Join us on October 25-27 for a series of demonstrations when thousands of Americans – retirees, farmers, workers, homeowners, renters, students, clergy, and small business owners – come together on the streets of Chicago to demand a banking system that puts the American people first and a Congress that makes it happen!
PIMCO dumps $80 billion of fed-sponsored agencies on taxpayer’s lap; makes over $1 billion
At least 10 more insider trading arrests coming
Moody’s leak disclosed, other potential compromised data identified
California sues State Street over pension-fund trades
Paulson’s secret waiver to work on Goldman matters
Attorney calls FINRA execs “liars”, says only interested in appearance of enforcement
Bernanke guilty of coercion and market manipulation, says Mish
Arrested IBM exec Moffat was also responsible for outsourcing jobs to wherever was the cheapest, no matter who got fired or hurt. What a guy…
Angry yet?
I’ll just repeat my previous comment:
Big banks, small banks, investment banks, hedge funds riddled with greed and corruption, out sourcing, (LEAN), financial sector controlling the government and lots of people making lots of money. Expecting them to abandon their ways for the benefit of the people seems rather naive. It’s how the system works, reduce your costs, increase your market share, maximise your profit, if you don’t the other big guys gobble you up. There is nothing in there that is altruistic, it is a dog eat dog system with winner take all and to hell with the hindmost. Capitalism hasn’t taken the wrong turning, it has just developed.
Sure. But it’s gotten so blatant now that even non-political middle-of-the-roaders are angry. The anger is coming from the mainstream, not the fringes. Big difference.
Jim Kunstler
He’s not speaking metaphorically. And hopes Obama whacks the banks in a preemptive strike first.
Obama needed the big money to get elected and needs the big money to stay in power, so he’s not going to hurt them too much, but he will put on a good show, he’s an excellent actor.
It’s on this blog somewhere, I reported that Doug Henwood said that investment banks and hedge funds were having fundraisers for Obama in Greenwich CT as early as, I think, Feb. 2007.
John, I wish you could bank at my bank– a small-town bank with a handful of branches. They have avoided the meltdown, are still making home loans (conservatively as always), pay interest on checking accounts, know my name when I walk in, and above all they work with me to meet MY needs. They live in the same community with me, and know that for them to succeed, I have to succeed too. They don’t overtly do much for the poor, except for food drives and such, but many of the owners and employees are Church members, and the Church here is very active in helping people. I’m not a member and don’t think much of LDS doctrine, but I do respect the Church’s role in the community a great deal.
As for B of A and Citi, I say let’em fail. They’ve gobbled up too many small banks with consciences. The bigger the organization the less possibility for moral or ethical thought. Am I better off because Hawthorne Savings, Commercial Capital Bank, and Home Savings, among others, have been replaced by a single mega-bank? I don’t see how. Fees at the big bank are up, service is down, corrpution is rampant, and they don’t give a damn who I am or what my needs are..
Adam Smith wrote a whole volume on the necessity of “morals” as part of a capitalist system. The Ayn Rand types burned that book and equated “enlightened self-interest” with greed, then elevated greed to the level of religion. Smith must be rolling in his grave. I’m not saying that Smithian capitalism is perfect, but in Smith’s view it was both moral and controlled. Today we have neither. Much like state socialism in practice, the “servants” of the people have grabbed all the power.