Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The Biggest Theft in History
Nomi Prins, a former Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns banker who has turned liberal, has a short article on Obama's big banking reform speech that he delivered on Wall Street. It's worth reading just for the statistics. Prins' own calculations based on her analysis of all publicly available information, (I heard her talking about this when interviewed on a radio show,) show that the federal government has given, loaned or guaranteed $17.5 trillion to the banking system. It's always hard to think about that much money, since most workers are pretty excited if their bank accounts ever make it into the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. Based on my math, $17.5 trillion is equal to world GDP, times 292. Or put another way, it would take the entire world 292 years to produce $17.5 trillion, (assuming the value of the world's goods and services remained at $60 billion for those 292 years). Easily the biggest theft ever. Timothy Geithner and Ben Bernanke and the CEOs of the big banks should be thrown in jail.
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Thanks Erin for these facts. I agree, jail them and take the money and spend it on peoples needs. I was reading the reports on the Obama speech to Wall Street in the New York Times. These showed that not only did the owners of these banks and corporations take the tax payers money to bail them out but they immediately launched an offensive to stop any new regulatory legislation to prevent them going back to their swindling criminal ways. They have launched a major lobbying effort to block a new consumer protection agency to regulate mortgages, credit cards and other forms of consumer debt. They are also bribing the politicians to stop any tightening of the rules on derivatives and credit swaps. And are lobbying heavily to prevent any caps on executive pay. One report said that the audience of top Wall Street looters and swindlers and criminals "Scowled when Obama said it is neither right nor responsible after you have recovered with the help of yout government to shirk your responsibility to the goal of wider recovery, a more stable system and a more broadly based prosperity."
Obama bailed out these criminals. Now he is giving them a talking to in a n effort to appear he is standing up to them in the eyes of his base. But he is still bailing them out with tax payers, that is mainly working peoples money.
The wealth that these crooks have must be taken off them. It has to be brought into public ownership under democratic workers control and management. This is the only way thecapitalists of Wall Street can be stopped from their swindling criminality. They are utterly shamless. Erin explains how much they were handed out by the state from our taxes. Take the money from them and put them to work.
My companion is an antique dealer. People come to her to sell her antiques. Two days ago a young woman came with her collection of vintage clothing and photographs, things that were obviously very dear to her. But she had lost her job some weeks ago and she was broke. She was also broken hearted at having to give up these things which had so much sentimental value to her. She sold them to another dealer for $50.00. $50,00!!!!! This has to be compared to the amounts that the Wall Street criminals got from our taxes. This young woman was so hard up that $50,00 made the difference to her.
Capitalism is a rotten system. It has forfeited the right to exist. Contact us and organize for democratic socialism.
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