The New York Times reports:
Taking a broad swipe at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s practice of allowing companies to settle cases without admitting that they had done anything wrong, a federal judge on Monday rejected a $285 million settlement between Citigroup and the agency…
The agency contends that it must settle most of the cases it brings because it does not have the money or the staff to battle deep-pocketed Wall Street firms in court. Wall Street firms will rarely admit wrongdoing, the agency says, because that can be used against them in investor lawsuits.
We got into this awful economic mess that is hobbling America because of conservative lies that told us the free market did not need to be regulated. We had millionaires in pin-striped suits, who should be wearing prison stripes, gambling with our money because they knew the rules had changed — making the potential reward of enormous riches greater than the risk of public humiliation and prosecution. The result of gutting regulations has devastated America and much of Europe, which followed our lead.
What did we learn from this? Apparently nothing.
As we can see, the criminals still have the upper hand because the watchdogs are purposely underfunded — making white collar crime a lucrative, if not legal, activity. When I read that the SEC, “does not have the money or the staff to battle deep-pocketed Wall Street firms in court” I know it is only a matter of time before America crashes and burns. And, when it happens this time, we may be too poor to bail ourselves out, propelling us in a downward spiral with no escape hatch.
When criminality is incentivized and the fox has the keys to the hen house, the vast majority of people lose, while the thieves get rich.
I’m a big believer in free markets, but they must be fair markets to succeed. Winner nations reward innovation — not monopoly-fueled stagnation — and risky paper profits over genuine production. It is time that we give the watchdogs the tools they need to do their jobs, unless we want to go down the tubes.
Why does this concern a website that deals with anti-LGBT extremism? Because big, dumb, undereducated, poor countries bursting with angry, disgruntled citizens looking for scapegoats tend not to treat LGBT people very well. It is in our interest to see policies enacted that prevent America from descending into a “Loser Nation.”
Good connecting of the dots Wayne. I am pessimistic that there is enough will to take on the big monied interests. Not enough Americans are hurting badly enough (think the Great Depression) to make the powers in charge pay attention. You are right though, hard economic times do not make for the luxury of civil rights for unpopular minorities.
When will people learn that ultra right-wing policies do not work for anyone but the super rich?
It might all be well and good in theory, but people, given the chance, are selfish greedy a******s who will abuse the system and blithely step on others for that extra buck. The banking system needs regulation for the sake of its own survival.
Great article. Much of the Republican platform is based upon lies and phoney assumptions. For example, Mitt Romney saying that corporate profits flow down “to the people.” No they don’t, Mitt. They go into the pockets of people like you. And you know what? That’s fine. I love America for it’s entrepreneurial opportunity.
Everyone has a right to try to get rich and to spend their money on whatever they please without apology. However, we need a broader, more honest acknowledgment of reality when it comes to setting national economic policy.
I saw a newscast a few weeks ago in which an obviously poor old white man from the South was saying how much he loved Herman Cain. The reporter asked him why, and he responded, “Because he’s most like me; he’s a country boy.”
How can we expect to save this country if people vote this way? Cain’s 9-9-9 plan would have raised that “country boy’s” taxes dramatically and would have more than doubled his sales tax bill. These people are in the lowest tax bracket as it is, so a “9%” federal income tax would save them nothing and would probably even require them to pay more.
And yet, they go to the polls on election day and cast their vote for the supposed “anti-tax” party! The facts are often inconvenient things. It’s President Obama, in fact, who’s trying to preserve the payroll tax cut right now; the refusal of the Republicans to support a tax break that they have always previously supported is going to raise their taxes by $1,000 a year or more in January. So, you’ve got to be kidding! Those studies which suggest that Fox News viewers are the least informed among us seem to ring true to me.
They vote against their own interests because the Republican candidates put on this disingenuous stage play in which they claim to be as ignorant as their followers are. They dumb themselves down just like the TV preacher (who has traveled the world ten times over) does the same when he gets on stage and starts in with the “hallelujah” down-home act.
Does anyone really believe that most of the Republican candidates don’t believe in evolution and actually think that the human race began with two people in a garden? Or that twelve-million illegal aliens should (or even could) be rounded up, torn away from their families and jobs, put on 250,000 buses and sent back to Mexico?
When the economy was roaring and we needed “cheap labor” to mow our lawns, everyone looked the other way. Now that the economy is bad, all of a sudden it’s “Oh, you people broke the law, you’re illegal! You have to go,” despite the fact that they’ve worked their asses off and have built a life here and put down roots.
How is this morality? When did morality become about doctrine instead of about helping people? This bears no resemblance to the Christianity that I am familiar with, the one in which Jesus referenced the story of the Samaritan who helped the Jew in need (despite the fact that they were mortal enemies) in order to illustrate how we should treat our neighbors. No wonder poor John McCain went insane having to deal with these people in 2008.
Until the G.O.P. stops pandering to these people, we’re going to have a tough time of it. Imagine what’s going to happen in 2012 if Obama loses and the right wingers get to open the flood gates again?
Chris L.
You bring up a good point about the white ignoramus voting for Cain because he is a “country boy.”
When I was in high school I wrote an essay about black suffrage during Reconstruction in the 19th century South. The racist Democrats knew many blacks couldn’t read yet knew who Lincoln was, so they put Lincoln’s likeness on the DEMOCRATIC ballot so the blacks would vote against his own interests.
The same principle applies today, although it is more sophisticated. Most of the Republican base is pig-ignorant, so the party establishment uses talking points and buzzwords (like “the gay agenda” or “one nation under God” or “death tax” etc) to trick them into voting their best interests. They have built an entire media/industrial/religious complex around it. It’s sad really.
The truth is the quality of democracy usually reflects the quality of its electorate.