next) lifetime. They want to know what happened to their money.
Teenagers want to know when or if they'll ever get a job. They see most of their friends still living at home, and they more than anyone else, know that they're likely to never have the same standard of living that their parents had. They want to know what happened to their money too.
We all want to know what happened to our money. We know that it was stolen, and we know that we're suffering - mightily - because it's gone. But if you ever want to see us buy your newspapers again, we need you to dig up every dirty, grimy aspect of this crime and VIVIDLY show us how they stole their money. EDUCATE us with a daily "Forensic Crimes - Wall Street edition". Because, guess what -- then I would have $8 trillion different reasons to buy your newspapers again.