Again--why isn't this all over the news?
According to Matt Taibbi's article for Rolling Stone Magazine, a Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) whistleblower, SEC attorney Darcy Flynn, has reported to Congress that the SEC shredded over 9,000 documents in 2008, at the height of this country's financial collapse, some of them having to do with the Bernie Maddoff ponzi scheme that ripped American's for millions, just as investigations were getting underway. But Bernie is small potatoes. There are much larger Wall Street criminals responsible for our economic collapse, and the SEC has been shredding their documents too, after each inquiry, so that no investigation could ever be re-opened. As Taibbi puts it:
"By whitewashing the files of some of the nation's worst financial criminals, the SEC has kept an entire generation of federal investigators in the dark about past inquiries into insider trading, fraud and market manipulation against companies like Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and AIG. With a few strokes of the keyboard, the evidence gathered during thousands of investigations...Two MUIs [Matters Under Inquiry] involving con artist Bernie Madoff vanished. So did a 2002 inquiry into financial fraud at Lehman Brothers, as well as a 2005 case of insider trading at the same soon-to-be-bankrupt bank. A 2009 preliminary investigation of insider trading by Goldman Sachs was deleted, along with records for at least three cases involving the infamous hedge fund SAC Capital."
I beseech you, if you haven't already, please watch the documentary Inside Job on Netflix to understand just how bad this is. Every American needs to see this film to understand why we're in the mess we're in, and why it's not getting better any time soon.
I have often heard people say of people like Henry Paulson, and Larry Summers, etc. "Why aren't these people in jail?" Well, this SEC shredding could be one reason--the other reason, of course, being that they have been busy being chief advisors to the White House for the last three presidents. Not only are they not in jail, but they continue to make money hand over fist, and over the dying body of America's middle class. They are still holding back Wall Street reform, and they have been busy bullying the likes of Elizabeth Warren out of the Consumer Protection Department that she created under the Obama administration, who then didn't have guts to appoint her as the head of it, because the bankers didn't like her since she actually wanted to protect consumers and make it harder for them to rip us off. This is the same thing that happened to Brooksley Borne under the Clinton Administration when she tried to investigate the risky practices of the derivatives industry.
I REPEAT: THIS IS NOT A PARTISAN ISSUE--BOTH PARTIES HAVE BEEN BOUGHT.
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10 comments:
I'd like to have some really deep and thought-provoking analysis of whats been going on here for the past thirty years. Other people have already done that...all you have to do is read it.
So I'll simply say this:
For the good of our national welfare, these rat bastards should be made an example of.
Lock 'em up in Sing Sing with the serial killers and gang rapists, doing hard time until they piss their pants.
Buy your way out of that one boyzzz.
DRL
Noel,
The link you included goes to the Moody's story on whistleblowing instead of the The Rolling Stone article.
DRL
I think part of the reason for shredding is that the public would see these reports and ask WHY DIDNT U CATCH THIS SOONER....These criminals R obviously motivated By money....But even worse they destroye people's lives.some of thier victims killed themselves...They R not HUMAN BEINGS but rather monsters ..Tunsie
Sorry about that--I've corrected it--thanks!
And yes--I want them all to go to jail.
i agree, monsters. Sing Sing is a good place for monsters...
While I do of course agree, Dennis makes a fine point and that is the 30 + years of work it took mostly by the GOP to remove most of the safe guards put in place after the 1930's depression to prevent things like this. To be fair it is a sort of war with the extreme left doing all within it's power to keep welfare and other entitlements as a lifestyle choice, while the Right is willing to sink the nation to help the rich get richer. Shockingly we of the rapidly dying middle class get the shaft. But I think it is all but a given that our current state of politics is a class war, thankfully so far a mostly non-violent one and hopefully it stays that way.
I'm thankful for Obama, the only grown up in Washington at the present moment , our professional babysitter trying to find compromise between the children we've elected on both sides of the aisle.
And so it comes to we the voters to elect people who will prevent the next debacle and barring such deep analysis and discussion as Dennis has pointed to, it is more likely than not that we will face this moment again in a decade if not less.
I'll end with a favorite quote- "When the people figure out how to vote themselves money, that will be the death of the Republic"
It's either Ben Franklin or Andrew Jackson, I forget which, but the point is valid. Somehow, we have to take the option to vote themselves money from both the rich and the poor or live in the consequences as we are doing at present.
Daavid
On a completely different note, has anyone else gotten a phone call from 610-791-5974?
We received one from someone saying they were a charity asking us to put outside anything that we might want to donate. Well, the pick up time has come and gone and the phone number traces back to an unnamed entity in Allentown that goes to a dead voice mail.
Does anyone know if this is some weird prank? Or perhaps I got the date wrong?
It was something like American Families or some such I don't quite remember the name.
could use the input though as I really don't want to leave a bunch of books on the front porch for the next few days.
Thanks,
David
there is a back checker page for the number, but with no inputs.
David...
The right-wing has been dismantling banking safe guards since Reagan (who stuck his VP Bush with the S&L mess). But Clinton took apart the Glass-Steagall Act under the guise of "streamlining regulations", which did more damage in one stroke than almost anything else.
By the way, if you want an active number for someone who collects old stuff for charity give me a call or email me and I can give you a legit one.
I'd also like to talk to you and Jeanette about a new Neighborhood Physical Quality Committee I'm forming. I tried emailing you but got no response. Here's a chance to make a real difference. I have assembled some tough characters - and you know I don't screw around.
DRL
Well, I'm Game. A few of my emails got hacked by some Canadian Drug company. Considering some of the groups in my contacts list they may be very sad that they did that.
Still I'll try to stop in and update my contact info this week. A word to the wise, I'm a dot your I's and cross your T's sort of fella. And the unwillingness or inability of the old WWNP to do that was the major reason we both left. If that's been dealt with, then sure I'm up for it.
Jeanette just no longer has the time.
Good point about Clinton BTW, I'd forgotten that, still at the end of the day, we do need to re-secure the markets, the environment, the nation...and that is going to be a long row to hoe with little help from any major political party.
Peace,
David
david--you said:
"To be fair it is a sort of war with the extreme left doing all within it's power to keep welfare and other entitlements as a lifestyle choice, while the Right is willing to sink the nation to help the rich get richer."
and
"'When the people figure out how to vote themselves money, that will be the death of the Republic'
It's either Ben Franklin or Andrew Jackson, I forget which, but the point is valid. Somehow, we have to take the option to vote themselves money from both the rich and the poor or live in the consequences as we are doing at present."
great points.
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