Elizabeth Warren: “Why Aren’t Criminal Bankers Being Locked Up?”
Earlier this week, Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Attorney General Eric Holder and SEC Chair Mary Jo White. Speaking for hundreds of millions of angry Americans, Senator Warren’s letter asked why the biggest robbers in history are not in prison, getting beaten to a pulp by guards, and gang-raped and Sodomized by fellow inmates until their assholes are big enough to drive a tank through.
(I’m paraphrasing.)
Her letter said in part:
“…I believe very strongly that if a regulator reveals itself to be unwilling to take large financial institutions all the way to trial — either because it is too timid or because it lacks resources — the regulator has a lot less leverage in settlement negotiations and will be forced to settle on terms that are much more favorable to the wrongdoer.
The consequence can be insufficient compensation to those who are harmed by illegal activity and inadequate deterrence of future violations. If large financial institutions can break the law and accumulate millions in profits and, if they get caught, settle by paying out of those profits, they do not have much incentive to follow the law.”
New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman echoed the same sentiment on MSNBC last week:
“The problem is the banks have overwhelming confidence that law enforcement is not taking this seriously. They have overwhelming confidence that whatever the rules are, they won’t be followed up on.”
That’s putting it mildly. People losing their homes through illegal foreclosure and then getting a $300 “compensation” payment from the bank; guilty bank CEOs getting a slap on the wrist and a stern warning not to let it happen again — how much more of this shit are the American People going to put up with?
Is the government EVER going to crack down on these Wall Street cartels?
(Don’t worry, it was a rhetorical question.)
Labels: criminal bankers locked up, Senator Elizabeth Warren
posted by Tom Harper @ 2:07 PM
6 Comments:
I wish we could clone her and Bernie Sanders.
I always had a rule when it comes to Government Actions: When they win on page one, keep an eye on the back pages for the settlement!
Either because of a pre-agreed fix, or that the Government doesn't have a secure enough case after all to trust a jury or enough legal power to fight a millionaire this always seems to the case.
I remember a major case in the 80's where the IRS settled for a tax fraud case with the major corporation, but the terms said no one was to discuss the details, the IRS lawyers blabbed it to the press, the Court overturned everything and the company got off Scott Free. I wrote the guy who reported it to keep an eye on it to make sure that IRS lawyer didn't accept a job with that company.
This country will be in a lot better shape when Millionaires can get prosecuted and executed like ordinary folks.
Erik
Jess: Me too. If only we could clone both of them and a few others, and vaporize some of the worst GOP politicians...
Erik: Good point. I've lost count of all the screaming headlines about a corporation or VIP being caught redhanded, "We've got him now!" -- and then the story disappears, or a billion dollar fine shrinks down to one hundredth that amount, along with a gentle reprimand.
I have a bumper sticker that says "You can tell Monopoly is an old game because there's a luxury tax and rich people can go to jail."
Sure it's just a bumper sticker but I think it rings true. This country has swung so far to the right in some ways during the last 30+ years that it isn't funny. It's just frightening. And even worse is how their so-called leaders have so many people whipped into a paranoid delusion about how we're on the verge of being taken over by some hideous left-wing monster.... that is not true at all, and the delusion only exists due in large part to the right wing's massive disinformation campaign.
Snave: I love that bumper sticker. You almost have to admire these rightwing masterminds for their shrewdness. The closer we get to becoming a corporate dictatorship, the more people they're able to whip into a frenzy over the fear of communists and socialists destroying America's free enterprise system and sapping her moral fiber.
You're right, Tom. We're getting closer to that corporate dictatorship thing all the time! And while it isn't anything any of the yahoos would want, they don't know they and their votes are being used as a means to that end.
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